Antecedents of the Warsaw Public Library

Abstract

The history of Warsaw's public libraries reflects the political history of Poland. From the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 until it regained independence in 1918, public libraries played double roles of vital educational and political institutions. Libraries were charged with a special mission to preserve and maintain the Polish national identity threatened by policies of Russification, specifically during the Russian Partition. In Warsaw, most notably in the second half of the nineteenth century when Russia's efforts to suppress Polish language and literature from public life reached their peak, the public library movement, strengthened by the spirit of the resistance, resulted in the creation of the Warsaw Public Library as it is known today.

Keywords:

• POLISH LIBRARIES
• NINETEENTH CENTURY
• WARSAW
• PUBLIC LIBRARIES
• POSITIVIST MOVEMENT
• POLISH PARTITIONS
• POLAND
• POLISH INTELLIGENTSIA
• RUSSIFICATION