On 6 February 2024, the libraries belonging to the Fahrenheit Universities (the University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk University of Technology and Medical University of Gdańsk, along with all faculty libraries) and the European Solidarity Centre completed the implementation of the Alma state-of-the-art library system and the Primo search engine. Those libraries have joined the ranks of libraries co-cataloguing with the National Library. The central state library participated in the implementation process of the system, provided training and de-duplication of records, and helped in the implementation and configuration of the system.

The biggest advantage of joining the integrated resource management system by a library is the option of real-time co-cataloguing in a single IT system, and this has a direct impact on reducing library costs. The integrated libraries, through their own online catalogues, have joined the combined catalogues, now covering as many as nearly 46 million collection units (that number increasing daily with new publications). We encourage you to discover the wealth of Polish literature available in the combined catalogues at https://katalogi.bn.org.pl/. In addition, the readers of each of the Fahrenheit Universities libraries can also search the combined catalogues of the FarU Libraries and each catalogue independently, and registered members of the UG, GUT and MUG academic community can order books from those libraries and borrow them without registering separately in each library.

With the implementation of the system in the libraries of the University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk University of Technology, Medical University of Gdańsk and European Solidarity Centre, the resources in the combined catalogues have increased by 2.7 million units. The implementation of the library resource management system in the libraries of the Fahrenheit Universities was co-financed from the non-competition project titled “Supporting university consolidation processes”, pursued by the Ministry of Education and Science under the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development co-financed by the European Social Fund (contract no. MEiN/2022/DIR/3438).

With 1.2 million volumes of books, 358,000 volumes of periodicals and 195,000 units of special collections, the collection of the University of Gdańsk Library is a universal one, with a particular focus on the disciplines represented at the University of Gdańsk and on issues related to the maritime sector. Of particular value is the collection of antique books from the area of former Prussia (among them, rare items published in Chełmno, Braniewo, Oliwa and Elbląg) and works by persons connected with the Academic Gymnasium of Danzig The library also has a unique manuscript collection connected with Pomerania and Kashubia, documents and materials concerning Pomeranian-Kashubian organisations and personal collections concerning prominent figures linked with the region. The institution's map collection includes the historical maps of Gdańsk and Prussia, as well as German and British nautical charts from the early 20^th century. The UG Library has also gathered a large collection of documents related to the democratic opposition from the period of the People's Republic of Poland. The collection comprises periodicals, printed matter and ephemera (such as placards, posters and calendars).

The thematic range of the book collection of the Library of the Gdańsk University of Technology, consisting of over 500,000 volumes of books, journals and special collections, is consistent with the research profile and the fields of education at that University. The library collects publications in the fields of engineering and technology, exact, natural, social, medical, health and agricultural sciences, arts and the humanities. A particularly valuable resource is the collection of antique books, representing a wide range of scientific disciplines from mathematics and physics through astronomy and geology to works on navigation and electricity. That book collection, which represents the scientific heritage of Pomerania, was once part of the library of the Danzig Research Society (Naturforschende Gesellschaft in Danzig) and the pre-war book collections of the Academic Gymnasium of Danzig (Königliche Gymnasium zu Danzig) and the Higher Technical School (Königliche Technische Hochschule Danzig).

With 230,000 volumes of books, 102,000 volumes of journals and 104,000 units of special collections, the Main Library of the Medical University of Gdańsk has the largest book collection in the Pomeranian Region in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, health care and related sciences, i.e. chemistry, biology, physics and psychology. The collection comprises the resources of the Main Library, the Library of the  Faculty of Pharmacy, and the collections of departments and institutes as those units make up the library and information system of the Medical University of Gdańsk, whose users also have access to the collection of fiction books.

The specially profiled collections of the European Solidarity Centre (ECS) , numbering 33,000 volumes, correspond to the subject matter of the parent institution. The ECS library has a humanities-oriented book collection with items on recent history, sociology, philosophy, political science, as well as culture, literature and art. In particular, there are publications on the history of Europe and the world after 1945, the history of “Solidarity” and of the opposition movements in the People's Republic of Poland, and on democracy, totalitarianism, human rights, civic society and local identity. The Historical Collection is of particular value and includes samizdat and émigré literature.

To date, the National Library, as the operator of Priority 1. Intervention Direction 1.2. Building a nationwide library network through an integrated library resource management system under the National Programme for the Development of Readership (NPRCz) 2.0 for 2021-2025, has already implemented the Alma system in more than 130 public and academic libraries and those belonging to the nationwide library network across Poland. A full list of implementations under the National Programme for the Development of Readership is available here. The Central State Library also participated in the implementation of the system in the libraries of the Maritime University in Gdynia and the Bronisław Czech University of Physical Education in Kraków.

As part of the National Programme for the Development of Readership 2.0 for 2021-2025, work is currently underway on connecting more large libraries to the system, scheduled for the coming years, including: the University of Warsaw, the Pontifical John Paul II University in Kraków, AGH University of Kraków, the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Institute of Culture and Rural Heritage, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Warsaw University of Technology, the University of Wrocław, the City Library in Łódź, the Regional Public Library in Łódź and the Raczyński Library.

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Press release received from the National Library