About the library
Library of the Małopolska State University named after Captain Witold Pilecki in OświęcimThe University of Applied Sciences (formerly the State Higher Vocational School) is a university-wide organizational unit. Its role is to support scientific and educational processes by collecting, processing, and making scientific information available to students, teaching staff, and the local community, using the latest technologies.
BThe library was created from scratch in the 2005/2006 academic year. This year was also the first year of operation for the Oświęcim State University of Applied Sciences. It occupied a small room in a replacement building on Bema Street until June 2006. Later, along with the entire university, it moved to its new location at 8 Kolbego Street.
The library is located on the second floor of Collegium Inventorum, where reading rooms, a book lending library, and an interlibrary loan service are located. The library's holdings include over 42 items, both purchased and donated. Besides books, these include periodicals, audiovisual materials, language learning programs, and databases.
The library is fully computerized based on the library system timeIn addition to ensuring the smooth operation of the Library, the system provides online access to the library catalog. Through the catalog, readers can order books for loan, make reservations, and check the status of their library accounts.
The scope of information offered by the Library is further expanded by an on-site database containing over 37 records of articles from edited journals.
The library offers specialized professional publications: scientific and professional journals, including those in foreign languages, daily newspapers, weeklies, and more. For visually impaired students, a modern computer with writing-assisted software – Dolphin Guide (large font, voice instructions) – and a professional magnifier were purchased.
Through the University's network, you can browse the Polish Medical Bibliography database, read e-books in the IBUK Libra database, and use Electronic Information for Libraries Direct – eIFL Direct – an information database of journals in the eIFL-EBSCO consortium (online access to full-text databases of newspapers and periodicals). Readers can receive individual access to databases outside the University's network.
The information offer is expanded by other databases of the Virtual Science Library: Elsevier, Springer and Web of Science.
The high quality and diversity of the book collection is largely due to generous donors, both faculty and many institutions. In 2005, collaboration began with the National Library, and in 2006 with the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Krakow. Thanks to the commitment of the late Consul Thomas Gläser, a wonderful man and friend of the Library, a gift of 400 new books, videos, DVDs, and CDs for students of German philology was made to the library. In the following years, further contacts were established with publishing houses (including university publishing houses), bookstores, antiquarian bookstores, libraries, the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Warsaw, the Marshal's Office in Krakow, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Goethe Institute in Bonn and Krakow, and many other institutions. Private individuals also contributed carefully preserved volumes.
In 2012, the Library was enriched with a rich collection of books from the recently closed Teacher Training College in Sucha Beskidzka.
