The commemorative conference marking the 150th anniversary of the library building concluded successfully at the ELTE University Library and Archives.
As the opening event of the anniversary celebration, Rector Dr. Lénárd Darázs and Chancellor Dr. Gyula Scheuer, representing Eötvös Loránd University, as well as Zsolt Sári, State Secretary for Public Collections and Heritage Protection from the Ministry of Social Relations and Culture, delivered welcoming remarks.
Dr. Lénárd Darázs, Rector of Eötvös Loránd University, welcomed the audience of 140 people gathered for the anniversary event, recalling the ceremonial inauguration of the Library Palace in 1876, at which Károly Than, then rector of the university, and Ágoston Trefort, Minister of Religion and Public Education, also delivered speeches. He highlighted the university’s progressive role in Hungarian higher education, culture, teacher training, and public education, emphasising that the University Library building symbolises ELTE’s historical, cultural, scientific, and educational roles alike. In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Gyula Scheuer, Chancellor of Eötvös Loránd University, highlighted not only the cultural and digital heritage but also the efficient work of the staff working within the library’s walls. Dr. Zsolt Sári, State Secretary for Public Collections and Heritage Protection, speaking at the home of the country’s first – and for centuries, only – state university library, in Hungary’s first palace designed and built specifically for library purposes, explained that the state’s current role is primarily to provide a fitting framework for the university’s operations.
In her opening address, Director General Dr. kulcsár Szabó Ernőné Gombos Annamária, noted that the mission of the University Library – which is celebrating its 465th anniversary this year – as the first state-funded public library was defined by Maria Theresa in 1777 as ensuring open access to the university’s body of knowledge, and to fulfill the initial functions of a national library.
The iconic palace that houses the institution – and symbolizes every aspect of the scholarship embodied by the university – was completed in 1876 based on the architectural plans of Antal Szkalniczky (1836–1878), and for nearly 120 years, it has faced significant challenges in accommodating the ever-expanding scholarly collection and the dynamic growth in the number of university students. Today, in the age of digitisation and artificial intelligence, the building’s primary purpose is to provide students with a complex learning environment – a need clearly demonstrated by the fact that more people are using the same space today than ever before.
In his lecture, Research Professor Dr. József Sisa paid tribute to Antal Szkalniczky’s life’s work and design philosophy, focusing on the library building as a work of art. Art historian Dániel Kovács presented the 20th-century transformations of the library building, illustrating them with examples from the same period, while architects Miklós Péterffy and Bálint Dőry outlined their conceptual plan for the expansion of the University Library building, featuring new community and learning spaces that are open and freely connected to public spaces – spaces that offer an elegant, contemporary, and creative solution to the space constraints that have existed for 120 years, while also evoking and paying homage to the building’s original design.
The interactive installation, which was officially unveiled at the conference, offers some interesting facts related to the building’s history and the life that takes place within it.
As a key player in open scientific infrastructure and research support, the institution continues to provide an open space for in-depth learning, while also serving community-building goals; which is why – in response to student needs – the BoYL community space, created as part of the international student inclusion project, was renovated, and two new rooms were opened, expanding the space available to the university community by an additional 30 seats. Dávid Zubreczki delivered a welcoming speech at the ceremonial opening of the new community spaces. A photo exhibition by Márta Csikós entitled “Heritage and Presence – People and Memory in a 150-Year-Old Space,” which focused on the staff members who ensure the building and library’s daily operations through their work, was opened by Gábor Lakos, a photojournalist for HVG.