Most art libraries in Poland are in fact sections of libraries of more general scope. In the case of the National Library of Warsaw, although material on Polish art is represented in the collections there is no art section as such. Other art library collections include the library of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy, the ‘Cabinets of Illustrations’ within other libraries attached to the Polish Academy in various cities, departmental libraries in universities and technical universities, and libraries of museums and of learned and professional societies. Public libraries disseminate information on the arts and often organise arts activities; the Art Section of the Warsaw Public Library is among the most important art library collections in the country. Although public libraries join in cooperative arts ventures, art libraries in Poland have not yet begun to work together, and so far there is no professional organisation especially for art librarians.

The need to document the history of art in Poland, and to provide a bibliographic record of, and access to, that documentation, is felt the more keenly because Poland’s cultural heritage has been so vulnerable to the ravages of history. The Polish Art Bibliography 1801-1944, a labour of love dating back to 1951, existed for many years as a constantly expanding card index at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy; publication in a series of volumes began with Volume I Part 1 in 1975, and brought with it problems of editing and selection. Volumes II and III have followed; Volume IV, devoted to architecture, is in preparation.

Should a collection of prints and graphic materials include only items of undoubted artistic worth, or can it also include items which are valued primarily as historical evidence and because they vividly illustrate the past? This question is raised by the variety of materials accumulated in the graphic collections of the Biblioteka Jagiellonska in Cracow, ranging as they do from artists’ prints to photographs and postcards, and including a unique collection of material arising from the political struggle in Poland during the 1980s. Typically, graphic collections accumulate by gift and chance, without any intention that they should serve only a single aim; since visual images of all kinds lend themselves to being looked at and used in different ways, a visual collection, especially in a public library, should serve many purposes and a wide range of users. (A full English version follows the original text in French).

“Informkultura” is an information system, for art and culture, based on the Lenin State Library, but involving other major libraries in the U.S.S.R. as well as national libraries and information centres in Eastern Europe, Cuba, and Vietnam. “Informkultura” disseminates information through regular publications, including bibliographic indexes and information bulletins, and a variety of information services. Currently, “Informkultura” is responding to the impact of “perestroika” and the ensuing demand, for, and democratisation of, information.

This conversation between the distinguished art historian, Professor Sir Ernst Gombrich, and Krzysztof Z. Cieszkowski of the Tate Gallery Library, took place in Professor Gombrich’s home late in 1990. Professor Gombrich recalls making use of a number of libraries, and offers some thoughts — from an art historian’s point of view — on librarians, who, it is suggested, tend to make too much of professional skills at the expense of knowledge.