Ihar Ivanou - Baltic and Slavonic Libraries in Britain: Their Place in Developing Group Identity and The Life of Émigré Communities

Baltic and Slavonic Libraries in Britain
Балтыйскія і славянскія
бібліятэкі ў Вялікабрытаніі
іх месца ў жыцьці імігранцкіх групаў
і разьвіцьці супольнай ідэнтычнасьці
Ігар Іваноў
Baltic and Slavonic Libraries
in Britain
Their place in developing group identity
and the life of émigré communities
Ihar Ivanoŭ
Published by
Manifold,
99 Vera Avenue,
London N21 1RP
© 2006 Ihar Ivanoŭ
ISBN 090-1067-15-6
This publication is available from

purl.oclc.org/belarus/011
and lulu.com bookstore.
A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am delighted to thank Inese A. Smith who supervised

the research, for invaluable encouragement and support.
Thanks also are due to the Francis Skaryna Belarusian
Library and Museum in London and its librarian, Alexander
Nadson, as well as to Arnold McMillin, Guy Picarda, Helen
Michaluk, James Dingley, Karalina Mackievič, Maria Coonick
and Pavel Šaŭcoŭ, for giving me the opportunity to imagine
myself a librarian.
Thank you to Kenneth Kastytis Baublys, Drago Beresic,
Rūta Bonner, Miron Dowbusz, Branko Franolic, Vida Gaspe-
riene, Marita Grunts, Avo Hiiemäe, Zivile Ilgunaite, Milan
Kocourek, Juhan Parts, Ljudmila Pekarska, Linda Rabuzin, Vera
Rich, Krzysztof Stoliński, Jadwiga Szmidt, Sylva Simsova,
Aleksas Vilčinskas, Zofia Żarek and Janet Zmroczek, for sharing
time and knowledge to support this research.
This study became possibly thanks to the loving genero-
sity of Peter Rodgers.
T ABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................11
Notes on methodology................................................................. 13
Notes on terminology................................................................... 13
Historical background .................................................... 15

Second World War and displaced persons................................ 15
Polish immigration to the United Kingdom ............................. 15
European Volunteer Workers (EVW) Schemes....................... 16
Later immigration.......................................................................... 18
Building a community life and establishing libraries................ 19
Literature review.............................................................. 23
Reasons for establishing and supporting
community libraries ...................................................................... 23
Library collections......................................................................... 24
Community libraries’ users .......................................................... 25
School libraries .............................................................................. 26
Co-operation with public and other libraries............................ 28
Influence of the democratic transformations in the former
Soviet Union and the Socialist block.......................................... 29
7
Baltic and Slavonic libraries in Britain
in the course of history .................................................... 33
Before and during the Second World War................................ 33
Post-war developments ................................................................ 33
Libraries in the 1950s-1970s........................................................ 35
Influence of the democratic transformations .......................... 37
Recently established libraries....................................................... 39
Collections of the Baltic and Slavonic libraries .............. 43

The size of collections.................................................................. 43
The character of the community libraries’ collections............. 43
Lending libraries................................................................................ 43
Reference libraries .............................................................................. 44
Significance of the collections..................................................... 46
Work practices of community libraries .......................... 51

Users and use ................................................................................. 51
Difficulties in attracting new readers ................................................... 52
The Polish Library POSK ................................................................ 53
Acquisition practices..................................................................... 54
Co-operation practices ................................................................. 57
Classification and cataloguing ..................................................... 57
Being part of the community ...................................................... 58
8
The organisation of community libraries ....................... 65
Affiliation and management ........................................................ 65
Workers and volunteers ............................................................... 66
Budgets of community libraries .................................................. 67
Conclusion....................................................................... 71
Differences and similarities of community libraries ................ 71
Baltic and Slavonic libraries in the changing context............... 73
Bibliography .................................................................... 77
Appendix I. Descriptions of the surveyed libraries................ 81
Appendix II. Collections, work practices

and organisation of the surveyed libraries............................... 101
Appendix III. Абстракт (Abstract in Belarusian) ............... 111
9
I NTRODUCTION
This book is an abridged, revised version of my Master’s

Degree dissertation, Baltic and Slavonic Community Libraries in
Britain after World War II, written at Loughborough University
in 2005.
Central and East European countries had a shared

experience in their recent history: as a result of the Second
World War, they were either included in the Soviet Union or
controlled by it. By and large, all the post-war immigrants from
these countries were political immigrants and refugees, who
they had left their countries unwillingly. This was a distinctive
feature of the post-war mass immigration from Central and
Eastern Europe to Britain, which produced active émigré
communities with strong national and political identities. This
study attempts to register and analyse the phenomenon of
community libraries in their particular historical appearance –
Baltic and Slavonic libraries in post-war Britain.
In the words of the Curator of the Ukrainian Shevchenko
Library and Archive in London, “[this] library is the biggest
acquirement of the Ukrainian community in this country”
[author’s transl.].1 This may sound unconvincing to those who
are familiar with public and academic libraries. However,
community libraries exist for different reasons than public and
academic libraries. They are part of broader networks of people
and institutions coming together to sustain a sense of belong-
ing. These immigrants act according to what they perceive to be
in the best interests of their homeland and people. Therefore,
these groups choose and promote those values that best serve
the ultimate goal of their existence: contributing to the survival
and flourishing of their nation and culture. Neither the ama-
teurish character of community libraries, nor the possible bias
towards a particular vision, should decrease the appreciation of
the contribution of these libraries to sustaining the life of their
ethnic groups. At the same time, any discourse on these
libraries must take into account the historical and cultural
context of the relevant ethnic group in order to perceive accu-
rately the meaning of’ their work.
These libraries are part of a much broader picture than
just collecting and lending books and periodicals; they are an
integral part of relationships and structures conditioned by a
number of factors, including ideology and mind-set. It was
intriguing to hear one young Lithuanian’s opinion that the post-
war immigrants did not trust compatriots coming from the
Soviet or post-Soviet Lithuania who, in the opinion of the older
generation, would not be able to appreciate their values, efforts
and achievements. The decision in the middle of 1990s to close
down the Lithuanian House in London, and the library located
there, was attributed to such mistrust. This person said with
regret: “They would be so useful for us now”.
Community libraries are mostly invisible – they are known
about among compatriots; larger libraries may be known to
researchers. However, they are part of the social life in the
United Kingdom; this needs to be recorded in order to develop
awareness of the diversity and complexity of the life of ethnic
communities, as well as of the diversity and complexity of the
information needs of people living here. Ethnic groups may find
such an analysis useful, as it will stimulate their appreciation of
their own achievements and the variety of their life. It is also
hoped that this research into Baltic and Slavonic community
libraries will be of use to their workers and volunteers (among
12
whom professional librarians are the exception rather than the
rule) through encouraging learning from each other’s experien-
ce and through co-operation.
Notes on methodology
This research was undertaken in 2005. Organisations and
individuals from eleven Baltic and Slavonic groups were
approached regarding information about their libraries. Twelve
libraries were successfully contacted, including four reference
libraries: the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum,
the Latvian Documentation Centre, the Polish Underground
Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust Library, the Shevchenko
[Ukrainian] Library and Archive, – and eight lending ones: the
Latvian Welfare Fund (DVF) Catthorpe Manor Library, the
Leicester Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB)
Library, the Leicester Estonian House Library, the London
Estonian Society Library, the London Latvian Library, the
Polish Library POSK, the Croatian Catholic Mission Library,
and the FACCET Trust [Croatian] Library. They represented
six out of the seven Baltic and Slavonic ethnic groups which
were identified as providing libraries. This list included all the
main reference and lending Baltic and Slavonic libraries in
Britain, as well as a fair number of small libraries of different
types (affiliated to a parish, old people’s home, members-only
club etc.). Data was collected by means of semi-structured
interviews, questionnaires and correspondence.
Notes on terminology
The term ‘community library’ will be used throughout this
work. In scholarly literature it is used synonymously with ‘self-
help libraries’ and ‘ethnic libraries’; in comparison with the latter
two, the chosen term underlines social and cultural dimensions
of these institutions which is one of the central points of focus
in this study.
13
For the purpose of this work a community library is
understood to be a collection of information materials
established by a particular ethnic group to serve the needs of
this group and/or as a resource of information about this
ethnos/country to others.
In literature the region of the countries of the former
Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the Socialist block is described by
various terms. For convenience, the expressions ‘Central and
East Europe’ and ‘Central and East European countries’ are
normally used in this study. The Baltic States are Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania.
The words ‘diaspora’, ‘immigration’ and ‘exile’ are used
here interchangeably to denote communities of those who
came to Britain in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Some of them, especially people from the Baltic States, insisted
they were exiles, not immigrants.
Endnotes
1
Interview with Ljudmila Pekarska, the Shevchenko Library and
Archive, London, 28 April 2005.
14
H ISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Second World War and displaced persons

During the Second World War and in its aftermath, large
migrations of civilian and military populations occurred. The
redrawing of national borders at the end of the war displaced
millions more. At the end of 1945 some 2,500,000 displaced
persons remained in Central Europe where they happened to
be due to forced displacement or as voluntary refugees. Many
of them were from Eastern Europe – either prisoners of war,
or forced labourers, or escaping from the Soviet army. By the
agreement at Yalta (1945), Soviet citizens were to be repatriated
by the Allies regardless of individual wishes. Non-Soviet
Europeans were offered help in repatriation, but many still
refused. By the end of 1946 there were about one million
displaced persons in Western Germany and Austria.1
Britain was one of the countries which received large
numbers of immigrants during the course of the war and in the
following few years.
Polish immigration to the United Kingdom

The major ethnic immigrant group comprised Poles. In
1940, the Polish government in exile and almost 20,000 Polish
military evacuees arrived from France. From these soldiers the
Polish First Corps was formed. Initially it was billeted in
15
Scotland and later participated in the Allied campaign in north-
west Europe.2 Among other Poles who arrived in the United
Kingdom were several thousand prisoners of war and inmates
freed from German concentration camps, including members of
the underground Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) who had
participated in the Warsaw Rising, 1944. Many Poles forced into
the German army deserted their units or were captured by the
Allies.3
However, the major Polish group came to Britain from
the Middle East. These were Polish citizens, soldiers and civi-
lians, who had been arrested and sent to Siberia after the Soviet
Union occupied the western parts of Belarus and Ukraine
(which had been part of Poland since 1921) in 1939 and the
Baltic States in 1940. In 1942, by agreement between the Soviet
Union and the Polish Government in exile in London, some
25,000 Polish soldiers and over 100,000 Polish civilians were
transported to Persia (Iran) then under British governance. The
soldiers and service personnel, later known as General Anders’
Army, were incorporated in the Polish Second Corps and
participated in the liberation of Italy.4 In 1946 they were invited
to settle in Britain in order to avoid their repatriation to the
Soviet Union or to Poland under Soviet control. In addition,
some 33,000 Poles arrived in the course of the late 1940s as
dependants of those already settled in the United Kingdom or
under European Volunteer Workers schemes.5
European Volunteer Workers (EVW) Schemes

Due to labour shortages in Britain, the government
decided to invite some displaced persons from Germany and
Austria to the country for temporary employment. Initially, one
thousand women, aged between 21 and 40, from the Baltic
States were recruited to work in hospitals from the end of 1946.
Almost immediately the scheme was extended; by May 1947
2,575 women were recruited. This programme is known as the
Balt Cygnet Scheme.6
16
Even so, in November 1946, 354,252 refugees were still
in the two British Zones, in Germany and Austria.7 The success
of the Balt Cygnet Scheme and continued labour shortages in
Britain, especially in nursing, mining, the cotton industry, and
agriculture, encouraged the government to extend its immigra-
tion programme. Known as the Westward Ho Scheme it co-
vered more nationalities, and included men as well as women.
Table 1.
Nationalities of European Volunteer Workers, 1946-1950.8
Nationality Number of EVW

Ukrainians 20,930
Poles 14,018
Latvians 11,832
Yugoslavs 10,192
Lithuanians 5,732
Estonians 4,114
Hungarians 2,474
Czechoslovaks 1,336
Sudetens 1,319
Rumanians 800
Bulgarians 91
Stateless 1,137
Other (incl. Belarusians9, Finns, 536
Armenians etc.)
Volksdeutsche 1,257
Total 75,768
Single adults of working age or those without dependants were

preferred. The bulk of recruits, from diverse national affiliati-
17
ons (Table 1), under this scheme arrived in Britain during 1947
and 1948. The last ones arrived in the early months of 1950.
In addition, over 8,100 surviving members of the Ukrai-
nian Division Halychyna, prisoners of war, were brought to the
UK in 1947 from Italy, in order to avoid their forced repatria-
tion to the Soviet Union.10 By the end of the following year
almost all of them were granted EVW status or offered
employment.11
In total by 1952, some 260,000 refugees had settled in
Britain, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe. Roughly half
of them were Poles or persons with Polish citizenship.12 Not all
stayed in Britain for long – e.g. 33,000 Poles preferred to
emigrate to other countries,13 usually to the United States,
Canada, Australia and the South American countries; the same
happened to all communities under discussion.
Later immigration
Mass immigration of East Europeans to Britain mostly
stopped in 1950. During the 1961 Census, the largest East
European community registered in Britain were Poles or those
born in Poland – almost 82,000; other large groups were those
born in then USSR (including the Baltic States) – almost
36,000, and those born in then Yugoslavia – almost 9,000.14
Statistics on later immigration are only partial, as many of
those arriving from the collapsing Socialist block and Soviet
Union often stayed in Britain illegally.15 War and ethnic clean-
sing in the Balkans produced a large number of refugees, both
legal and illegal. Between 1992 and 1996, 11,445 asylum appli-
cations from former Yugoslavia and Albania were submitted to
the Home Office. Due the continuing conflicts almost all of the
applicants were allowed to stay in the country.16 The relaxation
the visa regime regarding the majority of Central and East
European countries and the incorporation of most of them in
the European Union in 2004, have made coming to Britain
18
even easier, so that presence of Central and East Europeans in
the British life is now more obvious than ever.
Building a community life and establishing libraries

Many of those who had to leave their country in 1944-
1945, carried both a bitterness and determination to make great
efforts to see their own country free from political, cultural and
ideological domination or – as in case of the Baltic States –
occupation by the Soviet Union. This appears to explain the
energy, creativity and dedication people invested in the collec-
tive activities of their ethnic communities: “The oppositional
process frequently produces intense collective consciousness
and a high degree of internal solidarity” 17.
These immigrants almost immediately established their
own organisations of different kinds – welfare (focused on help
to those who needed assistance in settling down in a new
country, as well as to former soldiers and the elderly unable to
support themselves), political (objecting to the situation in the
home countries and campaigning for change), religious, cultural
(for preserving and developing national culture, traditions,
language, as well as dissemination of knowledge about this
culture in the British society), educational (e.g. Saturday schools
for children to encourage usage of own language and
strengthen their ethnic identity) and others.
Libraries were an important part of these developing
communities. Very often community houses, clubs, schools,
parishes would establish their own book collections. They were
filled with books people carried with them into exile among
their most treasured possessions and publications produced in
exile, e.g. in displaced persons camps in Germany and Austria.
According to incomplete information from the Polish commu-
nity in Britain, in 1948 there were 393 Polish libraries with
109,108 volumes of books (i.e., 278 volumes average per
library). The Polish Ex-Combatants Association alone had 168
libraries in their clubs.18 A Belarusian magazine wrote: “As
19
soon as the Belarusian Religious Centre in London was
established, the affiliated library was organised too, i.e. in 1947.
Its collection was formed of books brought […] to Rome
before the last war and then sent to London, as well as of other
publications appeared in the free world [i.e., in exile, – I.I.]
[author’s transl.]”19. In 1945, the Welfare Association of
Ukrainians in Great Britain made an attempt to organise
circulating libraries “to facilitate reading of Ukrainian books by
its [Association’s, – I.I.] members [author’s transl.]”20.
Endnotes
1
Tannahill, J.A. European volunteer workers in Britain, 1958, pp. 8-9.
2
Sword, K. Identity in flux: the Polish community in Britain, 1996, p. 23.
3
Ibid., p. 25.
4
Vernant, J. The refugee in the post-war world, 1993, p. 74.
5
Sword, ref. 2, p. 28
6
Kay, D. & Miles, R. Refugees or migrant workers, 1992, pp. 49-52.
7
Tannahill, ref. 1, p. 26.
8
Adapted from: Tannahill, ref. 1, p. 30.
Vernant (ref. 4, p. 365) gives slightly different numbers which
include dependents of EVWs arrived to Britain – 84,871 persons in
total, recorded as at 31 May 1951.
9
Tannahill (ref.1, p. 14) remarks that many Belarusians adopted the
Polish label in order to avoid deportation to the Soviet Union; or, if
from Western Belarus, they had had the Polish citizenship until 1939
and were automatically regarded Poles by the British authorities.
Vernant (ref. 4, pp. 85-86) quotes the Belarusian exile sources
estimating the number of Belarusians in the United Kingdom in the
beginning of 1950s as 10,000-15,000 persons.
10
Vernant, ref. 4, p. 365.
11
Tannahill, ref. 1, pp. 31-33.
20
12
Vernant, ref. 4, p. 364.
13
Kushner, T. & Knox, K. Refugees in an age of genocide, 1999, p. 221.
14
Great Britain. Census 1961. Summary Tables, 1966, table 10.
15
Sword, ref. 2, p. 50.
16
Kushner & Knox, ref. 13, p. 367.
17 Spicer, E.H. Persistent identity systems. Science, 19 November
1971, p. 799.
18
Szmidt, J. Biblioteki polskie we współczesnym Londynie [Polish libraries
in contemporary London], 1998, p. 24.
19
D. Belaruskaja Biblijateka i Muzej imja Franciška Skaryny –
adčynienyja [Belarusian Library and Museum have been open].
Bożym Šliacham, 1972, 3, 1.
20
Pekarska, L. Biblioteka i Arkhiv im. T. Shevchenka v Londoni:
do istorii stvorennya [T. Shevchenko Library and Archive: towards
the history of its creation] [1-7]. Ukrains’ka dumka, 28 October – 4
November 2004, p. 2. The same article mentions a curious fact
recorded in the documents of the Welfare Association of Ukrainians
in Great Britain that in 1948 the Association planned to spend more
money on its library in London than on maintenance of its central
office.
21
L ITERATURE REVIEW
Reasons for establishing and supporting

community libraries
An Australian librarian, Robert Apedaile, conducted a
survey among ethnic community libraries in the Melbourne
area in 1991. In total 31 libraries submitted their responses.
Three reasons for establishing and supporting them were
regularly mentioned by respondents – together or in different
combinations:
• helping first generation migrants to adapt to a
new environment,
• preservation of the group’s cultural heritage,
• ensuring that the ethnic identity of a particular
community is recognised by the wider society.
The second motivation in the author’s observation is
particularly dominant in those communities “who probably
came to Australia to preserve a way of life […] the Latvian,
Lithuanian and Ukrainian communities, for instance, support
strong self-help community libraries”1. In other words, those
who found themselves in a different country for political or
ideological reasons are especially sensitive to preserving
meaningful elements which they recognise as part of their
identity; therefore these communities are keen on supporting
structures and institutions which contribute to the preservation
23
and development of their identity. In this context the
Apedaile’s observation, that some well-established communities
in Australia have no extant libraries, is understandable.
According to Apedaile, all groups which do not have their self-
help libraries “can probably be divided into two broad streams:
those who have no means and those that see no need”2.
Inese Smith writing about the experience of the Latvian
community in Britain explains that generally post-war
immigrants were not aware of public libraries and their services,
and of the possibility of the provision of Latvian material by
these libraries. “On the whole, the Latvians, like other
immigrant communities, had found that they had to provide for
their welfare, be it social or cultural. Therefore, when they
desired literature in their own language, it seemed that the only
thing to do was to organise their own libraries.” 3
Sylva Simsova urges caution from too quick dismissal of
self-help initiatives and institutions including community
libraries on the basis of their amateurish character and lack of
respectably high standard. She explains that “each ethnic group
aims at institutional completeness – making sure that it has its
own institutions for every facet of life.” Therefore, these
institutions are less concerned with (and should not be judged
on the bases of) the efficiency of achieving their stated goals,
rather than with their ultimate purpose “to promote the ethnic
group identity and to give each individual a chance to work out
his own problems of identity within the group.” 4
Library collections
Apedaile observes that the value of community library
collections does not depend on their size: some very small
collections are important because of their concentration on a
limited range of subjects; consequently, these subjects are
collected in remarkable depth. The author perceives the value
of ethnic community libraries mostly in their ability to provide
24
substantial collections in languages other than English –
something which public libraries are not able to offer.5
Describing the character of the Latvian libraries in Britain,
Marita Grunts points out that these libraries do not specialise in
any particular subject field. Their aim is merely to provide some
Latvian literature for the interested general reader. Most of the
literature available from these libraries is published in exile.6 It
appears, however, that the relative inaccessibility of books and
periodicals published in home countries and a lack of money to
buy them were not the only reasons why exile publications
prevailed so heavily in the community libraries: describing the
Latvian Studies Centre (Latviešu studiju centrs) at Western
Michigan University in Kalamazoo (USA), Inese Smith remarks
that the Centre’s policy of collecting Soviet publications “was
quite unusual for most Latvian libraries […] which tended
purposely not to include anything published in Soviet Latvia.” 7
Community libraries’ users

According to Apendaile, two categories of clientele were
repeatedly identified by the surveyed libraries: first generation
migrants and students.8 In a detailed history of the Shevchenko
[Ukrainian] Library and Archive in London, Ljudmila Pekarska
points out that the initial motivation of the organisers of books
collections was to enable Ukrainians to read in their own
language. Later, in the 1960s, the users of the library were
scholars and students of Ukrainian or Slavonic studies.9 Both
authors indicate an important process: though the second and
following generations immigrants need and use book
collections in their language to a much lesser degree than their
parents, grandparents etc., these libraries – after decades of
development, gathering publications and documents – often
receive new life as places to access knowledge about cultures
and countries as they preserve materials rarely available from
public and academic libraries. Sylva Simsova notes in this
context that local history libraries can make a valuable
25
contribution by teaching ethnic groups how to collect and
preserve publications and archive materials which might be of
great demand in years to come.10
School libraries
A particular type of community libraries are those serving
the needs of mother-tongue schools. Their users are mainly
children learning their parents’ language, their teachers and
sometimes the parents themselves.
Surveying the library needs of mother-tongue schools in
London in 1980, Pirkko Elliott found that only a tiny percent of
books in mother tongue (other than English) read by children
were borrowed from public libraries. The reason for that rarely
lies in unwillingness of public libraries to provide a sufficient
amount of non-English books for children. Often they have to
prioritise their services as within one library authority there can
be mother-tongue schools in more than ten languages. Also,
pupils’ age and abilities to use a mother tongue may vary greatly
even within one school, which makes the choosing of the
suitable literature to offer even more difficult. Among other
identified problems negatively influencing the provision of non-
English children’s books are the lack of good quality publications
and a lack of language expertise among public librarians. In
addition, some of the teachers were not aware of the kinds of
provision that public libraries could offer. The collaboration of
mother-tongue schools and local libraries was not easy to
establish also due to a particular time these schools were
normally held – in the evenings and at the weekends when
libraries were closed or their services were reduced.11
Researching Polish libraries in London in 1996, Jadwiga
Szmidt surveyed all the currently existing libraries at Saturday
Schools for Homeland-related subjects (Szkoły Przedmiotów
Ojczystych).12 Out of nine Polish schools in London, eight had
their own libraries – all of them lending. However, their state
was pitiful: mostly old, unattractive and randomly collected
26
books were stored on premises not intended as libraries. This is
partly due to a lack of purpose built accommodation – they had
to use rooms at community clubs, parish centres or rent space
at British schools. The absence of separate space for the secure
storage of books, and comfortable for users, inhibited the
contribution these school libraries should have made to
encouraging children and their parents to read in the mother-
tongue. Another reason identified by the author for the in-
adequate state of community school libraries was the lack of
money to purchase new, relevant and attractive editions; the
available funds were just enough for purchasing the necessary
textbooks. However, “attractiveness of the book collection is
even more important as the Saturday school pupils are specific
readers requiring corresponding literature. For the majority of
them who were born outside Poland, many Polish classical
works are not comprehensible as they are written in an archaic
language and relate to themes that do not inspire [young
readers] to make their way through the intricacies of Polish
which are in any case a struggle for them [author’s transl.]”13.
Perhaps, this may explain Elliott’s findings of children’s
reservations regarding reading in their own language: according
to interviews with mother-language school pupils, “books
about [their] parents’ country of origin were the only category
of materials where the mother tongue was preferred to
English”14.
Szmidt suggests that finding appropriate premises and
additional funding – which themselves are extremely difficult
issues – will not resolve all the problems of Saturday schools.
Professional assistance in collection management and
supporting the services is necessary for these libraries to
contribute effectively to the teaching process and encouraging
interest in reading in the mother-tongue.15
27
Co-operation with public and other libraries
The question of the best means of co-operation between
community libraries and public libraries has been answered
variously. On the one hand, the Polish community in Britain
has been very persistent in ensuring that Polish books were
available from as many public libraries as possible across the
country, as well as at other institutions such as hospitals. To do
this, the Central Circulating Library was established by the
Polish community in London in 1948 and is still operational
today.16
The Latvian community, which is much smaller than the
Polish community, has had a different experience. Inese Smith
evaluating this experience suggests that public libraries’ role in
increasing awareness of small ethnic groups present in their
area can be important; they can refer Latvians or other
interested parties to the nearest Latvian organisations or
libraries, as well as supporting the ethnic groups’ activities, e.g.
with providing space for exhibits.17
In 1980, Marita Grunts wrote that Latvian libraries in
Britain do not co-operate with each other – “[a]ll these libraries
are like little isolated islands”, – least of all with other British
libraries. One of the reasons is the lack of library training or
experience amongst staff or officials of organisations to which
these libraries belong; another reason – a negative experience
under the Soviet and Nazis occupations discouraging informal
initiatives and openness to a wider reading public.18 It is worth
in this context noting that the situation started changing when
an information professional joined these libraries as a non-paid
volunteer: since 1984, Union catalogue of holdings in Latvian
libraries in Britain has been compiled bringing together info-
rmation about the collection stocks of the Latvian libraries in
this country.19
According to Apedaile, cooperation of community libra-
ries with public libraries in the Melbourne area was almost non-
existent. Most community libraries firmly rejected the option of
28
placing their entire collection or parts of collections within
public libraries. Some of them explained that “to do so would
negate the whole purpose of the library”20. This is understand-
able if we take into account that community library collections
have a particular meaning and importance for an ethnic group.
This meaning cannot be re-created by a public or any other
library, because preserved publications, archives, items of the
material culture etc. receive their special value from this ethnic
group. These publications, documents, photographs etc. bear
witness to the people’s existence, its aspirations and struggles;
in a way they communicate not simply facts, but the meanings
necessary for individuals’ and groups’ self-identity and – for an
ethnic group – the will to exist.
Influence on the community libraries of the

democratic transformations in the former
Soviet Union and the Socialist block
It is not yet clear exactly what impact the democratic
transformations in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s
have had on community libraries in Britain and elsewhere. In
the latest research21, Inese Smith and Aina Štrāle found that the
major Latvian libraries in USA, France and Sweden have been
recently closed and their collections were partly sent to Latvia,
partly dispersed among other libraries outside Latvia. The
number of the community library users has decreased not only
due to the death of post-war immigrants and the assimilation of
their descendants. The democratic transformations in Central
and Eastern Europe have made it possible to travel to these
countries, buy new books, learn the language or conduct
research. This, for example, led to discontinuation of the
Latvian studies programme at Western Michigan University in
Kalamazoo (USA) and the subsequent closure of the
mentioned Latvian Studies Centre (Latviešu studiju centrs)
which used to serve not only the academic needs of the
students, but the wider academic and Latvian exile communi-
29
ties. According to Smith and Štrāle, “[r]enewal of the indepen-
dence of Latvia, for which exile Latvians had tenaciously hoped
and worked for almost half a century […] had a fruitful, but
sadly ironic result – whole libraries were liquidated, but not
destroyed, being sent to Latvia”22. In the current situation,
Smith and Štrāle conclude that it is a new duty for the
community librarians to make sure that the collections of
closing libraries and dying immigrants are not discarded, but,
where possible, handed over to other places needing and
wanting them.
Endnotes
1
Apedaile, R. Ethnic community libraries: a survey in the
Melbourne metropolitan area. Multicultural Libraries Newsletter, 1993,
13(1), 14.
2
Ibid., p. 15.
3
Smith, I. A. Latvian community libraries in Britain. Journal of
Multicultural Librarianship, 1987, 1(3), 114.
4
Simsova, S. Multicultural populations: their nature and needs. In:
Zielinska, M.F. & Kirkwood, F.T., eds. Multicultural librarianship: an
international handbook, 1992, p. 29.
5
Apedaile, ref. 1., p. 14.
6
Grunts, M.V. Latvians in exile in the free world, 1940-1980, 1980, p.
21.
7
Smith, I.A. & Štrāle A. Witnessing and preserving Latvian culture in
exile: Latvian libraries in the West. [Unpublished draft, 27 July 2005].
8
Apedaile, ref. 1., p. 14.
9
Pekarska, L. Biblioteka i Arkhiv im. T. Shevchenka v Londoni: do
istorii stvorennya [T. Shevchenko Library and Archive: towards the
history of its creation] [1-7]. Ukrains’ka dumka, 28 October – 4
November 2004, p. 2 & 3-10 February 2005, p. 2.
30
10
Simsova, S. Central and East Europeans in Britain. Journal of
Multicultural Librarianship, 1987, 1(3), 124.
11
Elliott, P. Library needs of children attending self-help mother-tongue schools
in London, 1981, pp. 65-67.
12
in contemporary London], 1998, pp. 103-112.
13
Ibid., p. 112.
14
Elliott, ref. 11, p. 64.
15
Szmidt, ref. 12, pp. 120-121.
16
Szmidt, ref. 12, p. 80.
17
Smith, I. A. Self-help and the Latvian community in Britain.
Community Librarian, 1990, 6, 3.
18
Grunts, ref. 6, p. 20.
19
Smith, ref. 3, p. 3.
20
Apedaile, ref. 1, pp. 15-16.
21
Smith & Štrāle, ref. 7.
22 Ibid.
31
B ALTIC AND S LAVONIC LIBRARIES
IN B RITAIN IN THE COURSE
OF HISTORY
Before and during the Second World War

Among the community libraries surveyed, only the
London Estonian Society Library was established before the
Second World War. The Society started in 1921 and was
supported by the Estonian Embassy where the meetings were
held, a separate reading room arranged and the library set up.1
In 1943 the Library of the Ministry of Religions and
Public Education was formed as the result of the merger of two
libraries belonging to the Ministry of Education and the
National Culture Fund of the Polish government in exile that
then was based in London. The first collected textbooks and
teaching materials in Polish and English. The second was in
effect a collection of publications submitted to the National
Culture Fund as the legal deposit by Polish publishers abroad;
these were intended for handing over to the corresponding
libraries in Poland after its liberation.2 In 1945, the merged
library adopted the name of the Polish Library.
Post-war developments
A steady growth in the numbers of Baltic and Slavonic
community libraries began immediately after the Second World
33
War, when tens of thousands of displaced persons from
Central and Eastern Europe started to arrive in Britain. Usually
these libraries would be organised in clubs, parishes, centres
and similar institutions. These places were where people,
mostly with only a basic knowledge of English, would turn in
need for support and communication.
The roots of the Belarusian and Ukrainian libraries in
London date from that period. Since its beginning in 1946, the
Ukrainian library has been part of the Association of
Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB; initially, the Welfare
Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain). In the headquarters
of this organisation in London there was a reading room which
in 1946 was attended on average by 12 users daily. In the
following year, 1947, as the AUGB documents report, the
Association’s Central Library and Archive were established.3
The history of the Belarusian Library in London began in
1948, when the newly established Belarusian Catholic Mission
acquired its own building in London. This new place was to
become a religious and cultural centre. The priest in charge of
the Mission brought from Rome “a small but valuable
collection of Byelorussian [i.e. Belarusian – I.I.] books”4. A
separate room for the library on the Mission’s premises was
designated “as a study centre and reading-room for the young
students […]. It served as a meeting place for the student
associations […] and was used by a number of scholars
interested in Byelorussian history and culture”5.
For the Polish community, the task of preserving
materials related to the Polish government in exile, to Poland as
an independent state and to the contribution of the Polish
Corps to the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Second World War
was of great importance. Several institutions were established in
the 1940s which collected, preserved, published and enabled
access to such materials – the General Sikorski Historical
Institute, the Polish Research Centre, the Józef Piłsudski
Institute and the Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945)
34
Study Trust.6 All of them institutions included reference
libraries primarily intended for researchers.
At the same time, the Polish Library mentioned above
adopted the role of the major Polish public library serving the
greatly increased population of Poles during the 1940s. They
needed English textbooks and general reading in English,
special technical literature which reflected their professional
engagements in Britain, as well as Polish books. Therefore, a
lending service was launched in 1945.7 The vast majority of the
library users were students of the Polish University College and
it was logical that in 1948 the library became part of the College
and changed its name to the Polish University College Library.
Although an academic library, it was still open to the public and
even started a postal lending service; in its peak two years,
1950-1951, it sent 3,053 packages of books to users outside
London.8 In 1953, the Polish University College was closed and
the library was transferred under the authority of the Polish
Research Centre. In 1967, when it became part of the Polish
Social and Cultural Association (POSK), it adopted the name of
the Polish Library POSK and has continued to act as the major
Polish lending and research library in Britain.
Libraries in the 1950s-1970s

All through the 1950s-1970s, new Baltic and Slavonic
libraries appeared where self-help centres with their own
premises were established. This was the case of the Ukrainian
and Estonian libraries in Leicester, the London Latvian Library,
the Latvian Welfare Fund Catthorpe Manor Library and the
Croatian Catholic Mission Library in London. All these were
lending libraries and were funded by their parent organisations.
A somewhat peculiar case is presented by a private
Lithuanian Library (Lituanistinė biblioteka) which belonged to
Rostislovas Baublys, a bibliophile and active member of the
Lithuanian community in post-war Britain. When he retired in
1974, he dedicated his free time to providing a library located in
35
his house in Fulham, London. His purpose was to create a
“Lithuanian island and nucleus” where compatriots would
receive warm and spiritual support.9 Baublys’ collection was
unusual compared to many other community libraries as he was
determined to maintain relations with Lithuanians from Soviet
Lithuania. As a result, he built in many respects a unique
collection of Lithuanica of some 6,000 volumes. Normally
books and audio-records were loaned, often by post; also,
Baublys replied to regular enquiries regarding different aspects
of Lithuanian history, culture and community life in the United
Kingdom. The library was closed after Baublys death in 1996.10
At the beginning of the 1960s, the library of the
Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain was revitalised, after
years of decline, and acted as a reference library. It was given a
new name, Shevchenko11 Library, to emphasise its central role
in the cultural life of the Ukrainian community. It acquired
from the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain a
comprehensive 5,000 volume collection of publications –
books and periodicals – produced by the Ukrainian diaspora, as
well as books sent for review to the weekly Ukrains’ka dumka
[Ukrainian Thought]. The collection was well-managed and, for
a decade, the library became a place for regular lectures and
exhibitions.12 The library Committee chairperson, Volodymyr
Shayan, was convinced that “the library is a life-necessity for
our pupils, students of the Ukrainian studies at universities,
researchers, for public and political activists, and for the
growing number of foreigners interested in the Ukrainian
agenda [author’s trans.].”13
In 1971, the Francis Skaryna14 Belarusian Library and
Museum was opened in London. It inherited the mentioned
above Belarusian Catholic Mission’s Bibliotheca Alboruthena – as
the library had been called since 1958. The Board of Trustees
wanted the new library “to serve the widest circle of individuals
and scholars interested in the study of Byelorussia [i.e. Belarus
– I.I.], and above all its culture, religion and history.”15 In the
context of that time, this statement also implied preservation of
36
the material destroyed in Soviet Belarus for political reasons;
enabling free access to publications kept in the restricted access
collections in the Soviet Union; and the promotion of the
national heritage which was suppressed in the home country.
In 1988, the Latvian Documentation Centre, in effect a
central Latvian reference library and archive, was launched.16
This was a time when some Latvian libraries started closing
down and post-war immigrants were leaving their collections of
publications and documents as legacies. The centre has become
a clearinghouse for materials being sent to libraries in Latvia
and the pillar of collaborative work of Latvian libraries, archives
and museums in the United Kingdom.
Influence of the democratic transformations

in home countries
By the 1990s, the Baltic and Slavonic communities were
much weaker compared with the 1940s-1950s, when most of
the community centres and libraries were founded. A natural
ageing of the first generation immigrants and their withdrawal
from active participation in social activities, as well as the
assimilation of their descendants were the main causes for this.
In these circumstances, many clubs and community houses had
to be closed as they became underused and could not be
sustained from the shrinking funds of the émigré organisations.
In 1948, the Polish Ex-Combatants Association had 168 clubs
with libraries across the United Kingdom; in 1996 their number
decreased to 2617; in 2005 to 1318. All Baltic and Slavonic
communities have had similar experiences, and the process of
closing down properties acquired by the first generation of
post-war immigrants continues. The gap in worldview between
‘old’, post-war immigrants, and ‘new’ ones – coming to the
United Kingdom from the post-Socialist societies – aggravates
these processes.
With the closing of community centres, their libraries are
liquidated as well. Most often their collections are sent to the
37
home countries, sometimes to the central libraries, sometimes
to provincial public libraries or – in the case of the Polish
collections – “to Russia”, i.e. to the countries of the former
Soviet Union where strong Polish communities exist
nowadays19. The collection of the Rostislovas Baublys’
Lithuanian Library was dispersed: some books were sent to
Lithuania; others, mostly novels, were donated to the
Lithuanian Embassy in London; the rest, academic titles, were
accepted by the School of Slavonic and East European Studies
of University of London.20
Another Lithuanian library was closed around the same
time as Rostislovas Baublys’ library. It was located in the
Lithuanian House in London, where there was also a publishing
house, Nida Press, the books of which were primarily
distributed among the members of a book club. The library was
established in 1951 by the Lithuanian Association in Great
Britain. Apart from Nida Press publications, it had other books
and periodicals, mostly published in the diaspora before and
after the Second World War.21 In 1980 its collection included
3,000 volumes.22 “Initially the books were catalogued and
loaned out […] but with the passing years, less people used the
library. The influx of new Lithuanians were not interested in
these books – over the years, the Lithuanian language had been
‘modernised’, new ideas had developed, so […] the collection
did not attract new readers.”23 After the closure of the library,
its collection was stored in the Lithuanian Country Club,
Sodyba, in Hampshire and currently it is not in use.24
On the other hand, there are signs that the situation for at
least some libraries is changing for the better. In 2002, the
Shevchenko Library and Archive was re-launched after several
years of being inactive. It is led by a Ukrainian who came to the
United Kingdom comparatively recently. Also, young Ukrainians
studying in London are working for the library as volunteers.
The chairperson of the Estonian club in Leicester is
optimistic: young Estonians who recently came from Estonia
have started participating in the community events. Some of
38
them have offered their skills and initiative for the community,
e.g. to produce a newsletter.25
Since the 1990s, most of the Francis Skaryna Belarusian
Library and Museum users are from Belarus; the library’s
contacts with publishers, authors and researchers in the
homeland have been developing. The library has benefited a
considerably from the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 2004, the Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945)
Study Trust was awarded funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund
for its three-year project to improve access to the Allies Second
World War documents.26 Perhaps Poland’s joining the
European Union in 2004 had its influence on perception of the
value of such projects and institutions for British society.
Recently established libraries

In 1997, the FACCET Trust Library was established in
London. This is a Croatian library located on the premises of
the Croatian Language School. The collection is well-used by
members of the school; it is advertised also to the wider public
and its services are offered to all those interested in Croatia-
related topics.27
The St Sava Library was open in London in 2000 as part
of the St Sava Sunday School for Serbian children. Primarily the
library serves the needs of pupils attending the Saturday school.
However, it is open to the public and offers books suitable for
adult readers, too. According to its founders, “[the library] has
been developed with the intention of creating a small source of
cultural happenings for our community in London.”28
39
Endnotes
1
Estonian Embassy in London. Estonian community in the UK.
<http://www.estonia.gov.uk/lang_4/rub_628>, 20.10.2003,
[accessed 10.08.2005].
In 1869, a ‘Czech-Moravian Readers Association’ was established in
London, which subscribed to Czech-language periodicals and books
published in Prague and other European cities (notably Berlin). In
1903, its library consisted of 143 books and made 149 loans.
(Kučera, J. Dějiny tělocvič[né] jednoty “Sokol” v Londýně [History of the
Gymnastic Association “Sokol” in London]. Žižkov, 1912, pp. 5&8.)
A library for Latvian sailors in London opened in 1906. Then, in
London there was a small group of some 100 Latvians who came to
Britain after the first Russian revolution (1905). It is unclear,
however, when the library ceased to exist. (Grunts, M.V. & Smith,
I.A. In the mirror of the past. Auziņa-Smita, I., ed. Latvieši
Lielbritanijā [Latvians of Great Britain]. 1995, p. 453.) Probably, there
also existed Polish libraries in Britain before the Second World War
as the Polish community was several thousand strong and, at the
beginning of the 20th century, had Catholic missions and schools in
Manchester and London. (Sword, K. Identity in flux: the Polish
community in Britain, 1996, p. 21).
2
Danilewicz Zielińska, M. Książka i czytelnictwo polskie w Wielkiej
Brytani : szkice [The Polish book and readership in Great Britain: a
sketch], 1996, pp. 12-13.
3
history of its creation] [1-7]. Ukrains’ka dumka, 28 October – 4
November 2004, p. 2.
4
The Francis Skaryna Byelorussian Library and Museum, 1971, p. 4.
5
Ibid.
6
in contemporary London], 1998, pp. 29 & 36-38.
Suchcitz, A. Informator Studium Polski Podziemnej [Guide to the Polish
Underground Movement Study Trust], 1997, p. 160.
7
8
40
9
Jurašiėne, A.M. In memoriam. Darbininkas, 7 June 1996, 81(23).
10
Interview with Kenneth Kastytis Baublys, London, 16 August
2005.
11
Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) – Ukraine’s greatest poet and
“prophet” of Ukrainian ethnic identity. Inclusion of Skaryna’s (ref.
14) and Shevchenko’s names in the titles of libraries is significant
since it reveals the perceived mission and role of these institutions in
the life of the émigré communities and – broader – in the life of the
whole nation. Libraries, at least the largest ones, were perceived as
one of the pillars of the intellectual and spiritual (in terms of morality
and aesthetics) survival and development of the ethic group and its
culture.
12
Pekarska, ref. 3, 11-18 November 2004, p. 2 & 20-27 January
2005, p. 4
13
Pekarska, ref. 3, 11-18 November 2004, p. 2.
14
Francis Skaryna (c.1490-c.1551) – the publisher of the first
Belarusian printed book, poet and humanist.
15
The Francis Skaryna Byelorussian Library and Museum, 1971, pp. 6-7.
16
Smith, I.A. & Štrāle A. Witnessing and preserving Latvian culture in
17
Szmidt, ref. 6., pp. 15 & 24.
18
Mieczysław Jarkowski letter to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 6 September 2005.
19
Telephone conversation with Mieczysław Jarkowski, the Polish
Ex-Combatants Association, 28 July 2005.
20
Telephone conversation with Kenneth Kastytis Baublys, 3 August
2005.
21
Aleksas Vilčinskas email to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 19 August 2005.
22
In the first 25 years of its existence (1951-1976) the library had 42
readers; it operated a postal service – 200 parcels with books were
sent to readers. According to the records, however, most of books
were borrowed just by two readers. (Barėnas K. Britanijos lietuviai
1974-1994 [British Lithuanians, 1974-1994], 1997, p. 197.) Statistics
for the later period is not available.
23
Vida Gasperiene email to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 5 September 2005.
24
Interview with Zivile Ilgunaite, Sodyba, Hampshire, 16 July 2005.
41
25
Interview with Juhan Parts, Estonian House, Leicester, 5 August
2005. In his words, “we [the older generation] have to bend – as the
tree bends in order not be broken by the wind [Estonian idiom, -
I.I.]; we have to listen to the younger generation.”
26
Studium Polski Podziemnej. Sprawozdanie z działalnosci w 2004 roku
[Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust. Report
2004]. [Unpublished].
27
Telephone conversation with Linda Rabuzin, 26 July 2005.
28
Biblioteka Sveti Sava. Future.
<http://www.malabiblioteka.org/buducnost-eng.htm>, [n.d.]
[accessed 15.08.2005].
42
C OLLECTIONS OF THE B ALTIC AND
S LAVONIC LIBRARIES : THEIR SIZE ,
CHARACTER AND SIGNIFICANCE
The size of collections

Among the surveyed libraries, the largest is the Polish
Library POSK, a lending library. Its book and booklet holdings
include some 150,000 items and over 4,200 periodical titles.
The Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum
(hereafter – the Belarusian Library) and the Shevchenko Library
and Archive are both reference libraries; their holdings include
some 30,000 volumes of books and over 200 periodical titles
each. The holdings of another two reference libraries, the
Latvian Documentation Centre and the Polish Underground
Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust Library include over 7000
volumes of books each.
The size of the rest of the libraries’ collections – all of
these seven are lending libraries – is between 500 and 4500
volumes.
The character of the community libraries’ collections

Lending libraries
All the surveyed libraries collect publications which by
and large relate to the home country and the native culture of
43
the people to whom the library belongs. For lending libraries
that predominantly or exclusively serve the needs of a particular
group (club members, pupils and staff of a Saturday school
etc.), the matter of language is the decisive one. The
interviewees at lending libraries routinely underlined that all or
almost all their holdings are in their mother tongues. This
reflects the role these libraries have been expected to fulfil by
their founders and users: to give access to publications in their
own language.
Lending libraries (except the Polish Library POSK1) have
considerably poorer collections of periodicals than books. It
reflects the difficulties these libraries have had with
preservation of newspapers and magazines and lending them.
Another reason may be the perception of periodicals as
something that loses its value rapidly. As small lending libraries
were not intended to serve researchers in the first place,
collections of periodicals were not perceived as being
particularly valuable to their core users. Also periodicals are not
cheap and require commitment to regular expenses – choosing
between books and periodicals, small lending libraries choose
books.2
The acquisition policies of community libraries are not
rigid. As their readership changes (e.g. the number of the users
who are British increases), the character of the collected
material may change, too. Ultimately, this is the condition for
survival and success of any library.3
Reference libraries
The Latvian Documentation Centre acquisition policy is
typical for reference libraries. It collects:
• all material in Latvian and about Latvia in other
languages;
• all publications, ephemera and archive materials
relating to Latvians in the United Kingdom.4
44
The Latvian Documentation Centre, the Belarusian Libra-
ry and the Shevchenko Library and Archive, i.e. reference libra-
ries5 fulfil two essential functions for their communities:
• preserving the national heritage, which includes
(and possibly is emphasised, but is not limited to)
the émigré community heritage;
• enabling access to the material (Latvian,
Belarusian and Ukrainian, respectively) to all
those interested in researching the relevant
topics.6
These libraries actively collect publications relating to
their homelands in foreign languages as they may be of use to
researchers and others who do not speak the languages of these
peoples. Such publications also have a certain symbolic
meaning to the diaspora communities, especially to all those
people who support activities for promotion of their culture
and encourage research in it. These publications contribute to
the perception of the meaningfulness of such support and the
value of a library’s efforts to serve the information needs of
non-members of the ethnic community. This acquires a special
significance for those whose culture and language are
suppressed and history falsified which, to different degrees, was
the case for all ethnic groups under discussion.
The three reference libraries mentioned collect archive
materials relating to the life of the diaspora: organisations’
documents, personal archives, ephemera etc. Naturally their
focus is on materials relating to the community’s life in the
United Kingdom. For example, the Belarusian Library, the only
institution of such kind outside the homeland, has in effect be-
come a depository for the whole post-war Belarusian emigra-
tion in the West.
The Belarusian Library and the Shevchenko Library and
Archive also collect items of art and collectables and has
created museum collections that reflect these cultures.
45
Significance of the collections
Since community libraries aim to serve particular
categories of users the value of their collections should be per-
ceived in relation to this. In the current study, these users are
mainly people who came to the United Kingdom as a result of
the Second World War. Hardly any of them had a real choice,
as often this was the only option between life and death. They
left their countries in tragic circumstances and witnessed how
the post-war ‘iron curtain’ cut them off from their own people.
They received frightening news about political and religious
persecutions in their home countries and – in the cases of some
of the countries of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia –
of ethnic suppression. In this country immigrants had to deal
not only with the need to settle down and the pressure to assi-
milate, but also with their experiences and memories and with
the changing realities in their homelands.
Lending libraries
In such a context, community libraries were not only the
places where literature in mother tongue was available. They
were also places where certain kind of memories, experiences
and values were understood, appreciated and preserved – those
which were often suppressed and denied in home countries.
This partly explains why the collections of almost all the
surveyed lending libraries consist predominantly or even
entirely of the post-war émigré publications. “People read a lot,
especially biographies and memoirs of compatriots in exile”7, a
witness of the Leicester Estonian House Library recalls. Many
of these books were written in the diaspora; they were supple-
mented by a large number of the national literature classics that
were reprinted by émigrés repeatedly, beginning from the
displaced persons camps in post-war Germany and Austria.8
Apart from relevance, there were other reasons why small
community libraries collected predominantly or only publicca-
tions appearing in the diaspora:
46
• Purchasing publications from the home country
was difficult, too expensive or even impossible.
For libraries in the West, the normal way of
receiving publications from Central and Eastern
Europe in 1950s-1990s was by book exchange
that only large libraries could afford.
• Some libraries did not have resources for purcha-
sing books; they could only rely on books donated
by well-wishers and free copies from publishers.
• In some cases, there was reluctance to have to do
anything with the Soviet authorities, their represen-
tatives, or even to use books published by them.9
As a result, the diaspora publications constitute the core
of the collections in majority of the surveyed libraries. They
were published, actively collected and read as long as the first
generation immigrants were numerous and active. For them,
these publications were relevant and meaningful.
Not many publishing initiatives (publishing houses and
periodicals) established by the post-war immigrants have
survived until now; most of them disappeared as a result of the
ageing and death of their readers, supporters and authors. Baltic
and Slavonic émigré publishing decreased sharply in 1980s;
respectively, the library collections of the diaspora publications
mostly consist of books published in the 1950s-1980s.10
Most of the lending libraries’ collections of the émigré
publications are fragmentary. This reflects the difficulties these
libraries had to cope with: they were often left without a
dedicated person look after them and communication between
the diaspora publishers and other community institutions
including libraries was often irregular.
Reference libraries
The collections of the surveyed reference libraries are
significant or even unique. The Polish Underground Movement
(1939-1945) Study Trust Library has a comprehensive collec-
47
tion of books relating to various aspects of the Home Army
and the Polish Underground State published before 1990. Most
of them appeared outside Poland and, together with a valuable
archive maintained by the Trust, offer a unique place for
conducting relevant research.
The Latvian Documentation Centre and the Shevchenko
Library and Archive have fairly comprehensive collections of –
respectively – Latvian and Ukrainian post-war émigré publica-
tions as well some earlier prints and developing collections of
more recent publications from the diaspora and home countries.
From the beginning, the Belarusian Library has aimed to
build a comprehensive collection of Belarusian and Belarus-
related publications. Though the émigré prints are an important
part of it, the majority of publications are from Belarus. The
collection is up-to-date, though largely limited to the humanities;
it also includes many rare publications hardly available anywhere
else in the West. During the 1990s when many Western libraries
struggled to receive books and periodicals from the former
Soviet Union, the Belarusian Library was kept posted with newly
published material, including samizdat. Currently, this is one of
the largest Belarusian library collections outside Belarus.
Usually reference community libraries collect the
diaspora-related materials in a depth that no other institutions
could do. These materials do not fit in the collection policies of
either public or academic or specialised British libraries. Libra-
ries and archives in home countries did not collect them in the
Soviet Union period either.
48
Endnotes
1
An exception among the surveyed lending libraries is the Polish
Library POSK. This library has the largest collection of the Polish
material in the United Kingdom and is in many respects unique. It
occupies a special place serving the Polish community as a public
library and being a research institution and a depository of
documents and other archive materials. The spectrum of the material
collected by the library is very broad; it has been defined in three
areas of collecting:
• Main – dictionaries, encyclopaedias, all émigré publications,
all the humanities related to Poland (published in Poland and
abroad), émigré periodicals and those published in Poland,
Polonica and all Polish publications produced before 1939;
• Archive – documents, photographs and small prints related
to the émigré community life;
• Museum – manuscripts, documents, personal papers, etc.
(Szmidt, J. Biblioteki polskie we współczesnym Londynie [Polish libraries
in contemporary London], 1998, p. 59)
2
From Marita Grunts’ email to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 22 August 2005: “[D]ue
to lack of funds, the [London Latvian] Library does not subscribe to
newspapers, but LNPL [Latvian National Council in Great Britain]
pays for a Library subscription to two weekly newspapers Brīvā
Latvija and Laiks, and a reader donates The Baltic Times. All can be
read in the Library.”
3
From Marita Grunts’ email to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 22 August 2005: “The
collecting policy of the London Latvian Library is to collect anything
published in Latvian, whether in the West or in Latvia, and also any-
thing about Latvia and Latvians published in other languages. Since
material about the Baltic States usually includes information about
Latvia this also is collected. Although most of the books in the
collections have been published in the West, over the past 15 year
books published in Latvia are rapidly growing in numbers. Transla-
tions by foreign authors as a rule are not collected, but since lately
Latvian publishers publish mainly translations and readers ask after
them the Library has had to abandon this rule.”
4
Inese Smith e-mail to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 19 August 2005.
49
5
These are three out of four reference libraries surveyed. The Polish
Underground Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust is different: the
Trust is concerned with a particular period and events in the Polish
history which determines its criteria of relevance for the Trust’s
library collection and role in the Polish community it fulfils.
6
As the Guide to the Belarusian Library highlights, “all its holdings are
freely available to all bona fide scholars with an interest in Belarusian
studies.” (Nadson, A. Guide to the Belarusian Library in London.
<http://www.belarusians.co.uk/skaryna/guide.html>, 12.01.2000,
[accessed 28.08.2005].)
7
2005.
8
It is worth of noting that sometimes the texts of these publications
would differ from those appearing in the Soviet Union or in the
countries of the Socialist block as the Communist authorities would
sometimes censor even classics from the pre-Communist era.
9
Smith, I. A. & Štrāle A. Witnessing and preserving Latvian culture in
A good illustration of this is Rostislovas Baublys’s initiative of
establishing a private Lithuanian Library. His son recalls that
Baublys’s contacts with libraries and other institutions in Soviet
Lithuania, as well as with the representatives of the Soviet
authorities, caused much resentment in the Lithuanian community in
Britain. (Interview with Kenneth Kastytis Baublys, London, 16
August 2005.)
10
The FACCET Trust Library is the youngest of the surveyed
libraries. Its collection is comparatively small, consisting mainly of
books produced recently in Croatia. The importance of this
collection lies in enabling access to Croatian publications which are
not otherwise available for borrowing from anywhere else in the
United Kingdom.
50
W ORK PRACTICES OF COMMUNITY
LIBRARIES : USERS , ACQUISITION ,
CO - OPERATION AND COMMUNITY
INVOLVEMENT
Users and use

Lending libraries
Most of lending community libraries are used by mem-
bers of the founding organisation or users of the institution
where the library is located: club members, pupils, the parents
and staff of Saturday/Sunday schools, residents and staff of the
old people’s home, parishioners etc. By and large they are open
during the opening hours of these institutions. All surveyed
lending libraries are open to the public; in some libraries,
however, restrictions on access and use are applied, e.g. if the
library is located on the premises of a members-only club.
The number of users of the libraries varies from a few to
over one hundred. The readership of the majority of them is
becoming older and falling in numbers. This is not always an
irreversible process, but depends more on new immigrants than
on the first generation’s descendants, who are rarely users of
community libraries; it also depends on the person in charge of
the collection and the organisation responsible for the library.1
The most popular kinds of books among users of lending
community libraries are fiction, memoirs, biographies and
51
historical essays; also classical works of their national literature,
which are especially attractive to older people.2
Difficulties experienced by community libraries

in attracting new readers
Explaining why people of his generation do not use a
community library, a descendant of the Ukrainian post-war
immigrants said that, despite learning Ukrainian for many years
at Saturday School, it has not become their primary language –
mixed-marriage families, jobs, all aspects of society discourage
the use of the mother tongue. Reading the Ukrainian weekly
used to be essential for keeping in touch with the homeland.
Not any more: the internet delivers news quicker and it is
available in English.3
As more and more information become available on the
internet, this changes the ways people find information and
how and what they read. Community libraries and newspapers
have lost the monopoly on information and reading materials in
their mother tongues. Generally books from Central and
Eastern Europe are more accessible and affordable than ever
before. Many people travel to their homelands regularly and
buy books there.
Another recently analysed threat to ethnic libraries, seen
in the example of Latvian libraries, is closure as a result of
decreased use by scholars who are now able to conduct their
research directly in archives and libraries in Central and East
European countries.4
Many newcomers to the United Kingdom from Central
and East Europe do not join the established community groups
and centres. Some of them come to Britain to master English,
earn some money and return home. Speaking their own language
would – in their view – prevent them from accomplishing these
objectives. Often, this is perceived as an opportunity to get to
know the world beyond one’s own country and culture. Cultural
differences are no longer perceived to be as important as when
52
the ideological differences between the West and the East so
greatly influenced people’s outlook. Also, after the majority of
the Central and East European countries joined the European
Union in 2004, their citizens were no longer restricted to
particular jobs and did not need any permits. As a result, they
rely less on help from anyone, including their communities.5
The Polish Library POSK

In spite of the negative aspects mentioned above, the
number of the Polish Library POSK members has been
growing year after year, though there was not the sharp
upswing after 1 May 2004 – when Poland became part of the
EU – which was hoped for.6 The Library POSK operates a
lending service, a reading room and a room for researchers for
working with archive materials. Consequently, the library is
used by the general public (mostly Poles) who borrow books,
or read periodicals and work with the reference collection’s
holdings in the reading room; and by researchers interested in
Poland-related issues. In 2004, 1181 people were members of
the library, among them 532 – newly registered. They borrowed
over 12,000 items. In the 1990s, almost all books published in
Poland after 1945 were transferred to the lending collection and
became available for borrowing. Most popular books – some
fiction, history, and children’s books – are on the open access
shelves, the rest have to be ordered. The library was used by
149 persons for research in 2004, the majority from British and
Polish universities. The most frequent themes of their research
were the history of Poland and the Polish army, literature and
culture, emigration and presence in the United Kingdom.7
Reference libraries
The Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945) Study
Trust Library is used mostly by Polish researchers and students
studying the history of the Polish Resistance during the Second
53
World War. Some fifty persons per year come to work there
and some 200 enquires are dealt with.8
The number of users of the Shevchenko Library and
Archive is increasing since it was re-launched in 2002. Its main
users are students of Ukrainian studies and researchers of
Ukrainian history, art, music etc. 187 persons visited the library
in 2004.9
The experience of the Belarusian Library is somewhat
peculiar. For years, it has had a resident librarian and two
rooms have been dedicated to visitors who could stay and work
there. This made the library a popular place for long-term re-
search; a number of books and many articles have been written
there by researchers coming to the Library for weeks and even
months. This opportunity was especially valuable for scholars
from Belarus and other post-Socialist countries, mostly Poland,
as they could have free accommodation and access to materials
not always available in libraries in the homeland. Despite being
a reference library mainly aimed at researchers, it has recently
started attracting young Belarusians who for different reasons
temporarily stay in London. They find in the library
publications which are illegal or semi-legal in a home country
ruled by an autocratic government – uncensored periodicals,
books and music banned or restricted for distribution. These
visitors are encouraged to take back home duplicates of books
published in the diaspora or which are out-of-print or un-
available from bookshops in Belarus for ideological reasons.
Acquisition practices
In the past, most Baltic and Slavonic communities had
active publishers in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada,
Sweden, Italy and some other countries. Only a few of them
have survived to the present day.
The post-war immigration has produced a vast array of
literature – fiction, biographies, political and historical essays,
linguistics, religious publications, etc. However, most of these
54
publications were not very profitable to their publishers: the
circulations were modest and sending out individual copies by
post was an inefficient means of distribution. A Ukrainian who
grew up in a family of post-war immigrants recalled that people
were generous donating money for books to be published. It
was common practice for copies of these books to be sent to
everyone who thus sponsored them.10 Many of these books
would be passed on to a local community library. Also, books
were often donated to community libraries by founding
organisations and well-wishers. In addition, publishers and
authors, being aware of the importance of these libraries,
donated their books to the larger community libraries.11
Relying on donations was insufficient for developing a
good quality collection. At least six of the surveyed libraries
have exchanged publications with other libraries, usually from
the same ethnic community in the United Kingdom or abroad
(the others could not provide the relevant information).
Even before the collapse of the Socialist bloc, the Polish
Library POSK received a large number of books (c. 2000 per
year – data for 1969-1973), from Poland.12 This was unusual;
most other Baltic and Slavonic libraries did not have strong
links with the homeland until after the late 1980s.
Rostislovas Baublys, who organised a private Lithuanian
Library in London, established exchange links with the Vilnius
University Library. In exchange for publications from the home
country he sent Lithuanian émigré publications and serials
published in Britain.13
The Belarusian Library established an exchange with the
Library of the Academy of Science of Belarus (then, BSSR –
Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic) in 1969, i.e. even before
the library was officially open. It sent serials published in the
West in exchange for books and periodicals from Belarus.
Though this was very expensive for a library not subsidised
from public funds, it was the only way to receive publications
from the Soviet Union on a regular basis. All publishers in the
USSR published catalogues of forthcoming titles well in
55
advance and, in the situation of a planned economy, had to
adhere to them very strictly. For a long time, the Belarusian
Library could be sure that it did not miss valuable publications.
This remained the case until perestroika and glasnost’ created
loop-holes in the control over society and economic difficulties
prevented the state-funded libraries from fulfilling their
obligations to foreign partners. Because of the uncertainty of
subscriptions and their high cost, libraries in the West had to
review the exchange agreements with libraries in the former
Soviet Union.14 The Belarusian Library also had to deal with
the fact that a large academic library in Belarus could not
supply samizdat and the number of uncensored publications
which was steadily growing after 1988. The exchange
agreement was terminated c.1993 (well before large British
libraries did the same15) when a new partner for purchasing
books and subscribing to periodicals was found, a non-
governmental organisation.16
Currently, among the surveyed libraries, only the
Belarusian Library purchases most of its new acquisitions.17
The majority community libraries receive most of their new
acquisitions as gifts from well-wishers, publishers or authors.
The Shevchenko Library and Archive and the Polish Library
POSK also actively exchange publications with libraries in
home countries18 and, in the case of the Ukrainian library, with
the British Library19. The Latvian libraries have a well-
developed system for clearing book collections received from
individuals or closing community libraries; the headquarters of
this scheme is the Latvian Documentation Centre where all
received books are sorted and allocated to other Latvian
libraries in this country or sent to Latvia. By and large,
however, small community libraries are struggling with a lack of
resources for developing their collections with recent materials.
56
Co-operation practices
As a rule only those libraries that employ staff, or are
supported by professional librarians, are engaged in ongoing
co-operation with other libraries and institutions. In some
cases, this co-operation is not limited to book exchange, but
involves the exchange of information, participation in
bibliographic, research and publishing projects.20
A unique example of co-operation was building the union
catalogue of holdings in Latvian libraries in Britain, which
mainly involved two librarians from the Latvian Docu-
mentation Centre and the London Latvian Library. It started in
1984 and the draft of the catalogue, which included the records
of all Latvian libraries and book collections open to public, was
completed in 1990.21
Among the surveyed libraries, only the Polish Library
POSK has had recent experience of co-operation with public
libraries. The Central Circulating Library, part of the Polish
Library POSK, provides a lending service to public libraries
across Britain. Public libraries contribute a small annual
subscription fee and pay for each borrowed book; this keeps
the service running and funds new book purchases.22 In 2004,
25 libraries used this service, borrowing every six months 50 to
400 copies of Polish books for their local users.23
Classification and cataloguing

Most of the surveyed libraries do not use any of the
established classification systems, since a comparatively small
number of books can easily be divided into several general
subjects; this is the practice of most of the lending libraries. In
the Leicester Estonian House Library, books are located
chronologically according to the date of acquisition. The Polish
Library POSK has adopted the Dewey decimal classification.
The Belarusian Library has its own classification.
Six lending libraries have catalogues of their monographic
holdings; one is computerised, the rest are on cards or paper. In
57
the Belarusian Library and the Shevchenko Library and Archive
computer catalogues are in preparation; this work is being
carried out by volunteers. In the Polish Underground Move-
ment (1939-1945) Study Trust Library, author and subject card
catalogues are available; their computerisation is due to begin in
the end of 2005. In the Latvian Documentation Centre, a
computer catalogue of monographic holdings and a serials
register are available.
The Polish library POSK started building its computer
catalogue in 1992. It includes all new acquisitions since then.
Simultaneously, retrospective cataloguing has been carried out.
At the end of 2004, about half of all monographs were included
in the computer catalogue the online access to which is due to
be enabled in the end of 2005.24 Initially, records were made in
UKMARC, but now they are being converted into MARC21.25
By and large, professional practice and standards are not
easily adopted by community libraries. This is for several reasons:
• most community libraries do not have pro-
fessional librarians among their workers; and
their unpaid volunteers, though passionately
devoted to their work, are often unaware of how
and where to acquire the necessary knowledge or
else are unable to spare the time and money for
obtaining such knowledge;
• there is not much written about the experience of
running such small and specific libraries;
• there is a lack of cheap software solutions (or
information about them) suitable for building
simple, but sufficient catalogues for small libraries.
Being part of the community

Community libraries are an important instrument in
building up the life of ethnic groups through facilitating reading
in the mother tongue.26 How else community libraries are
involved in the life of their groups depends on the character of
58
the library and what expectations the whole group has about it.
In this respect, community libraries can be categorised accord-
ing to their involvement in local ethnic community life. At one
extreme would be most of the small lending libraries which are
almost totally inwardly oriented: club, parish etc. At the other
extreme – the Belarusian Library which is only peripherally
involved in serving the Belarusian community in Britain; this
does not mean that that this library does not contribute to the
community in its broader sense – shaping its values, broadening
its horizons, bringing together compatriots from the homeland
and the diaspora, offering information resources for Belarus-
related researches.
Some libraries, especially the larger ones, participate in or
even organise talks, exhibitions and conferences. The Shev-
chenko Library and Archive has traditionally been the pillar of
such activities in the Ukrainian community. Also the Polish
Library POSK27 and the Belarusian Library28 have long lists of
organised events. The London Latvian Library participated in
the Baltic Focus exhibitions in 1987 and 198929. In such a way
community libraries serve a variety of needs of the ethnic group
– educational, scholarly, preservation of ethnic traditions and
popularisation of the national culture among a broader society.
An important role in recording the community’s history
belongs to libraries which often are places of preservation and
use of the ethnic organisations’ and individuals’ archives and
photographic collections. For example, from the Leicester
Estonian House Library has originated four volumes of
Eestlaskond Leicesteris (Estonians in Leicester) – a chronicle of
the Estonian community in Leicester compiled of short
memoirs, newspaper cuttings and photographs.30 The history of
the London Latvian School and Latvian Welfare Fund (VDF)
London Branch has been documented by the London Latvian
Library’s librarian.31 Libraries, supported and used by their
communities, become places where memories, traditions and
values are preserved and communicated.
59
Endnotes
1
The Latvian London Library gives an encouraging example: with
the limited help of supporting organisations it manages to offer a
lending service to 130 registered users, organise educational and
fundraising ‘Library afternoons’ and a reading competition for the
London Latvian School pupils. As a result, the library is used not
only by the first generation immigrants, but also by children and
other adults who are primarily engaged in other activities (school,
choir, folk dancing group etc.) at the Latvian Welfare Fund (DVF)
London Centre, as well as Latvians visiting the United Kingdom. An
interesting idea has been introduced at this library which cannot
itself afford subscriptions on newspapers and magazines: “In recent
years the readers have, on their own initiative, started a periodicals
exchange system. They exchange Latvian periodicals they have read
for those not read. The system, operated by the readers themselves,
works very well”, explains the librarian. (Marita Grunts email to Ihar
Ivanoŭ, 22 August 2005.)
2
Interview with Rūta Bonner, the Latvian Welfare Fund (DVF)
Catthorpe Manor Library, 1 August 2005.
“[S]chool children borrow set books, mainly [about] Latvian
language, Latvian history and geography and material for their
special projects which can be anything about Latvia, its folklore etc.
Visitors from Latvia search for topics or authors [who] were
forbidden during the years of [the Soviet] occupation. Men read
mainly war books, military history, others classical literature. Women
read biographies, novels sometime even plays or poetry.” (Marita
Grunts e-mail to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 22 August 2005.)
“Ethnic reader who wish [sic] to reinforce their feeling for the past
tend to read the classics because that is where they hope to find the
roots of their own identity. Old people in particular tend to return to
the classics they read in their youth, discovering new meanings in
them.” (Simsova S. Multicultural populations: their nature and
needs. Zielinska, M.F. & Kirkwood, F.T., eds. Multicultural
librarianship: and international handbook, 1992, p. 29.)
3
Interview with Miron Dowbusz, the Ukrainian Club, Leicester, 3
August 2005.
60
4
Smith, I. A. & Štrāle A. Witnessing and preserving Latvian culture in
5
Wightman, B. Re: Poles in London, Polish Embassy and others.
Poles in Great Britain, Yahoo Groups, 1 August 2005, 08:12 GMT.
6
Szmidt, J. Sprawosdanie z działalności Biblioteki Polskiej POSK
[The Polish Library POSK report]. Wiadomości POSK, 2005, 53, 45.
7
Ibid., pp. 42-43.
8
Conversation with Dr Krzysztof Stoliński, the Polish Underground
Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust Library, London, 4 August
2005.
9
Ljudmila Pekarska e-mail to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 13 July 2005.
10
Ref. 3.
11
“Apparently most of the books are donated […], 500 net during
1952-69.” (Avo Hiiemäe e-mail to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 26 July 2005.)
“[In 1970s, the holdings of the Polish Library POSK’s] were growing
mostly due to gifts. Polish émigré publishers who sent their new
publications free of charge played a large role in this; as well as
authors, from the diaspora and Poland, who offered their author’s
copies. […] In 1980-1990, the holdings grew mostly due gifts from
Poland, Great Britain and from abroad; not only from individuals,
but also from some institutions, organisations, periodical and book
publishers. […] Because of the budget constrains, only a small
number of the most necessary books were bought, mostly Polonica
in foreign languages [author’s trans.].” (Szmidt, J. Biblioteki polskie we
współczesnym Londynie [Polish libraries in contemporary London],
1998, pp. 56 & 61.)
12
13
Receipts and letters regarding this exchange have been collected in
a file currently preserved by Kenneth Kastytis Baublys, London.
14
Hogg, R. The death of exchange. Leich, H.M., ed. Libraries in
open societies: Proceedings of the Fifth International Slavic Librarians’
Conference, 2002, pp. 29-36.
15
Ibid., p. 30.
16
Telephone conversation with Alexander Nadson, 26 August 2005.
17
However, the library is attempting to position itself as a ‘national
library abroad’ and encourages publishers and authors to donate
61
their publications. It has mixed results – émigré publications are
normally received as gifts, but donations from Belarus are
infrequent, from publishers and authors who have had chance to
visit the library or use its collection and research facilities. At the
moment, comparatively low book prices in Belarus make it
affordable for the library to pay for publications.
The political and economic situation in Belarus influences the ways
publishing works in that country and how – at least some – people
search for information. Tough control over publishers and low
wages make impossible for most of them to have a profitable (and
for some of them – legal) business as well as to pay substantial
royalties to the authors. For several years, e-publishing has been
thriving on the Belarusian internet, though not in the way it is in the
West: a large number of Belarusian books – even the most recent
ones – and virtually all periodicals are available free of charge. Since
2004, the Belarusian Library has started archiving some of these
publications which are available as PDF documents.
18
19
Interview with Ljudmila Pekarska, the Shevchenko Library and
Archive, London, 1 July 2005.
20
The Polish Library POSK has extensive contacts with the largest
Polish libraries, particularly academic ones. For ten years, it has
invited groups of librarianship students from Warsaw for practical
experience at the library and helping it with cataloguing. (Szmidt,
ref. 5, p. 47.)
21
Smith, I.A. Self-help and the Latvian community in Britain.
Community Librarian, 1990, 6, 2.
22
23
24
25
Lipniacka, E. Sprawozdanie z działalności [Activities report].
Wiadomości POSK, 2005, 53, 35.
26
“Language is the tool of reading, and reading reinforces language
and perpetuates it. The books and articles which ethnic group
members read in their mother tongue help them to retain and
develop the thoughts and feelings associated with their original
62
culture. Thus, although reading is essentially a solitary activity, it
supports the cohesion of the ethnic group.” (Simsova S.
Multicultural populations: their nature and needs. Zielinska, M.F.
& Kirkwood, F.T., eds. Multicultural librarianship: an international
handbook, 1992, p. 28.)
27
Szmidt, ref. 11, pp. 78-79.
28
Nadson, A. Guide to the Belarusian Library in London.
[accessed 28.08.2005].
29
Marita Grunts e-mail to Ihar Ivanoŭ, 22 August 2005.
30
2005.
31
63
T HE ORGANISATION
OF COMMUNITY LIBRARIES :
AFFILIATION , MANAGEMENT ,
STAFF AND BUDGET
Affiliation and management

All but two of the surveyed libraries are constituent parts
of other organisations. However, the scope of the activities of
the Polish Library POSK, the Shevchenko Library and Archive,
and the Latvian Documentation Centre stretches far beyond
the boundaries of their parent organisations; to a great extent
these libraries function autonomously.
Formally, the Belarusian Library and the FACCET Trust
Library are independent institutions. They both, however, have
strong symbiotic links to other organisations.
The FACCET Trust Library uses the Croatian Language
School premises and is run by school staff. Effectively, the
library exists in the context of the educational activities of the
school.1
According to the Belarusian Library By-Laws, the head of
the Belarusian Catholic Mission is ex-officio a member of the
library’s Board of Trustees. This clause reflects de-facto dependen-
ce of the library on the contribution of the clergy of the Catholic
Mission into the establishment and support of the library.2
65
Workers and volunteers
Two of the four surveyed reference libraries have employ-
ees and one library has a full-time unpaid librarian. Three refe-
rence libraries have at least one professional in librarianship and
related areas among their employees and volunteers.
Among the lending libraries, only the Polish Library
POSK employs paid workers, including professional librarians,
alongside over twenty volunteers. Two lending libraries, the
FACCET Trust Library and the Croatian Catholic Mission
Library, are served by the members of staff of the parent
institution – a school and a religious organisation. Services at
each of the remaining five lending libraries are provided by one
volunteer with only the Latvian being a professional librarian.
The role of the individual in establishing a community
library and carrying out its work is difficult to overestimate.
This is usually an unpaid job and it takes a lot of energy, time
and perseverance. Even if paid, this is not financially the most
attractive option; it draws those who for one reason or another
are committed to supporting their communities in such a
particular way. In many libraries the names of their founders or
passionate workers are preserved either in publications or as an
oral history: Ceslaus Sipovich in the Belarusian Library,
Volodymyr Shayan in the Shevchenko Library and Archive,
Maria Danilewicz Zielińska in the Polish Library POSK, Kārlis
Kaugars and Margarieta Viļumsone in the DVF Catthorpe
Manor Library.
While acknowledging such dedicated service of
community library volunteers and workers, the role of the
individual in supporting a community library should not be
perceived absolutely uncritically. If led by only one person, the
library may not have a chance to become a joint endeavour, a
collaborative experience of the whole community. The library
may develop into a joyful and highly satisfying space for an
enthusiastic person, but lack resourcefulness and attraction for
many others. If this happens, it is likely that after years of a
66
successful service, when the person in charge is no longer able
to continue this work, there will be no one to take over; or the
process of taking over would be painful for both the individuals
and also for the community, rather than a mutually enriching
event building up the life of the community.
Budgets of community libraries

Most of the community libraries rely on donations which
are usually not regular or large. Their individual benefactors are
normally among the library users. Most of the surveyed libraries
have received donations from community organisations –
associations, clubs, parishes, foundations, etc.
Three reference libraries and the Polish Library POSK
(i.e. all the large libraries surveyed) have received legacies in
cash3 and at least seven libraries – including all reference ones –
received books and other publications as legacies from their
compatriots. For at least two libraries, the Belarusian Library4
and the Polish Library POSK5, compatriots’ legacies constitute
the essential part of their budgets.
One of the ways of getting funds for community libraries
is selling books – duplicates or unwanted titles. This was
mentioned at six libraries. It is often done at social events
where libraries provide their stalls. Some libraries offer
unwanted books to other libraries; e.g. the British Library. Sale
of books, however, does not constitute the primary source of
funds for any library; normally, it is an occasional income and,
consequently, is treated as an opportunity to make otherwise
unplanned acquisitions.
The most common way of supporting community
libraries by their founders or sympathetic organisations is by
providing premises for the library. This is the case of all the
surveyed libraries but one, the Belarusian Library, which owns
its own house. These premises are rarely completely satisfactory
in terms of book safety or comfort for staff and users. Four out
of twelve surveyed libraries do not have separate premises; their
67
holdings are located in rooms used primarily for other
purposes. Self-help organisations often struggle to secure their
own existence and keep a necessary property. Libraries do not
provide income to their owners, so they must compete hard for
limited resources available.
Another kind of support is given to the Latvian
Documentation Centre by the Latvian Welfare Fund (DVF).
This organisation offers the Latvian Documentation Centre, a
clearinghouse for the Latvian libraries in Britain, free container
space for sending books to schools and libraries in Latvia.6
Uniquely for years the main source of income for the
London Latvian Library was fundraising ‘Library afternoons’
“when books of selected authors or specific subjects are
discussed, or invited lecturers give a presentation on their
chosen subject […] Approximately twenty such afternoons
have been organised by the library”7.
Some libraries consider their existence and ongoing
projects as the achievement of the whole nationwide or even
worldwide community. These libraries receive donations from
all over Britain and from abroad – from individuals,
organisations and their local branches and clubs.9 For example,
the list of major benefactors of the Belarusian Library in 1968-
1991 includes 43 individual names and four organisations from
Britain, USA, Australia, Spain, Canada, Italy, France and
Belgium. All of them are Belarusians and Belarusian émigré
organisations.10
Only one library makes information on its budget publicly
available on the regular basis – the Polish Library POSK. In
2004, it received over £163,000; over £108,000 were legacies,
an other £25,000 – donations from different Polish diaspora
organisations; over £17,000 earned by the Central Circulating
Library for lending Polish books to public libraries; almost
£10,000 membership fees from 1,181 members; another £4,000
from the sale of books (duplets and own publications) and
photocopying services.11
68
The priorities for spending available funds are seen
differently in different libraries. In the majority of cases, all or
almost all available resources are spent on new acquisitions. For
example, the Belarusian Library, despite being able to purchase
the vast majority of its new acquisitions, does not have a paid
worker. In contrast, the Polish Library POSK and the
Shevchenko Library and Archive employ workers, though their
acquisition funds are very limited.
69
Endnotes
1
Telephone conversation with Linda Rabuzin, 26 July 2005.
2
Telephone conversation with Alexander Nadson, 26 August 2005.
3
Studium Polski Podziemnej. Sprawozdanie z działalnosci w 2004 roku
[Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945) Study Trust. Report
2004]. [Unpublished].
history of its creation] [1-7]. Ukrains’ka dumka, 3-10 March 2005, p.
2; 31 March – 7 April 2005, p. 2.
4
List of major benefactors of the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and
Museum in London (1969-1991) [Alexander Nadson’s report to the
Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum Board of Trustees,
c.1992]. [Unpublished].
5
[The Polish Library POSK report]. Wiadomości POSK, 2005, 53, 51.
6
Interview with Inese Smith, the Latvian Documentation Centre,
Catthorpe Manor, 1 August 2005.
7
8
Pekarska, ref. 3, 28 October – 4 November 2004, p. 2 & 20
October – 27 January 2005, p. 4.
9
[accessed 28.08.2005].
10
Ref. 4.
11
70
C ONCLUSION
Differences and similarities of community libraries

Community libraries are diverse in their type, affiliation,
size and work practice; this reflects their differing needs,
purposes and the options available to them. However, there are
some patterns worth noting.
Small libraries tend to be lending, inwardly-oriented, i.e.
serving the needs of a clearly defined group of people like a
school or a club. They are supported mainly by these
establishments and their members or users; sometimes other
community associations also contribute to their support. Most
of these libraries are not in a position to employ a librarian;
they are usually served by a volunteer, very rarely by a
professional librarian.
The reference libraries tend to be larger. They often
operate as the main library of the community, its archive and
cultural centre. They are better staffed than the lending ones.
Generally, reference libraries enjoy more support from their
communities. The reason for this rests in the nature of the
mission these libraries fulfil and expectations that compatriots
have about them: to be the reservoir for collecting and
preserving all that carries meaning for the community’s self-
identification and to enable the community to witness about its
existence and values to the wider society.
71
The collections of community libraries reflect the
population they serve and whose aims and needs they are
expected to fulfil. Holdings of small lending libraries are more
likely to consist almost entirely of books in the mother tongue
published in the diaspora after the Second World War. The
collections of reference libraries are larger and are more likely
to include literature in other languages, as well as periodicals
and archive material.
The limitations of period, themes and quality of many of
these collections should not diminish one’s appreciation of
them or the work community libraries provide. In 2000 there
was no public library left in the United Kingdom collecting
Baltic material.1 It means that the few community libraries in
the whole country were the only places where any literature in
Baltic languages could be easily borrowed. The same can be
said about most Slavonic communities.
Over the years, the acquisition practice of the majority of
Baltic and Slavonic libraries in Britain has not substantially
changed. They still mostly rely on donations from authors,
publishers and well-wishers. The main change has occurred as
the result of the decline in émigré publishing and the greater
availability of publications from Central and Eastern Europe.
The discussion of possible ways of co-operation between
community libraries and public libraries which had taken place
in scholarly literature in the 1980s has not made an obvious
impact on the Baltic and Slavonic libraries – such cooperation
is virtually non-existent. Most of the libraries are too small and
inwardly-oriented to co-operate with public libraries and large
institutions. However, they can be involved in co-operation
within the same ethnic group. Exchange of information, books,
and learning from each others’ experience is a real possibility,
but mostly unused by the surveyed libraries. The experience of
the Latvian libraries in Britain suggests that co-operation
between community libraries and participation of professional
librarians in this work is of great help in the preservation and
re-using of the collected material.
72
Most community libraries depend on the ethnic
associations which normally were their founders and remain
their principal supporters. If the future of such associations is
uncertain, so is the future of the libraries. It must be recognised
that associations ‘age’ with their members and the ideas which
motivated their initial drive; hence many organisations will not
be able to bridge the generation and cultural gap between post-
war immigrants and new compatriots coming to Britain from
post-Socialist countries.
Baltic and Slavonic libraries in the changing context

Most of the Baltic and Slavonic libraries in the United
Kingdom appeared as the result of the mass immigration of
people after the Second World War. This immigration was of a
particular character: people from Central and Eastern Europe
were leaving their countries or refusing to return there for
political reasons. For many of them it was a choice between life
and death and, therefore, the loss of the homeland was not
chosen voluntarily. This feature of the post-war immigration is
the main reason why Baltic and Slavonic immigrants have built
such strong and distinctive communities and why they have
dedicated themselves to their organisations and activities.
Conflict creates a situation where having a strong group
identity becomes a necessity for individuals; situations of
opposition sharpen the awareness of belonging to, and res-
ponsibility for, a group, an idea, culture or a country. In many
respects, the post-War Baltic and Slavonic émigré commu-
nities were shaped not only by the will and abilities of their
members, but also by those who were on the other side of the
ideological clash: what was despised and destroyed in the
homelands was passionately gathered and preserved by the
diaspora. The political element was an essential part of the
ethnic identity of the post-war Baltic and Slavonic émigré
communities. This is the case with all the ethnic groups with
which the research has dealt.
73
This study suggests that libraries were important
institutions in building the lives of the post-war Baltic and
Slavonic émigré communities. They have operated across all
three “areas of common understanding” which characterise an
ethnic group, a nation2:
• Communication through language: by facilitating
communication in the mother tongue, libraries
supported internal unity and the boundaries of
the community.
• The sharing of moral values dealing with
interaction and opposition: enabling access to
particular publications and materials (e.g. exile
memoirs, history accounts, books forbidden in
the homeland) libraries were part of the defining
and promotion of the values and attitudes
necessary for community identity.
• Political organisation for achieving the objectives
of group policy: the libraries were part of a
network of associations which provided
embodiment (a structure) for the ethnic identity
of the émigré communities.
Community libraries reflect their communities and, at the

same time, have their part in shaping them. On the one hand,
libraries fulfil needs of a particular group of people gathered
around one place or activity – a school, club or parish etc. They
depend on these institutions and share their opportunities and
threats, their gains and losses. Therefore, just as the
communities may suffer from intergenerational conflict and/or
ideological bias, so too do their libraries. On the other hand,
libraries become places where the community’s experience and
aspirations are accumulated and made available for sustaining
people’s imagination and will. Here the awareness of belonging
to and, perhaps, the sense of responsibility for the group (or
the nation or the culture) could be cultivated.
74
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the regaining of
independence and introduction of democratic reforms by
Central and East European countries, the situation of conflict
(as the post-war immigrants experienced it) has disappeared.
People from Central and Eastern Europe come to the United
Kingdom now on different grounds from those of their post-
war predecessors; they do not fear for their country and culture
and they are less likely to come together for this reason.
However, they may still be drawn to the ethnic associations and
Saturday/Sunday schools for other reasons as the recent expe-
rience of some of communities suggests. Therefore, libraries
must be attentive to the changing context. Neither people, nor
countries, nor libraries need to remain the same always.
Endnotes:
1
Zmroczek, J. Baltic collections in the United Kingdom: past,
present, and future. In: Leich, H.M., ed. Libraries in open societies:
proceedings of the Fifth International Slavic Librarians’ Conference, 2002, p.
235.
1
Spicer, E.H. Persistent cultural systems. Science, 19 November
1971, p. 799. The post-war Baltic and Slavonic émigré communities
very quickly developed and nourished the awareness of responsibility
for the whole people and culture, in opposition to the authorities
(their own or occupying) in the home countries which – in their
conviction – ideologically and culturally were destroying the nation,
the statehood and the culture.
75
B IBLIOGRAPHY
Auziņa-Smita, I. [Smith, I.A.], ed. Latvieši Lielbritanijā: pirmā

grāmata [Latvians of Great Britain]. London: Latviešu nacionālā
padome Lielbritanijā, Daugavas vanagu fonds, 1995.
Apedaile, R. Ethnic community libraries: a survey in the Melbourne

metropolitan area. Multicultural Libraries Newsletter, 1993, 13(1), 13-18.
Barėnas K. Britanijos lietuviai 1974-1994 [British Lithuanians, 1974-

1994]. London: Lithuanian Association in Great Britain, 1997.
Biblioteka Sveti Sava. Future. <http://www.malabiblioteka.org/

buducnost-eng.htm>, [n.d.], [accessed 15.08.2005].
D. [Ceslaus Sipovich]. Belaruskaja Biblijateka i Muzej imia

Franciška Skaryny – adčynienyja [Belarusian Library and Museum
have been open]. Bożym Šlacham, 1972, 3, 1-7.
Danilewicz Zielińska, M. Książka i czytelnictwo polskie w Wielkiej

Brytanii: szkice [A Polish book and readership in Great Britain: a
sketch]. Warszawa: Biblioteka Narodowa, 1996.
Elliott, P. Library needs of children attending self-help mother-tongue schools in

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<http://www.estonia.gov.uk/lang_4/rub_628>, 20.10.2003,
[accessed 10.08.2005].
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Great Britain. Census 1961. Summary Tables. London: HMSO, 1966.
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project report. London: Polytechnic of North London, 1980.
Informator Polski, 2005/2006 = Polish directory, 2005/2006. London:

Federation of Poles in Great Britain, [2005].
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Kay, D. & Miles, R. Refugees or migrant workers? European Volunteer

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Kučera, J. Dějiny tělocvič[né] jednoty “Sokol” v Londýně [History of the

Gymnastic Association “Sokol” in London]. Žižkov, 1912.
Kushner, T. & Knox, K. Refugees in an age of genocide. Global, national

and local perspectives during the twentieth century. London: Frank Cass,
1999.
Leich, H.M., ed. Libraries in open societies: proceedings of the Fifth

International Slavic Librarians’ Conference. New York, London:
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Lipniacka, E. Sprawozdanie z działalnosci [Activities report].

Wiadomości POSK, 2005, 53, 35.

[accessed 28.08.2005].

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2; 11-18 Nov. 2004, 2; 20-27 Jan. 2004, 4; 3-10 Feb. 2005, 2; 17-24
Feb. 2005, 2; 3-10 Mar. 2005, 2; 31 Mar.-7 Apr. 2005, 2.
[Picarda, G.] The Francis Skaryna Byelorussian Library and Museum.

London: [The Francis Skaryna Belarusians Library and Museum],
1971.
78
Simsova, S. Central and East Europeans in Britain. Journal of
Multicultural Librarianship, 1987, 1(3), 116-124.
Smith, I.A. Latvian community libraries in Britain. Journal of

Multicultural Librarianship, 1987, 1(3), 112-115.
Smith, I.A. Self-help and the Latvian community in Britain.

Community Librarian, 1990, 6, 1-3.
Spicer, E.H. Persistent identity systems. Science, 19 November 1971,

795-799.
Suchcitz, A. Informator Studium Polski Podziemnej 1947-1997 [Guide to

the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust, 1947-1997].
London: Studium Polski Podziemnej, 1997.
Sword, K. Identity in flux. The Polish community in Britain. London:

School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 1996.
Szmidt, J. Biblioteki polskie we współczesnym Londynie [Polish libraries in

contemporary London]. Warszawa: SBP, 1998.

[The Polish Library POSK report]. Wiadomości POSK, 2005,
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Tannahill, J.A. European volunteer workers in Britain. Manchester:

Manchester University Press, 1958.
Vernant, J. The refugee in the post-war world. London: George

Allen&Unwin, 1993.
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an international handbook. München, London: K. G. Sauer, 1992.
79
A PPENDIX I.
D ESCRIPTIONS
OF THE SURVEYED LIBRARIES
BELARUSIAN
Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum

(Bielaruskaja biblijateka i muzej im. Franciška
Skaryny)
Address: 37 Holden Road, London, N12 8HS

Tel/Fax: 020 8445 5358
E-mail: library@skaryna.org
Web-site: www.skaryna.org
Librarian: Rev. Alexander Nadson
Admission: Mon-Sun, 9.00 - 17.00; by appointment with
the Librarian. No books may be borrowed.
Facilities: A personal computer may be brought in.
Reading room, microreading and photocopying facilities
are available.
Officially, the library was launched in 1971. Its initial

holdings incorporated 6,500 volumes of the Belarusian Catholic
Mission in England Library (established in 1948, since 1958 –
Bibliotheca Alboruthena).
81
From the beginning, the Francis Skaryna Library has been
an independent institution; currently it is registered as a
charitable trust. It is the only library outside Belarus to collect
exclusively in the field of Belarusian studies and its collection is
the most comprehensive in this field in Western Europe.
The initial holdings included the collection of the Belaru-
sian Catholic Mission and the books of three Belarusian Greek
Catholic priests. Currently, the book collection is estimated to
contain over 30,000 volumes, among them over 20 printed
before 1800. The strongest areas of the collection are history,
literature, language, religion, folklore, local lore, bibliography,
music and art. All standard reference works are available. A
collection of expatriate publications, both books and periodi-
cals, is fairly comprehensive. New publications from Belarus
are being purchased regularly (c.400 per year), as well as all im-
portant Belarus-related works appearing abroad in any langu-
age. Most of books are in Belarusian, a fair number in Russian
and Polish, fewer in German, French and other languages.
A computer catalogue is on the initial stage of preparation.
The library receives over 40 current periodicals from
Belarus and abroad. The serials collection has over 200 titles;
some of them are rare pre-1939 publications.
The cartographical collection consists of over 100 maps
from the sixteenth century onwards.
The collection of Belarusian music records on LPs is
comprehensive; more recent records on cassettes and CDs are
collected episodically, with the emphasis on folk, rock and
classical music.
The archive is extensive; it is the least studied area of the
library collection. It contains Church documents of the 18 and
19th centuries, materials dating from the period of the Belaru-
sian Democratic Republic (1918), archives of Belarusian organi-
sations and personalities in exile.
The library has organised several international seminars
and conferences.
82
Selected publications:
<http://www.belarusians.co.uk/skaryna/guide.html>.
12.01.2000, [accessed 28.08.2005].
Liadniova, A.S. Skarynaŭka [Skaryna Library].
Bielaruskaja minuŭščyna, 1993, 3, 55.
83
CROATIAN
Croatian Catholic Mission Library
Address: 65 St Mary’s Road, London W5 5RG.

Person in charge: Rev. Drago Beresic.
Tel: 020 7223 3530.
E-mail: hrv_kat_misija@yahoo.com
Admission: By appointment.
The library was established at the same time as the Mission

itself, i.e. in 1967. It is located on the Mission’s premises.
The collection consists of over 2000 books. It covers
mainly fiction, history and religion. Most of the Croatia-related
books are in Croatian, published in the diaspora after the
Second World War. A comparatively large number of books is
in English, mainly religious ones.
Currently, the library receives several periodicals, namely
Kana, Glas Koncila, Matica Hrvatska, Katolicki Tjednik, Globus.
Admission is by appointment. Most of the books can be
borrowed. A paper catalogue by title and author is available.
84
The FACCET Trust Library
Address: 65 St Mary’s Road, London W5 5RG

Web-page: http://www.easycroatian.com/library.php
Persons for contacts:
Mrs Linda Rabuzin, Mr Ivan P. Vuna
Tel/Fax: 020 8948 5771
E-mail: library@easycroatian.com
The library collection was established by the FACCET
Trust in 1997. It is open for use to anyone interested in
Croatia-related topics.
The book collection of over 500 volumes covers a wide
range of topics; especially well presented are art, literature,
history, politics, also ethnography, language, religion etc. Most
of the currently available books were published in Croatia in
the 1990s. A catalogue of the offered publications is available
from the library’s web page as a pdf-file. Also, there are
audiotapes and videos in Croatian and English covering history,
literature, culture and the arts. Normally, the library receives
new publications as donations or gifts, often from publishers.
Currently, the library does not have reading facilities and
therefore operates within the Croatian Language School in
London as a lending-only library. An advance order of books
and appointment for their collection is required. The library
may charge a modest amount for enrolment and as a pledge for
the loaned books.
85
ESTONIAN
Leicester Estonian House Library
Address: 366 Fosse Road North, Leicester, LE3 5RS

Tel: 0116 251 6727, 0116 241 5491.
E-mail: info@eestimajale.com.
Person in charge: Mr Ülo Suviste.
Admission: Fri 18.00 – 22.30, Sun 11.30 – 15.00. Open to
the Estonian Club members. For non-members,
permission from and an advanced appointment with the
person in charge is required. No books can be borrowed
by non-members.
Facilities: A personal computer may be brought in. A
reading room and photocopying facilities are available.
The library has existed as long as the Leicester Estonian

House, i.e. since 1960. It occupies a separate room at the House.
The collection consists of some 700 volumes, practically
all published in the diaspora after the Second World War. The
largest part of the collection is fiction, biographies and
memoirs. Currently, only a few books per year are being
acquired, normally from Estonia. All the books are in Estonian.
An author catalogue is available.
The library has some 50 LPs with music records from
Estonia and over 60 video records with Estonia-related
documentaries and movies.
86
The London Estonian Society Library
Address: Estonian House, 18 Chepstow Villas, London,

W11 2RB
Tel: 01763 281382, 0777 979 4056 (private numbers).
Person for contacts: Mr Avo Hiiemäe.
Admission: By appointment with the person in charge.
The library has existed as long as the London Estonian

Society, i.e. since 1921. Since the late 1990s, it had not been
managed; only recently, in 2005, has an attempt been made to
revise its state and possibly revive its activities.
Currently the collection consists of over 1000 volumes,
almost all published in the diaspora after the Second World
War. The largest part of the collection is fiction, history and
also some reference books are available. Almost all the books
are in Estonian. Among the periodicals are rare exile
publications. Most of the book collection has been catalogued.
The library is open to everyone interested in Estonian
books. It is accessible, however, only when the Society’s
premises are open. Membership registration is free. Most of the
books are available for borrowing with the permission of the
person in charge.
The collection also includes several albums of
photographs, a lot of pamphlets, booklets, song books, etc., but
all of them need sorting.
Currently, the library does not make any new acquisitions
except receiving voluntary donations.
87
LATVIAN
Latvian Welfare Fund (DVF) Catthorpe Manor

Library (DVF Straumēni bibliotēku)
Address: The Library, Catthorpe Manor, Catthorpe,

Leicestershire, LE17 6DF
Tel: 01788 860468
Librarian: Mrs Rūta Bonner
Admission: Wed 11.00-13.00 or by the appointment with
the librarian. Open to public.
Facilities: Copying facilities are available.
The library was established in c.1975 to serve the needs of

the residents and staff of the Latvian old people’s home. Its
development is primarily the result of the dedication and
service of two people – the first librarian, Kārlis Kaugars
(d.1985), and Margarieta Viļumsone.
This is a typical public library open to residents and staff
of the Latvian old people’s home located nearby and to anyone
interested in Latvian topics.
Currently it holds over 4500 book volumes, almost all
published in the diaspora after the Second World War. The
collection covers mainly fiction, poetry, biography and history.
A reference section has Latvian encyclopaedias and dictiona-
ries. The vast majority of books are in Latvian, some in English
(incl. English fiction) and few in German. All the Latvian
books are catalogued by author and title in a card catalogue.
Most of the books are gifts. In recent years, books most
often have been received from other Latvian libraries ceasing to
exist and from the book collections of older Latvians in this
country. Also a small number of books, newly published in
Latvia, are being donated.
The library receives two weekly newspapers, Brīvā Latvija
and Laiks published in the diaspora.
88
There is a small collection of tapes and LPs with Latvian
records of choral, classical and popular music from 1980s-90s.
Also there is a collection of about 50 civil and military maps
and some photographs.
Currently, in addition to providing the library services
running on its premises, the librarian organises book readings
to the nursing home residents.
The library’s primary partner in book exchange and
clearance is the Latvian Documentation Centre.
Latvian Documentation Centre

(DVF Latviešu kultūras vērtību krātuve Straumēnos)
Postal address: Mrs Inese A. Smith, Department of

Information Science, Loughborough University,
Leicestershire, LE11 3TU
Tel: 01509-223063.
E-mail: i.a.smith@lboro.ac.uk
Curator: Mrs Inese A. Smith.
Admission: By appointment with the curator and during
festivities at the Catthorpe Manor Latvian Centre. Open
to anybody interested in the available materials.
Copying facilities are available.
The Latvian Documentation Centre (LDC) is acting as a

reference library, an archive and a clearing centre for Latvian
books. It has been officially opened in 1988; it uses the
premises at the Catthorpe Manor, Leicestershire, LE17 6DF.
The book collection consists of over 7000 volumes. Most
of them were published in the diaspora after the Second World
War; among the rest are several hundred titles published in pre-
war Latvia, also several hundred books in English, fewer in
89
German in French. The major subjects are fiction, history,
memoirs, biography, politics, ethnography and folklore, Latvian
organisations in exile. A reference sections consists of a
number of valuable encyclopaedias, dictionaries and bibliogra-
phies. The collection is being constantly supplemented with do-
nated publications, books from weeded collections and closing
libraries; some new books are being purchased.
The collection of periodicals is rich in exile publications; it
is decreasing, however, as the publications are being sent to the
libraries in Latvia.
A computer catalogue of monographic holdings and a
serials register are available.
A video collection consists of over 300 VCR tapes,
mostly with documentaries on Latvia and the Baltic states.
Of especial value is an extensive collection of small prints
(over 2000 programmes of concerts, theatre performances, etc.)
and posters reflecting the diversity and intensity of the cultural
life of the Latvian diaspora communities.
The archival collection consists mainly of materials from
the refugee and labour camps of the 1940s, documents of the
Latvian exile organisations in Britain and some photographs
related to the Latvian community in this country.
The LDC operates as a clearing centre collecting, sorting
and sending publications and other materials to libraries in
Latvia which were left as result of a library closure or death of
the owner of the collection. LDC’s primary partners in recei-
ving and exchange of publications are the National Library of
Latvia, the Misiņš Library (Latvian Academic Library), the Exile
Section of the State Archives of Latvia, the DVF Catthorpe
Manor Library and the London Latvian Library.
90
London Latvian Library
(DVF Londonas bibliotēka)
Address: 72 Queensborough Terrace, London, W2 3SH

Tel/Fax: 020 86790442
Email: maritagrunts@hotmail.com
Web page: http://www.labrit.co.uk/biblio.html
Person in charge: Mrs Marita Grunts
Admission: Tue 12.00 – 14.00, Thu & Fri 19.00 – 21.00;
Sun 10.00 – 14.00 (Sept – June, School Sundays). Open to
the public; borrowing is restricted to members of the
Latvian Welfare Fund (DVF) and pupils and teachers of
the London Latvian School.
Facilities: Use of a computer is available.
The library started in the beginning of the 1950s. After

closure in the 1970s, it was re-opened in 1983. Since 2002 the
library has been housed in the office of the Latvian National
Council in Great Britain on the premises of the Latvian Welfare
Fund (DVF) London Centre where most of the community
activities in London take place.
It is a lending library. The book collection consists of
some 4500 volumes. Most of them were published in the
diaspora after the Second World War, however the number of
books recently produced in Latvia is growing steadily. The best
represented subjects are fiction, poetry, biography, history and
folklore. The library houses the collection of the London
Latvian School; therefore the volume of children publications
available is large. There is a reference section with dictionaries,
manuals etc. Almost all books are in Latvian, some in English,
French and German. Currently, the library acquires several
dozens of new books every year, purchased or received as gifts.
On the whole the Library does not keep long runs of
periodicals. However, there is a complete set of Archīvs, Céîa
Zīmes and DV mēnešraksts. Also, Jaunā Gaita, Brīvā Latvija, Laiks
91
and The Baltic Times are donated on a regular basis. In recent
years the readers have started a periodicals exchange system to
exchange Latvian periodicals they have read for those not read.
There is a collection of music and children audio tapes
and some 30 videos with children’s records and documentaries.
The library houses the archives of the London Latvian
School and of the London branch of the Latvian Welfare Fund
(DVF), as well as the book collections of these organisations
and a collection of small prints related to the London branch of
the Latvian Welfare Fund (DVF).
Library afternoons are hosted when books of selected
authors or specific subjects are discussed, or invited lecturers
give a presentation on their chosen subject.
The library’s primary partner in book exchange and
clearance is the Latvian Documentation Centre.
Publications:
Grunts, M.V. Esi sveicināta, Londonas latviešu skola! [History
of the London Latvian School, 1950-1999]. London: London
Latvian School, 1999.
Grunts, M.V. DVF Londonas nodaļas un vanadžu kopas 50
gadi [50 years of the Latvian Welfare Fund London branch].
[Unpublished, 2000].
92
POLISH
Polish Library POSK

(Biblioteka Polska POSK)
Address: 238-246 King Street, London W6 0RF

Tel: 020 8741 0474. Fax: 020 8741 7724.
E-mail: bibliotekapolska@posklibrary.fsnet.co.uk,
polish.library@posk.org
Web-page: www.poskuk.plus.com/englbry.htm
Director: Dr Jadwiga Szmidt
Admission: Mon & Wed 10.00 – 20.00, Fri 10.00 – 17.00,
Sat 10.00 – 13.00. Open to public. Admission to the
reading room is free. For working with archival materials,
a prior appointment is required. For borrowing from the
Lending Library a membership, £12 per year, is required.
Facilities: A personal computer is allowed. A reading
room, photocopying facilities and a separate room for
researchers working with the archival materials are
available.
The library was founded in 1943 by the Polish govern-

ment in exile. In 1945 it became open to use by public. In
1948-1953 it acted as the Polish University College Library
funded by the British authorities. Since 1953 it has been using
the name of the Polish Library and until 1967 was part of the
Polish Research Centre (Polski Ośrodek Naukowy). In that
period the Library started participating in the inter-library ex-
change with the British institutions, offering inter-library loan
services and lent books by post (this service was highly popular
among Poles and researchers living outside London; it was
terminated c. 1980 due lack of funds). A special section of the
collection then constituted Razdawnictwo [trans.: giving away] –
books which were given as gifts to visitors from Poland who
would be prepared to carry them back – effectively to smuggle
93
them – to Poland. In 1967, the Polish Social and Cultural Asso-
ciation (Polski Ośrodek Społeczno-Kulturalny, POSK) became
the owner of the Polish Library. In 1992-1993 the library
acquired the large part of the Sikorski Polish Institute and
Museum (Instytut Polski i Muzeum im. Gen. Sikorskiego) libra-
ry – over 24,000 books and many periodicals, notes, etc. In
1995, the Central Circulating Library (Centrala Bibliotek Ru-
chomych) was incorporated as the Polish Library department.
The Polish Library collection includes some 150,000
books and booklets (in all the humanities related to Poland or
published in Polish), over 4,200 periodical titles, some 50,000
photographs, also maps, archival materials, notes, etc. This is
the largest collection of Polish publications and materials
available in Britain.
The section of exile publications and Polonica published
since 1939 has a unique and comprehensive character. Books
and serials published in Poland after the Second World War
constitute the largest part of the collection. Almost all of them
are available for borrowing.
The library acquires several thousand volumes of books
and over 200 titles of periodicals every year, including the major
daily and weekly publications from Poland. Most of these
acquisitions are gifts; some are being purchased or received via
exchange.
Card catalogues by author include all publications receiv-
ed by 1992. All later acquisitions are being registered in the
computer catalogue; also, retrospective computer cataloguing is
in the progress. Public access to the book catalogue via OPAC
is due to be enabled in the end 2005.
In 2004, 25 public libraries used the Central Circulating
Library services to borrow Polish books for lending to their
clients. Books, mainly fiction, are being exchanged every 6
months.
Since 1953, the library has published Bibliography of books in
Polish or relating to Poland published outside Poland since September 1st
1939 (Bibliografia druków polskich i Polski dotycących wyda-
94
nych poza Polską po 1 września 1939). Currently, nine volumes
covering the period 1939 – 1986 are available. A quarterly,
Books in Polish or related to Poland added to the Collection of the Polish
Library, was published in 1950 – 1999. Apart from these serial
publications, the Library has published dozens of topical
bibliographies, monographs, collections of papers, and cata-
logues. It has organised some twenty exhibitions and partici-
pated in many more.
Danilewicz-Zielinska, M. Biblioteka Polska w Londynie
[The Polish Library in London]. London: Polish Library, 1959.
The Joseph Conrad Collection in the Polish Library in London.
Catalogue (Nos 1-139). London: Polish Library, 1970.
The Katyn bibliography: books and paphlets = Bibliografia
katyńska: ksiaążki i broszury. London: Polish Library, 1982.
Biblioteka Polska w Londynie, 1942-1992: sine litteris mors
[The Polish Library in London, 1942-1992: sine litteris mors].
London: Biblioteka Polska POSK, 1993.
Szmidt, J. Biblioteki polskie we współczesnym Londynie [Polish
libraries in contemporary London]. Warszawa: SBP, 1998, pp.
45-79.
Bibliography of books in Polish or relating to Poland published
outside Poland since September 1st 1939. London, 1953-[2001]. 9
vols.
95
Polish Underground Movement (1939-1945) Study
Trust (Studium Polski Podziemnej, SPP)
Address: 11 Leopold Road, London W5 3PB

Tel/Fax: 020 8992 6057
E-mail: spplondon@ukgateway.net
Web-site: www.polishresistance-ak.org/PUMST.htm
Director: Dr Krzysztof Stoliński.
Admission: Mon – Thu 10.15 – 15.00 (except public
holidays). Open to all those interested in materials relating
to the Polish underground movement. For academic
researchers a supporting letter may be required.
Facilities: A personal computer is allowed. A reading
room, photocopying and scanning facilities are available.
The trust was founded in 1947 as the centre for

preserving documents related to the Polish underground
movement during the Second World War. Since then, it has
become an important place for research. In 1988 the trust
became a part of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
(Instytut Polski i Muzeum im. Gen. Sikorskiego), though
retaining its organisational autonomy.
The trust houses an extensive and unique archive and a
collection of some 7,000 books mainly related to various
aspects of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) and the Polish
Underground State (Polskie Państwo Podziemne). The
collection of relevant books published by 1990 has a compre-
hensive character. Also, the literature on the resistance against
the Soviet control of Poland after the Second World War, on
Polish-Jewish relations and the Nazi-German extermination
camps is well represented. Most of the books are in Polish;
some are in English, German, French, and Italian. Some 150-
250 new books are received every year; all are gifts from
authors, publishers, people supporting the cause of the trust,
etc. Also, ten periodicals – mostly from Poland – are being
96
received, as well as some twenty communiqués published by
local branches of the Polish Ex-Combatant Association.
Subject and author card catalogues are up-to-date. At the
end of 2005, work on building a computer catalogue is due to
begin.
Armia Krajowa w documentach. 1939-1945 [The Home Army
in documents]. London: Studium Polski Podziemnej, 1970-
[1989]. 6 vols.
Suchcitz, A. Informator Studium Polski Podziemnej, 1947-
1997 [Guide to the Polish Underground Movement (1939-
1945) Study Trust, 1947-1997]. London: Studium Polski
Podziemnej, 1997.
97
UKRAINIAN
Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain

(Leicester) Library
Address: 2a Fosse Road South, Leicester, LE3 0QD

Tel: 0116 241 7158 (the Ukrainian Club).
The library is located on the premises of the Association

of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) in one of the
classrooms used for the Ukrainian Saturday school. It has
probably existed as long as the AUGB house in Leicester, i.e.
since the early 1950s.
The collection includes approximately 2000 volumes of
books, practically all published in the diaspora after the Second
World War. The largest part of the collection is history,
memoirs, biographies and fiction. Almost all books are in
Ukrainian. Currently, new books are acquired episodically,
normally from Ukraine.
98
Shevchenko Library and Archive
(Biblioteka i Arkhiv im. T. Shevchenko)
Address: 49 Linden Gardens, London, W2 4HG

Tel: 020 7229 8392
Curator: Dr Ljudmila Pekarska
Admission: Mon-Fri 1000-1700. By appointment with the
Curator. For academic researchers a supporting letter is
required. No books may be borrowed.
Photocopying facilities are available.
The Library was established in c.1946 as the Association

of Ukrainians in Great Britain (AUGB) main library. From the
beginning it also functioned as an archive. The library has
survived several periods of neglect. One of its most successful
stages in the 1960s relates to the work of Prof. Volodymyr
Shayan who transformed the library into one of the centres of
Ukrainian scholarly and community life. In 2002 a new attempt
to revitalize the library’s service was made; currently, it is a
thriving institution engaged in many aspects of the Ukrainian
community life.
The library has a comprehensive collection of books and
periodicals published in the diaspora; and in this aspect it is of
considerable importance. It includes some 30,000 books and
covers history, law, economics, literature, language, folklore,
art, religion and some other subjects specifically related to the
Ukraine. The collection of periodicals is extensive, at least 200
titles; most of them published in the diaspora. Almost all
material is in Ukrainian.
The library receives new publications via exchanges with
large libraries in Ukraine and abroad.
A computer catalogue of the book collection is in
preparation.
99
The archive includes more than 10,000 documents, manu-
scripts, photographs etc. mainly related to the Ukrainian diaspora.
There is a small collection of video materials reflecting the
life of Ukrainians abroad. A collection of videos with popular
films and programmes for children is available for renting.
Though not a museum, the library has a collection of art
(e.g. sculptures by Hryhor Kruk), postage stamps, coins and
other museum exhibits. It organises exhibitions and lectures,
and participates in AUGB publishing projects.
Publications:
Pekarska, L. Biblioteka i Arkhiv im. T. Shevchenka v
Londoni: do istorii stvorennya [T. Shevchenko Library and
Archive: towards the history of its creation] [1-7]. Ukrains’ka
dumka, 28 Oct.-4 Nov. 2004, 2; 11-18 Nov. 2004, 2; 20-27 Jan.
2004, 4; 3-10 Feb. 2005, 2; 17-24 Feb. 2005, 2; 3-10 Mar. 2005,
2; 31 Mar.-7 Apr. 2005, 2.
100
A PPENDIX II. C O LLECTIONS , WORK PRACTI CES AND O RGANI SATION
OF THE SURVEY ED COMMUNI TY LIBRARI ES
Table 1. Collections of the surveyed Baltic and Slavonic community libraries
Library Collection size Character of the collection Constitutive elements
Francis Skaryna Belarusian Over 30,000 volumes, All the humanities related to Belarus; Museum of art, crafts,
Library and Museum 200 periodical titles, extensive collection of publications maps, coins, and old
100 maps from Belarus; a comprehensive books; archive.
collection of the diaspora
publications.
Croatian Catholic Mission Over 2,000 books Mainly fiction, history and religion;
Library most of the Croatia-related books are
in Croatian, published in the diaspora.
The FACCET Trust Library Over 500 volumes Croatia-related books mostly
published in Croatia in the 1990s.
Leicester Estonian House Over 2000 volumes Almost all books are in Estonian,
Library published in the diaspora; mostly
fiction, history and some reference
books.
London Estonian Society Over 700 volumes Almost all books published in the
Library diaspora; mostly fiction, biography
and memoirs; all books are in
Estonian.
DVF Catthorpe Manor Over 4,500 volumes Almost all books are in Latvian,
Library published in the diaspora; mainly
fiction, poetry, biography and history.
Latvian Documentation Over 7,000 volumes Most books were published in the Extensive collection of
Centre diaspora, several hundred titles small prints; archive.
published in pre-war Latvia, also
several hundred books in English,
German in French; a number of
valuable reference publications.
London Latvian Library Over 4,500 volumes Most of books are in Latvian, pub- Archives of local
lished in the diaspora; mainly fiction, organisations; a library
poetry, biography, history, folklore. of the London Latvian
An extensive children’s collection. School.
Polish Library POSK Over 150,000 The largest collection of Polish Central Circulating
volumes, 4,200 publications and materials in Britain; Library; extensive
periodical titles the section of exile publications and archival collection.
Polonica published since 1939 has a
unique and comprehensive character.
Polish Underground Some 7,000 books, 10 The collection of books published by

Movement (1939-1945) periodical titles are 1990 (mainly in the diaspora) has a
Study Trust Library currently received comprehensive character.
Leicester Association of Some 2000 volumes Mainly history, memoirs, biographies

Ukrainians in Great Britain and fiction; almost all in Ukrainian,
(AUGB) Library published in the diaspora.
Shevchenko Library and Over 30,000 volumes, A comprehensive collection of books A collection of art,
Archive 200 periodical titles and periodicals published in the postage stamps and
diaspora; almost all in Ukrainian. coins; archive.
Table 2. Work practices of Baltic and Slavonic community libraries: users, acquisition and co-operation
Library Users Current acquisition practice Co-operation links
Francis Skaryna 200-300 visitors every year C.400 books and c.40 Belarusian Institute of
Belarusian Library (majority - guests of the periodicals are received – Literature and Art (BINiM,
and Museum Belarusian Catholic Mission, mostly purchased from Belarus New York), Belarusian
usually from Belarus); up to – every year; most of Belarus- Capella (a music research
50 researchers, mostly from related publications appearing group, Minsk)
Belarus and the United worldwide are purchased also.
Kingdom
Croatian Catholic Occasional borrowers, mostly Books are purchased Not available
Mission Library parishioners occasionally, some are donated.
Several periodicals are received.
The FACCET Trust Students of the Croatian Most books are donated by Not available
Library Language School and Croatian publishers or well-
occasional borrowers wishers.
Leicester Estonian Used occasionally, mostly by New books – normally, from Not available
House Library the club members Estonia –are purchased
occasionally, a few per year
London Estonian Not available (in the last six years the library has been inactive)
Society Library
DVF Catthorpe Used by the residents and staff Mostly gifts; some books are Latvian Documentation
Manor Library of the Latvian old people’s received from the Latvian Centre; participant of the
home and occasional visitors – Documentation Centre Union Catalogue of holdings
several per week in Latvian libraries in Britain
until 1995
Latvian Used occasionally by Latvians Most books are received from National Library of Latvia,
Documentation in Britain for preparing weeded or closed collections the Misiņš Library (Latvian
Centre presentations; by Latvians and as gifts; some books are Academic Library), the Exile
from Latvia for research; very purchased Section of the State Archives
rarely by British researchers of Latvia, the DVF Catthorpe
Manor Library and the
London Latvian Library.
Participant of the Union
Catalogue of holdings in
Latvian libraries in Britain
London Latvian In 2004: 130 registered users New books are purchased Latvian Documentation
Library (London Latvian School occasionally; children’s books Centre; participant of the
members, new immigrants and for school are ordered from Union Catalogue of holdings
visitors from Latvia), 701 Latvia when required; most of in Latvian libraries in Britain
items borrowed, 745 enquires the books are received from the until 1992.
dealt with. Latvian Documentation Centre.
Polish Library In 2004, 1181 members of the In 2004, almost 10,000 books The library has strong links
POSK lending library, among them were received as gifts (mostly with larger libraries,
532 new. In addition, there from Britain and Poland), especially academic ones, in
were some 2,700 visits to the exchanged (mostly with libraries Poland; students of
reading room; 149 researchers in Poland) or bought (mostly librarianship from Poland are
used research room facilities. from Poland); 12 periodicals invited for professional
were subscribed to, many more practice and help with
received as gifts. cataloguing
Polish Underground Used mostly by researchers In 2004, 253 books from authors Cooperation in the context of
Movement (1939- and students (over 50 each and well-wishers, and ten the Trust – with research
1945) Study Trust year), often from Poland; some periodicals – mostly from institutions and libraries in
Library 200 enquires dealt with each Poland – were received Poland and abroad
year
Leicester Members of the Ukrainian

Association of Saturday School and the
Ukrainians in Great Ukrainian Club Not available
Britain (AUGB)
Library
Shevchenko Library Used mostly by Ukrainian and Most of the books and Symon Petliura Ukrainian
and Archive British students and periodicals are received as gifts Library, Paris; National
researchers; 187 visitors in or via exchange with other History Museum, Kyiv
2004 libraries History Museum, Academy
of Science Institute of
History – all in Ukraine; the
British Library
Table 3. Organisation of the Baltic and Slavonic community libraries: type, affiliation, budget and staff
Library Type Affiliation and Budget Workers and

management volunteers
Francis Skaryna Reference An independent charity Donations, legacies and One full-time
Belarusian Library governed by the Board of interest on investments unpaid librarian;
and Museum Trustees one occasional
volunteer
Croatian Catholic Lending / Part of the Croatian No separate budget; The Library is run
Mission Library parish Catholic Mission in London necessary expenses are by the staff of the
paid by the Croatian Mission; currently,
Catholic Mission two nuns
The FACCET Trust Lending / Part of the FACCET Trust, Donations and The Library is run
Library school an independent charity membership fees; uses the by the staff of the
premises of the Croatian Croatian Language
Language School School
Leicester Estonian Lending / Part of the Estonian House No separate budget; One volunteer
House Library members- belonging to the necessary expenses are
club Association of Estonians in paid by the Estonian
Great Britain House
London Estonian Lending Governed by the London No separate budget One volunteer
Society Library Estonian Society
Committee
DVF Catthorpe Lending / Part of the Catthorpe Donations, sale of One volunteer
Manor Library old Manor, a Latvian old duplicate books
people’s people’s home and
home community centre.
Governed by the Latvian
Welfare Fund (DVF)
Latvian Reference Governed by the Latvian Subsidised by the Latvian Two volunteers
Documentation Welfare Fund (DVF) Welfare Fund (DVF) and
Centre the National Latvian
Council in Great Britain
London Latvian Lending Governed by the Latvian ‘Library afternoons’, One librarian-
Library Welfare Fund (DVF) donations, sale of duplicate volunteer
books
Polish Library Lending Autonomous institution Donations from In 2004, the library
POSK within the Polish Social and individuals and employed five full-
Cultural Association, institutions, legacies, time and two part-
POSK; it is governed by the membership fees, time workers;
Library Committee Circulation Library fees, twenty three
fines, sale of duplicate volunteers
books, photocopying
Polish Underground Reference Part of the Polish Donations from individuals The Polish
Movement (1939- Underground Movement and institutions, and Underground
1945) Study Trust (1939-1945) Study Trust legacies Movement (1939-
Library which is an autonomous 1945) Study Trust
institution within the Polish employs three
Institute and Sikorski persons, some ten
Museum are volunteers
Leicester Lending Part of the Leicester branch Not available One volunteer
Association of of Association of
Ukrainians in Great Ukrainians in Great Britain
Britain (AUGB)
Library
Shevchenko Library Reference Part of the Association of Donations, sale of One employee, four
and Archive Ukrainians in Great Britain duplicate books volunteers
A PPENDIX III.
А БСТРАКТ *
Прадметам дасьледваньня сталі бібліятэкі, створаныя

групамі імігрантаў з балтыйскіх і славянскіх краінаў, якія імі-
гравалі ў Вялікабрытанію пасьля Другой сусьветнай вайны.
Дасьледваньне ахапіла дванаццаць бібліятэкаў у Вялікабры-
таніі, створаных шасьцю этнічнымі групамі: беларусамі,
латышамі, палякамі, украінцамі, харватамі й эстонцамі. Ана-
лізуюцца заканамернасьці ў стварэньні бібліятэкаў, іх цяпе-
рашні стан і ўплыў на іх дзейнасьць дэмакратычных пера-
ўтварэньняў у цэнтральна- і ўсходне-эўрапейскіх краінах.
Разглядаецца роля бібліятэкаў у жыцьці імігранцкіх групаў,
у стварэньні й разьвіцьці нацыянальнай ідэнтычнасьці.
Робіцца выснова, што з аднаго боку бібліятэкі адлю-
строўваюць характар імігранцкіх супольнасьцяў, бо яны
былі створаныя і падтрымліваліся людзьмі з падобным до-
сьведам і сьветапоглядам. З другога боку, бібліятэкі маюць
пэўную ролю ва ўмацаваньні й разьвіцьці ідэнтычнасьці імі-
гранцкіх супольнасьцяў шляхам дапамогі ў камунікацыі на
роднай мове, падтрымкі й пашырэньня каштоўнасьцяў, зра-
зумелых і важных для гэтых групаў, і ўдзелу ў арганізацый-
ных структурах супольнасьці.
111
З распадам Савецкага Саюзу сітуацыя канфлікту, якая
заахвочвала пасьляваенных імігрантаў да еднасьці і ства-
рэньня актыўных групаў, збольшага зьнікла. Таму будучыня
балтыйскіх і славянскіх бібліятэкаў у Вялікабрытаніі будзе
залежыць ад іх здольнасьці адаптавацца да новага кантэксту.
* Abstract in Belarusian
112

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Baltic and Slavonic Libraries in Britain

© 2006 Ihar Ivanoŭ

This publication is available from

I am delighted to thank Inese A. Smith who supervised

Historical background .................................................... 15

Collections of the Baltic and Slavonic libraries .............. 43

Work practices of community libraries .......................... 51

Appendix I. Descriptions of the surveyed libraries................ 81

Appendix II. Collections, work practices

This book is an abridged, revised version of my Master’s

Central and East European countries had a shared

Second World War and displaced persons

Polish immigration to the United Kingdom

European Volunteer Workers (EVW) Schemes

Nationality Number of EVW

Single adults of working age or those without dependants were

Building a community life and establishing libraries

Reasons for establishing and supporting

Community libraries’ users

Influence on the community libraries of the

Before and during the Second World War

Libraries in the 1950s-1970s

Influence of the democratic transformations

Recently established libraries

The size of collections

The character of the community libraries’ collections

Users and use

Difficulties experienced by community libraries

The Polish Library POSK

Classification and cataloguing

Being part of the community

Affiliation and management

Budgets of community libraries

Differences and similarities of community libraries

Baltic and Slavonic libraries in the changing context

Community libraries reflect their communities and, at the

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