Five more libraries join the National Library Union Catalogue
This year a further five libraries joined the group of institutions co-cataloguing with the National Library. This was possible thanks to the implementation of the state-of-the-art Alma library system and Primo search engine, part of the multiyear National Reading Development Programme 2.0 for 2021-25 (NPRCz 2.0). The integration of the five new libraries marks the successful completion of the programme, creating a single system with a shared database that enables the provision of standardised library services and consistent access to library materials and other information. Notably, the National Library Union Catalogue was accessed more than half a billion times in the first half of 2025 alone.
The National Library acts as the “operator” for Priority 1, Intervention Direction 1.2 of NPRCz 2.0 – Building a nationwide library network by means of an integrated library resource management system. As such, it covers all the costs of implementing and maintaining the system. The National Library worked closely with teams from the five new libraries, namely:
- The Municipal Library in Łódź (and 58 branch libraries)
The Raczyński Library in Poznań (and 35 branch libraries)
The Library of the University of Wrocław (with 32 faculty and institute libraries)
The Main Library of the Warsaw University of Technology (with 22 faculty and institute libraries)
The Library of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (with 19 faculty and institute libraries).
A full list of the libraries covered by NPRCz 2.0 is available here.
Libraries joining the shared catalogue are required to follow the principles for editing and selecting National Library Descriptors, as well as the cataloguing regulations of the National Library. This directly improves the quality and consistency of the data on Polish library collections. To facilitate the effective application of the National Library’s cataloguing regulations, the National Library provided participating libraries with access to training materials in the form of 63 recordings and 63 presentations. These covered the following topics: the National Library’s cataloguing regulations; principles for editing and selecting National Library Descriptors; using National Library Descriptors to catalogue publications in various fields in the arts and sciences; and classifying publications using the Universal Decimal Classification.
In addition to these training materials, the National Library also makes available daily consultations with specialists from the National Bibliographic Institute of the National Library and with subject librarians from the National Library’s Subject Cataloguing Department. In total, 37 consultations are held each week, conducted online from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. All methodological and training materials relating to the National Library’s cataloguing regulations and Descriptors are also publicly available on the National Library Cataloguing Regulations website at przepisy.bn.org.pl.
The National Library further provides opportunities to consult subject librarians from its acquisition departments for particular collections about cataloguing specific types of publications according to their format. In addition, libraries could access training materials on the Alma system and Primo search engine, including their various functionalities, in the form of 55 recordings, plus additional training on the system and on co-cataloguing organised by the National Library. Together, these materials and consultations form a comprehensive toolkit, enabling libraries to begin cataloguing in accordance with the National Library’s standards.
The system runs in the cloud and is accessible via a web browser on any device. It supports processes for all the libraries in the network, regardless of their type, size of collection or number of readers. It also enables stable remote work outside the library’s premises.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of integrating libraries into the Integrated Resource Management System for Libraries is that it makes it possible to co-catalogue in real time within a single IT system, directly reducing the costs borne by libraries. The growing number of libraries with access to the online catalogue has also increased accessibility to collections for readers, of course. Through their own online catalogues, the libraries have joined the Union Catalogue, which now includes around 70 million items – a figure that is growing daily as new publications are added. We encourage you to explore the richness of Polish written culture by visiting the Union Catalogue on https://katalogi.bn.org.pl.
The five new libraries join the large number of libraries where the system is already in use: the National Library, the Jagiellonian Library (including the faculty and institute libraries of the Jagiellonian University); academic libraries including those of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, the Bronisław Czech University of Physical Education in Kraków, and Gdynia Maritime University; the libraries of the Fahrenheit Universities (including the University of Gdańsk); regional public libraries in Olsztyn, Lublin, Wrocław, Szczecin, Łódź and Kielce; and municipal libraries in Elbląg, Gdynia and Wrocław. In total, 153 libraries and more than 674 branch libraries now co-catalogue within the system. The same system is used by leading libraries around the world, including those of Harvard University and the University of Oxford, the national library networks of Denmark and Switzerland, and selected university libraries in those countries.
You can read more about the activities of the co-cataloguing libraries in our report on the Conference of Users of the National Library Union Catalogue.
NPRCz 2.0 is a multiyear government programme covering the period 2021-25. Under the programme, more than a billion złoty – 60 percent from the state budget, 40 percent in contributions from beneficiaries – has been allocated to various forms of support for and promotion of reading in Poland. The programme itself is the largest and one of the most important multiyear programmes of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, in terms of both the scale of its impact and the size of its budget. Its objectives are to support, promote and develop reading in Poland, to foster pro-reading attitudes, to increase access to books in all formats, to strengthen Polish language skills and to reinforce the role of public libraries as local centres of community life and gateways to culture and knowledge.
NPRCz 2.0 has four priority support areas, each one supported by either the National Library, the Book Institute, the Ministry of Education and Science, or the National Centre for Culture. As part of the programme, for example, nearly half a billion złoty has been channelled into the publishing market via the purchase of new books, while several hundred million złoty more has been allocated to the modernisation and construction of libraries.
