History of the Library of the Faculty of Theology at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin

Abstract

The Theological Library was established at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) in 1920, soon after the foundation of the Faculty of Theology. During the World War II the books were preserved outside of KUL. After that, the collections was divided into biblical, dogmatic, moral, fundamental theology and history of the Church sections. In 1950 there was only one common reading room with the collections of 11,147 volumes. The needs increased in 1957, when the program of theological studies for lay people started. In 1970, there were 8 specialized departmental collections, handled by one librarian. In 1999 the Theological Library was transferred to the John Paul II College. In 2013 there were almost 38 thousand volumes. In 2014, after the integration with the Library of the Institute of Pastoral Theology, our collection counts 62931 volumes with 24 thousand visitors in the reading room. The Theological Library is the meeting place for researchers and students. There are workshops, expositions and once a year the final exams for license in theology. But the scientific information is its main activity. The old card catalog and 51% bibliographic descriptions of collections have been digitalized (Virtua system). 80% of resources are in Polish language but the number of books in English is growing due to the presence of English speaking doctoral candidates. The Theological Library is the integral part of Faculty of Theology and receives full support from its administration.