Milica Jovančićević
milica.jovancicevic@iib.ac.rs

Slavica Merenik
slavica.merenik@iib.ac.rs

Istorijski institut Beograd

doi: 10.19090/cit.2023.42.24-30
No. 42 (May 2023), p. 24-30

Formation and development of holdings of the Library
of the Historical Institute in Belgrade

Summary

The Historical Institute was founded in 1947 under the auspices of the Serbian Academy of Sciences, with the task of studying the economic, social, political and cultural history of Serbian people, as well as its connections with the South Slavic and other Balkan nations. Until 1961, the Institute of History was a part of the Serbian Academy of Sciences, and then, by the decision of the Government of Serbia, it was separated as an indepedent institution.
The Library of the Historical Institute in Belgrade, one of the best-equipped libraries for the history of Serbia and the Balkan Peninsula, celebrates its 75th anniversary. It started working in 1947, shortly after the establishment of the Institute. The main part of the library collection are publications related to the history of the Serbian people in the period from the immigration of the Slavs to the Balkan Peninsula until the beginning of the Second World War. There are also a lot of books and journals from related scientific disciplines: ethnology, archaeology, history of art, philology, history of literature. The beginnings of the library holdings were personal libraries of Jovan Tomić, Stanojе Stanojević, Viljem Bukšek, and Mihailo Ristić. In addition to these purchased libraries, the fund was enlarging by bequests from former associates of the Historical Institute. Today, the Library has a collection of about 68,000 library items. The fund is growing by exchanges with 54 domestic and 64 foreign institutions. The Library has a collection of old and rare books and historical-geographical maps.
The Library of the Historical Institute is a special type of library, primarily serving associates of the Historical Institute. Domestic and foreign scientists use it, too, as well as other individuals looking for rare editions that are difficult to find.

Keywords:

Historical Institute Belgrade, Library, development, collections, Historical Review, Yearbook SASA, Serbia, Institutes, Special Libraries.

Submitted: 6th March 2023
Correction to the manuscript: 28th March 2023
Accepted for publication: 3th April 2023

Formation and development of holdings of the Library of the Historical Institute in Belgrade by Milica Jovančićević and Slavica Merenik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Full text