
The Library
With the founding of the Museum Society in Sarajevo in 1884, work began on establishing the Library of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the first scientific library on the soil of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The library started operating in 1888, and since 1913, when the Museum moved into new buildings, it has been housed in the premises where it is still located today.
The library of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina is organized as a special scientific library, with over 300,000 volumes of publications (books, magazines, newspapers).
In the first years of operation, the library was run by the curators of other departments, in addition to their regular duties. The concept of the library was created by the first museum director, Kosta Hörmann, and Ćiro Truhelka, Othmar Reiser, Franjo Fiala, Gregor Čremošnik, Vejsil Ćurčić participated in its work as curators. The first library expert to lead the library was Franjo Topič, who headed the library from 1898 to 1913.
The material owned by the library has been systematically collected since 1888 and relates to the fields of archaeology, history, ethnology, folkloristics, mineralogy, geology, botany, zoology and museology.
The old collections of the library gathered during the period of Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia are of rarity.
In addition to extremely valuable and rare books, the Library of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a significant collection of periodicals and daily newspapers dating from the Austro-Hungarian period to the present day. In the collection of the library, you can find a large number of daily and monthly newspapers that are extremely useful for researching the past of our country and beyond.
The significance of the Library of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina lies not only in the scope of its material, but also in its diversity, which makes it an indispensable place for all those who study the cultural and natural heritage of the region and its history, whether domestic or foreign researchers.
Since the beginning of its activities, thanks to its publishing activities, i.e. publishing the Herald of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the oldest scientific magazine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Library has established contacts and exchange of publications with scientific institutions and museums around the world. Today, the exchange takes place with around 400 institutions around the world and 40 institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The library offers its users a search of leaf catalogs. For all inquiries about the library’s materials and holdings, you can contact us at the email biblioteka@zalejskimuzej.ba or phone number: 033/586-321.
Staff
Head of the Library