The Library of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The National Museum Library is a specialised scientific library with around 300,000 volumes (books, magazines, newspapers). Work on its founding commenced with the establishment of the Museum Society in Sarajevo in 1884, when it was conceived as the first scientific library in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It started operations in 1888, and when the museum moved in 1913 to its new buildings, the library moved into its present-day facilities. 

The library was the brainchild of Kosta Hörmann, the first director of the Musem, and the list of curators and librarians who have headed it includes Ćiro Truhelka, Othmar Reiser, Franjo Fiala, Gregor Čremošnik, Vejsil Ćurčić, Franjo Topić, Vladimir Ćorović, Petar Skok, Derviš Korkut, Matija Lopac, Hajrudin Ćurić, and Olga Lalević.

The materials the Library possesses have been systematically collected for 129 years, and they cover the areas of archaeology, history, ethnology, folklore, mineralogy, geology, botany, zoology, and museology. The earliest library holdings, gathered during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, are rarities. From its very beginnings, the library has established contacts and engaged in publication exchange with museums and scientific institutions worldwide thanks to its publishing activities, namely the Herald of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The library has the following catalogues:
•    alphabetic catalogue of periodicals (unique copies and duplicates);
•    catalogue of unique copies and duplicates by author;
•    systematic catalogue.

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Staff