The PME Library Reading Room is open on:
Tuesdays: 10:00–15:00
Thursdays: 10:00–15:00
For library enquiries, please contact: biblioteka@ethnomuseum.pl
The Museum Library primarily serves Museum staff as a resource for research and for curators preparing exhibitions. However, all interested visitors are welcome to use the collections.
The Library does not lend materials outside the building. All items are available on site only, in the reading room.
To access the collections, visitors must present a valid identity document. Interlibrary loans are available. Loans may be arranged for staff of academic institutions upon presentation of an institutional guarantee.
For library queries, please contact: biblioteka@ethnomuseum.pl
In addition to the traditional card catalogue, an online catalogue is available via the MAK|+ library system. To access it, click here [LINK]. Wi-Fi is available in the reading room.
The Museum Library primarily serves Museum staff as a resource for research and for curators preparing exhibitions. However, all interested visitors are welcome to use the collections.
The Library does not lend materials outside the building. All items are available on site only, in the reading room.
To access the collections, visitors must present a valid identity document. Interlibrary loans are available. Loans may be arranged for staff of academic institutions upon presentation of an institutional guarantee.
For library queries, please contact: biblioteka@ethnomuseum.pl
In addition to the traditional card catalogue, an online catalogue is available via the MAK|+ library system. To access it, click here. Wi-Fi is available in the reading room.
Special Collections of the Library
The Library’s Special Collection comprises more than 200,000 archival materials relating to the ethnography of Poland, Europe, and non-European regions, created from the early 19th century to the present day. These include, among others: photographs, negatives, manuscripts, films, sound recordings, posters, postcards, prints, engravings, and various documents, including personal archives of former Museum staff.
Among the most interesting and oldest items are collections of 19th-century engravings from the illustrated press, presenting folk types and customs from various regions of Poland, Europe, and the world, originating from the so-called J.J. Michalski Deposit. Equally noteworthy are the watercolours by Tadeusz Rybkowski, which, among other uses, illustrated subsequent volumes of Oskar Kolberg’s The Complete Works. The collection also includes original 19th-century studio photographs by Ignacy Krieger and Juliusz Dutkiewicz, as well as peasant portraits by Wojciech Migacz from the turn of the century, along with works by many other photographers. The collection further comprises numerous drawings of folk costumes, embroidery motifs, and regional patterns created by various authors, as well as an extensive postcard collection.
A large portion of the collection consists of photographic documentation from field research conducted in Poland and abroad between the 1940s and the 1990s. These materials were produced during research expeditions by the Museum staff or acquired from travellers. They include photographs of disappearing trades and crafts, rural rituals and customs in Poland, as well as slide collections by Przemysław Burchard and Borys Małkin from South America, and African photographs by Wacław Korabiewicz. Among the Polish materials, particular attention should be given to the glass plate negatives of Mieczysław Cholewa and the negatives of Antoni Kroh, documenting the Sącz region, Podhale, and the Low Beskids.
In addition to photographs, the documentation includes field interviews, various manuscripts, and audiovisual materials recorded during the Museum’s fieldwork, such as 16mm films, video recordings, tape recordings, and digital audio-video files. These records present diverse aspects of rural material and social culture, as well as the broadly understood sphere of folklore (rituals and customs).
The collection also includes materials related to the Museum’s history and the personal archives of former staff members.
The Scientific Information Department makes special collections available on-site in the reading room upon obtaining permission and scheduling an appointment in advance. The use of materials for publication requires written consent from the PME Directorate and payment of the applicable fee, as outlined in the price list.
Contact:
tel. 22 827 76 41 ext. 255, 225
email: biblioteka@ethnomuseum.pl
