Zbiory Biblioteki Miejskiej w Bydgoszczy w dwudziestoleciu międzywojennym. W setną rocznicę powrotu miasta do Polski

Abstract

The Bydgoszcz Municipal Library’s Collections in the Interwar Period. On the Hundredth Anniversary of the City’s Return to Poland In 1920, after nearly a century and a half of captivity, Bydgoszcz returned to Poland. The Polish authorities took over the Stadtbibliothek Bromberg, founded by the Germans in 1903. The library contained a valuable collection of approximately 75,000 volumes, although Polish books amounted to merely 300 copies. From the mid-1920s until the outbreak of World War II, Witold Bełza served as the director of the Library. He preserved the valuable collection, including items of post-German provenance. Acting during this difficult period for Poland and the city, he obtained collections with Polish provenance and led to the inclusion of the Municipal Library in Bydgoszcz as one of the most important public libraries in the country.