Public Libraries

V.A. Urechia Library

The public library was founded in 1889, having as first book fund the donation of the academician Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia. The library was moved to a building that was more suitable to accommodate the storage and use of publications (in the former headquarters of the European Danube Commission, on Mihai Bravu Street) and the collections were enriched each year by publications and the purchase of printed books.

   The "V.A.Urechia" library inherited a very valuable old and rare book fund out of which it is worth mentioning the following titles:

"De la consolatione theologiae" by Johannes de Tambaco, printed in Strasbourg by Georg Teyser, around year 1472;

"Historia del popolo fiorentino" by Brunus Aretinus Leonardus, the incunabulum printed in Venice, in 1476, by Iacob de Rossi;

"Tractatum de moribus condictionibus et nequicia turcorum" by Captivus Septem-castrensis, printed by Konrad Fyner in Utrecht in 1481;

"Ruralia commoda" by Petrus de Crescenttis, printed by Johann de Panderbon in 1474 in Lowen. To these works were added other copies of exceptional value for the book fund in Romania: "Historia Fiorentina" by Johannes Bracciolinus Poggio, printed in Venice in 1476; "Facta et Dicta Memorabila" by Valerius Maximus, published in Milan in 1478, etc.

   In the library's collections there is also the oldest Romanian figurative ex-libris known to date, being printed on "Del Mapamondo Istorico" by Foresti Antonio, a work published in Venice in 1694; the ex-libris belongs to Pantaleon Calliarchi, the doctor of the prince Constantin Brancoveanu.

   Among the old Romanian prints, we mention: "The Slavonic Evangelist" printed in Brasov in 1562 by the deacon Coresi; "History of the Ottoman Empire" by Dimitrie Cantemir, printed in Paris in 1743, translated into French by Jonquiers; "Elemente linguae daco-romanae sivae valachicae” by Gheorghe Sincai, printed in Buda in 1805, etc.

   The European print is well represented in the library's collections: "Recueil de 85 estampes originales", comprising 120 pieces printed by the end of the 18th Century by the French engraver, publisher and collector Pierre Francois Bassan and his son Henri Bassan; the "Rembrandt" album with 120 prints printed after original plates, etc.

   The collection of manuscripts includes, among others: "Description of the Romanian Countries" by Ahmed Resim Effendi, dated 1759; the drama "Ovid" by Vasile Alecsandri.

   Famous names of writers can be found in the collection of autograph letters: E. Zola, J. Verne, Al. Dumas-son, P. Merimee, Fr. Mistral, H. de Balzac, A. France, I. Turgheniev, M. Twain, P. Lotti, E. Quinet etc.

   The "VA Urechia" library holds over 600,000 titles and has over 150 subscriptions to newspapers and magazines. Regarding its services, the library has organized and provides loan sections for adults and children, the room with encyclopaedic reference works, specialized reading rooms with 190 seats, audition and video room, alphabetical and systematic catalogues, by files, for their own collections, printed catalogues for Romanian and foreign books, online catalogue of monographic publications, specialized biographical information services, a bibliography of Galati county. Since 1991, the institution has moved to a complex program of automation and information processing, the bibliographic databases being accessible to the public, since 1994, through direct enquiry terminals or with the assistance of specialized personnel. The library has 30 workstations and the integrated TINLIB software package produced by IME (UK).

  The library, a prestigious documentation and information centre, organizes specific activities at its headquarters and in other institutions in the city and has developed its own works (Bulletin of the "VA Urechia" Foundation, Bibliographic Yearbook of Galati County, monographs, etc.).

   According to the frequency of the readers and the requests offered by the "VA Urechia" Library, it can be appreciated that the city of Galati is a cultural settlement where the need for books stands as a certainty.

Contact

Web address: www.bvau.ro

Address: Str. Mihai Bravu no.16

Phone: 0236/411037; 0236/311060

Teaching House Resource Centre

The building, an architectural monument, is the headquarters of the Teaching Staff House, of the Pre-University Education Union and of the Association for Humanitarian and Professional Mutual Aid of Educational Personnel (AIUPPI).

   The preoccupation of the Galati teachers to have their own space, to meet and carry out cultural-educational, scientific, artistic and methodical activities, manifested itself especially in the interwar period. Their wish was embraced by the Teachers' Association and the Faculty Bank. The latter, right from its creation - August 16, 1927 - established that the financial interests raised as a result of the borrowed sums should be paid into the fund for the construction of the Teacher's House. Balls, lotteries, shows, etc. were organized at the same time, and the teachers agreed to contribute each with amounts of up to 1000 lei.

  In 1936 the Teachers' Association received from the City Hall the land with an area of ​​1368 sqm., in the following year the construction works were started and in the summer of 1939 it was possible to inaugurate the Teacher's House.

  During World War II, the building housed military units of the occupation troops, and later was, for a time, the headquarters of the "VA Urechia" Library.

  The edifice is a building with a ground floor and two levels. The largest space is occupied by the Teaching Staff House, an institution that is an important information-documentation and consulting centre for teachers in pre-university education, organizing activities for the continuous training of teachers and auxiliary teachers, conducting rich events with scientific, methodical and cultural-educational character.

Teaching House Resource Centre publishes the monthly information and pedagogical magazine "Scoala galateana", with a monthly issue, owns a publishing house of the same name, under the auspices of which are published specialized works on educational topics, as well as a valuable specialized library. The "Anton Holban" Literary Cenacle is also active here.

Contact

Address: No.35, Garii Str. Phone: 0236/414749; 0236/465860