General information

The Library is of special interest to the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, the County of Istria and the City of Pula, all of them being responsible for fi nancial support. It is a component of the University

research and teaching infrastructure. Its function refers to collecting materials needed in teaching and research activities at the university level and ensuring their availability to potential users. Besides, it is in charge of the common University databases.

Apart from having its university-level functions, it is also a general research library of public signifi cance, whose materials are available not just to students but also to citizens and pupils throughout Pula and Istria.

The computer registration of materials after 1988 resulted in the bibliographic database with around 90,000 records, which has been integrated into the network of Croatian libraries since 2003, enabling search on the Internet. Due to its integration into CARNET (the Croatian Academic Network), users can search on the Internet without paying any charge. The Library is also active in publishing and organising cultural programmes (exhibitions, lectures, book presentations).

Organisationally speaking, it is divided into the Department for Processing Materials (activities related to purchase and accession of materials), general holdings of books, periodical editions, collections), the Borrowing and IT Department (referential activities and catalogues, borrowing activities and activities in reading room) and the General Department.

History of the library 

The oldest holdings dates from 1861 when the Provincial Library of Istria was founded to be, in 1930, added to the Library of the Istrian Society for Archaeology and Homeland History (1884) and the Pula Public Library (1903). On 21st December 1949, it was established as the Scientific Library by the Committee of Scientifi c Institutions, Universities and Higher Schools (Zagreb). The decree on foundation explicitly states its two basic tasks: contribution to scientifi c activities and collection of books closely related to Istria. These are still incorporated in its main activities. Due to the first mission development, the Library has had its university-level function since 1979 while the second mission development has led to the rich holdings of the regional Histrica County Collection. At its establishing, the Library was given the holdings of the Provincial Library of Istria containing around 30,000 volumes at that time. In 1958 the Library was legally entitled to get a copy of each edition published in Croatia.

The Pula Municipality was the owner and founder of the Library from 1961 to 1994. In 1979 it became a part of the Rijeka University Library and, in 1994, the University of Rijeka became its owner and founder. According to this, the Library got its current name in 1995. In December 2006, it got included in the newly-established University.

Since 1968, it has been located in the building built in 1908 as the public primary school. It covers the area of 1,500 m˛. Dom hrvatskih branitelja (Leharova 1, fi rst fl oor) houses the Marine Library Collection.

Information on the Library

The Library is available to all users above 16. There are two reading rooms with 60 seats in total: the big one (50 seats) and the small (so-called professors’) one (12 seats). The materials that cannot be used outside the Library are available there. The small reading room also contains the referential collection with an open access. Using the inter-library exchange service, it is possible to order books or copies of articles from the European and world libraries.

Its web pages enable users to have a direct access to the Library catalogues (e-bibliographical database with 98,711 records) and the collective catalogue of the University Library as well as to databases. The Library also provides the service of copying materials; has a special camera for microfilming, the equipment for making reproductions from microfi lm onto paper and a microfi lm reader. Book binding service is also available there.

The Library regularly organises courses on how to use catalogues, database and other related aids and devices. It provides CIP-information to the publishers from the County of Istria.

The Library holdings comprise more than 300,000 book volumes, 125,500 journal volumes (4,300 titles), 5,550 newspaper annual fi les (850 titles), 40 volumes and 26 boxes of manuscripts signed by researchers from Istria, around 470 doctor’s and master’s theses, 240 VHSs, 94 DVDs, 319 CD-ROMs, and other materials. Their contents cover the entire fi eld of human knowledge. There are several collections, the best known among them are the Histrica County Collection and the Marine Library.

The Marine Library/K.u.k. Marine Bibliothek (the registered cultural monument of the Republic of Croatia) contains 20,371 volumes of scientifi c and professional publications from the whole world published until 1918. According to their contents, they cover maritime aff airs and sciences closely related to them as well as the Humanities (in particular, history).

The Histrica County Collection includes the works on Istria, works by authors from Istria and works published in Istria until 1945. In total, around 16,000 volumes of books, around 2,200 volumes of journals and 384 titles of newspapers.

Biblioteca provinciale dell’Istria (the Provincial Library of Istria) was established in 1930 in Pula. It contains around 30,000 volumes, around 90% of them being in the Italian language.

The Collection of Old and Rare Books and Manuscripts is made up of around 200 book volumes (incunabula, books from 16th and 17th century, Croatica published until 1850, rare books from late period, manuscripts and letters by some more important Istrians from 19th c.). The collection comprises 4 incunabula.

The Music Collection includes around 700 volumes of music manuscript books and a record library with around 2,500 records, mainly classical music (CDs, LPs, cassettes).

The Antonio Smareglia (1854 - 1929) Memorial Room, open in 2004 in the house where the composer was born in Pula (Augustov prolaz 3). The documentary materials about A. Smareglia include the autographs of scores, letters, photographs, posters, music records, etc.

The Collection of Graphics contains 541 volumes of printed maps of graphics, picture postcards, photographs, poster, etc.

Contact

Address: Herkulov prolaz 1, 52100 Pula

Phone: 052 / 213 888, 388 831, 388 832

Fax: 052 / 214 603

E-mail: skpu@skpu.hr

www. skpu.hr

Head: Tijana Barbić Domazet, M.A.

Working hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

For more information visit skpu.unipu.hr