Library

We invite you to make use of the library collections of the National Museum in Gdańsk.

The Museum Library and Reading Room consists of six library branches:

• the Main Library at the Medieval and Early Modern Art Collection, 1 Toruńska Street;
• the collections of the Gdańsk Photography Gallery and the NOMUS ‒ New Museum of Art, 14 Jaracza Street;
• the collections of the Department of Modern Art and the Theatre Department at the Abbots’ Palace in Oliwa;
• the collection of the Department of Ethnography at the Opacki Granary in Oliwa;
• the collection of the Museum of the Polish Nobility in Waplewo Wielkie;
• the collection of the Museum of the National Anthem in Będomin.

The library collections include publications relevant to the work of each department, covering art history, museology and conservation, the history of material culture, exhibition catalogues and publications issued by the National Museum in Gdańsk, as well as books on the architecture, art and history of Gdańsk.

The collections of all the Museum’s library branches comprise more than 55,000 inventory items. The Library and Reading Room at the Department of Old Art holds 30,000 inventory items comprising books and 4,000 inventory items comprising periodicals. The collections also include 200 rare books, the oldest dating from the 16th century, and more than 2,000 postcards depicting Gdańsk. They also include archival materials that largely complement the records held by the State Archives in Gdańsk and concern the history of museums in Gdańsk and the origins of the Municipal Museum.

A substantial part of the Library’s holdings consists of books from the pre-war Stadtmuseum Danzig, bearing historical ownership marks such as stamps and bookplates.

The Library and Reading Room also collects documentation relating to the Museum’s exhibitions, including invitations, leaflets, press materials, exhibition labels, posters and educational materials. Since 2015, this documentation has been maintained in digital form.

The Library and Reading Room is also home to a remarkable historic object: a Renaissance sandstone fireplace dating from 1630, made by an unknown sculptor. The fireplace was originally part of the furnishings of the so-called Gdańsk Hall, which was located in what are now the Museum Library’s rooms before 1939.

Library and Reading Room
e-mail: biblioteka@mng.gda.pl
tel. +48 58 301 70 61 ext. 212

Library at the Department of Old Art
1 Toruńska Street, Gdańsk
Visits are available by prior telephone appointment only.
Open Monday to Friday, 9.00–16.00

Reading Room at NOMUS – New Museum of Art
14 Stefana Jaracza Street, Gdańsk
During the inventory process, the NOMUS Reading Room will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 12.00–16.00