Number of sistership established: 1

Country: Croatia

Description: "Marko Marulic Split City Library stems from many libraries that existed in Split through history, starting with the Cathedral library, which is also the oldest Croatian library. Many church, monastery or private libraries owned by respectable and famous citizens of Split have also contributed to the rich tradition of Split library history. Since the funds of these libraries were mostly unavailable to the general public a growing need for books resulted in forming of first public libraries in Split. The first known public library was formed by a priest and professor Ivan Paštrić in 1700 as part of the Archdiocese seminary. The next known public library was the „Public Slavic Reading Room“ (Narodna slavjanska citaonica), founded in 1862, followed by the City library in 1903., The Public library in 1904., and the City public library in 1913. Today's city library of Split was founded in 1951 under the name „Lending library“(Posudbena biblioteka). Today's name Marko Marulic City Library (Gradska knjižnica Marka Marulića) has been official since 1993. The Library has changed and evolved during the following decades, building and expanding a network of branches through the city and suburbia, as the city itself and the county have grown, together with their citizen's cultural needs. A harmonic flow of events during the second half of 20th century was harshly disrupted in 1998 with closing of the central Split library. Much effort, patience and hard work was needed to return to the former path.At the beginning of 2008 a new central library building opened for public, marking a new era of culture in Split and the whole Split-Dalmatia County, promising a bright future once again.

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Type of library: Metropolitan

Population served: More than 100.000

Current library programs:
  • Digitalization and Preservation
  • Exhibitions
  • Reading promotion
Activities you want to do with your sister library:
  • Exchange of ideas and expertise
  • Exchange of resources
  • Exhibitions
  • Reading promotion

Languages spoken by staff: Croatian, English, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Slovenian, Polish

Languages spoken by patrons: Croatian, English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Russian, Macedonian

Preferred countries for cooperation: No preferences

Searching partners for European program: Yes

Participating in any European Union program: Yes