BIBLIOTECA MUZEULUI NAŢIONAL AL UNIRII ALBA IULIA 1887-1949
The Library of the National Museum of Union from Alba Iulia (1887-1949)

Summary/Abstract: This study looks at the evolution of the National Museum of Union Library during the period 1887-1949. In its first decades of existence, this section of the museum has developed under the close supervision of Adalbert Cserni, custodian, and then director of the museum during 1887- 1916. Relying on the idea that research in any field needs a solid foundation, specialized treatises, synthesis works, etc., Adalbert Cserni will really be concerned about the creation of a functional library specialized in history and archeology. His efforts regarding this problem materialized in the emergence of a fund composed of important books and specialty magazines of the time, Adalbert Cserni coming in contact, through correspondence with specialists from Transylvania and Europe. In 1916, the year of Cserni's death, a total of 4,634 books were recorded in the inventory of the museum. As a result, the library was enriched in 27 years by approximately 3,600 volumes. From 1938, the Museum will be led by Ion Berciu, also concerned with the development of the museum library. Being aware of the new editorial appearences, the director of the museum was involved in the creation of a specialized library, the proof being the numerous addresses and letters sent to the libraries, publishers and editors of the magazines in the country and abroad, kept in the archives of the museum library. Despite the difficulties, the lack of adequate storage space and the lack of a librarian (only in 1945 a librarian is employed), the library is growing at a rapid pace, so in the year 1941 it reached about 6,000 volumes, arranged in a few cabinets in the director's office. Until 1949, when all the museum's staff were dismissed, and the museum was sealed due to sociopolitical transformations, the library knew the same constant development. This year, 1949, is the end of one of the most important stages in the evolution of the museum and, implicitly, of the library. The destiny of the books gathered here with so much passion and perseverance by the two directors, Adalbert Cserni and Ion Berciu, took a dramatic turn. Many of the books were destroyed, and in the library began to be recorded books reflecting the communist ideology.

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