Upon leaving the head office of Bucharest Metropolitan Library, I turned my attention to one of the branches thereof: „Ion Creangă” Library. Located in close vicinity to „Mihail Sadoveanu”, „Ion Creangă” Branch is housed by an impressive edifice on Christian Tell Street.
The tiny inner courtyard of the mansion leads you straight to the Library, where, among books, I met very many readers. From primary school children come to the Library with their teacher, all the way to adults, some of them past their prime, all had a common purpose: the book.
„People in all social categories come to the Library. Beginning from young and very young children, brought in their parents’ or grandparents’ arms. This is happening because we have Branches dedicated to children, as it is the case with „Ion Creangă” Library. Actually, within all the Branches there are children’s corners. Active people, third-age persons, seniors, pupils, students, come to the Library,” told us Florentina Dobrogeanu-Ipsilante, (Specialty) Director within Bucharest Metropolitan Library.
„Ion Creangă” Library is an Area for Relaxation and Research
Among the shelves of „Ion Creangă” Library, I noticed Journalist and Writer Vartan Arachelian, one of the most well-known Television producers in Romania. He is a regular of this place, coming here either to borrow a book, or to consult certain volumes in the Lecture Room. He enjoys this world where he is having a really good time.
There is no way for you to have a different feeling, having in view the relaxation dominating this area. The books are ordered by collections in high-ceiling rooms hosting them and in which a certain rigor prevails, not at all uncomfortable. The atmosphere is a pleasant one, the employees of the Library being permanently among the readers.
Unlike other public Libraries, „Ion Creangă” is targeted especially at children. Therefore, within this facility we also find a play area, were there are collections of books in the Romanian language and games for children, organized by different age-groups.
Furthermore, „Ion Creangă” Branch includes also a Biblio Lounge, a modern space for work and relaxation. Here, people with interest have the possibility to work quietly on certain projects, having thus access to the documents the Library is possessed of. It also includes a room dedicated to foreign languages, and another one focused on the realms of knowledge.
The Library’s collection includes more than 40,000 documents, in all fields. We are talking about books, dictionaries, albums, encyclopedias, CD-s, DVD-s etc. It also contains a rich range of games for children and adults. Teenagers and young people find here a collection dedicated to them, but they can make use of the five computers in the Library, and a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet.
Periodically, at „Ion Creangă” Library, but also at other branches in Bucharest, „The Fairytale Hour” is conducted, a program dedicated to children between three and six years of age.
The Way the Book Inventory Was Formed
Today, Bucharest Metropolitan Library runs 30 Branches all over Bucharest, its collection of books exceeding a million volumes. Just as all the public libraries, the Metropolitan one also started out from a private book donation. On this basis, other documents and books were added constantly.
„The most important Donor of The Metropolitan Library was The Library of the Academy. Here we are talking about the old books we possess. From the National Library we also received a number of books, but very few. Without relying on a rigorous research, I can tell you that it is believed that all those books we received from the Library of the Academy come from the old Şcoala Domnească / The Princely School,” mentions Florentina Dobrogeanu-Ipsilante.
The expert spoke to us also concerning what does the occupation of a librarian mean today, which, from her standpoint, is a great challenge. „It isn’t easy. From the outside, things might seem like: What big of a deal is it to work as a librarian – you talk with people all day long, sit among books, read. It’s not only that. You must have the expertise, you must be fond of books, and more importantly, you must be fond of people. Very many people enter your Library, each with his own temperament, each with his good or less good reaction, and then you need to be a calm, accommodating, patient person, and try to offer whatever each one needs,” underscores Florentina Dobrogeanu-Ipsilante.
