• 2016-05-05

Director General Tseng toured the Regional Public Library in Krakow (Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna w Krakowie, WBP). The library was founded in 1950 and in its 66 year history was one of Poland's legal deposit libraries. Director General Tseng met with WBP Director Jerzy Wozniakiewicz and Deputy Director Anna Wisniewska, during which they discussed their experience in library development. Director General Tseng also toured the library and visited the WBT's well-known resource center for the visually-impaired, the children's section, the Business and European information reading room, the foreign language lending library and reading room, the audiovisual center, and other reading rooms. The library maximizes the use of its space, even having thoughtful art and displays in hallways that patrons can view and browse.

The WBP in Krakow currently holds around 500,000 items, including art and resources for the visually-impaired. It also is engaged in many projects to promote culture and reading. It organizes, for instance, training sessions, workshops, soirées, literary contests, exhibitions, bookcrossing events, on its own or in cooperation with other cultural institutions and non-governmental organizations. The library provides different reading promotion and educational activities to reach a diverse group of patrons, including children, youth, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities.

The WBP also has a Malopolska Digital Library, which comprises of almost 80,000 digital volumes. The website has recommended reading lists and e-books for users; 52,616 items of cultural heritages, such as books from 1800-1939, manuscripts, maps (to 1939), music materials, old printed books, Journals (to 1939), and Incunabula; e-books on science and education (23707 items); regional resources (22,925 items of local history for Krakow, the province of Małopolska where it's located and other cities; journals & newspapers (30,067 items of Polish, Małopolska and local journals); special collection (2,249 items of audio-visual materials, broadsides, drawing, photograph, administrative agencies and cartographic materials); archival resources (9,475 items of museums in Krakow, Documentation Centre of Tatra and the National Archive in Krakow).