Special Collections Reading Room
The Special Collections Reading Room will be closed for renovations from April 27th, 2026. During this time, special collections will be available in the Silesian Collections Reading Room.
The Reading Room provides access to:
- old prints – books and journals published up to 1800,
- handwritten collections (manuscripts and typescripts),
- Lviv Theatre Library collection (manuscripts, typescripts, prints),
- the bibliophile collection of Roman Chrząstowski – a collection of books, manuscripts, ephemeral and bibliophile prints,
- cartography (maps, plans, atlases),
- iconographic documents (graphic materials, photographs, postcards, bookplates),
- pamphlets up to 1960 (posters and other documents of social life),
- music collections (sheet music and sound recordings),
- film collections (posters, feature and documentary films),
- medals and badges (card catalogue in the reading room),
- rare book collection – particularly valuable prints published since the beginning of the 19th century and books with the authors’ autographs,
- textbook collection mainly in the field of bibliology (book history, manuscript studies) and art history, theatre studies, musicology and film studies.
Location symbols in the Integro electronic catalogue: ZS, CF, BM
Readers have stations for listening to recordings and watching films, as well as a computer station at their disposal.
Special Collections Reading Room of the Silesian Library
Plac Rady Europy 1, 40-021 Katowice
tel.: (+48) 32 20 83 717
e-mail: zbiory.specjalne@bs.katowice.pl
Monday from 12 pm to 6 pm
Tuesday-Saturday from 8 am to 3 pm
