GLEETT - University of Washington

Library houses, in various storage 1ocati, juiluic,s of Western
lam3uage antiquarian titles, itly iarints frca the 19th century.
These books cane to the library after World War II fran private nera
to left timat behixd or douated then. The Zagreb librarians are very
amcicus to reduce this stock by extharqlng the books for ourrent inprints
fran the West or eiipmait that is badly needed, lire aicrofflin viewers,
etc. Pleased with the very generws Zagrab hospitality I left for
Lj1jana, the capital of tM Slovenian Ipb1ic ard my last st ai this
five-cintry trip. After a two-hour express train rids through
breathta)dng r*ain scenery alcmg the vall' of the Ljubljanica River,
I was mat at the statian by . 1enija Rosean, ourator of the
Narodne Galerija, whan I bad net in tharlott.esville Beveral years ago
md r had graciously offered to be my hostess. She had made
arnegesients at three libraries for ma to mast the mdlanle librarians
md &ed ma the lovely center of Liubijana while p.ahing her bicyle
alcrg. I felt transported back to the 19th century.
Sciw this Slovenian city with its river ourving thrc*41 it aid
surrounded by m*mtairm has preserved a tcud of paradise. At the
Biblioteka Slovensha Akadmaije znanosti In tmetncsti (the Library of the
Slovanian Acadj of Scis aid Arts) I was received with old world
tharm by Professor Prlz Paneve, to has been librarian for aver
forty years aixi is also of the foreset rn Slovenian Iposers.
He expressed great satisfactian with our laq-starding eiiarge
relatiouship aid told me, in fluent German, that the piblicatiae of the
Slovenian ),cadeszy are sent free of tharge to their partners. At the
Ufliversity of Virginia Library we have an alarmt cxaplete set of SAZU's
titles, bxt I had worried for years that ma did net fulfill our side of
the aidange, )it Professor Pamvz seesed very pleased with it. With
typical Central bropean graciousie, he led ma to my next meetinj
at the Narodna In univerzitna Jcnjiznfra (Natimal aid University Library
of Slovenia) to make sure that I ld be able to ctact the right pele,
whith Indeed I did. I had a very cbaxsdng aid siaful cawersatiou
with Mrs. Slavica Idcar, the edange librarian, with than I negotiated a
yearly eiange of $500, particnlarly to include 23 Slavenian serials
ard periodicals whidt I was able to cancel with Ynban & sagnsr. This
exthangs has been working like a dress ever since I returned bane. I
also bad the pleasure to inset I4Thael Glavan, the manuscripts
librarian, who sid ma sans of the treasures of their oollection. I
held may bard the first Slavenian bible, translated by 3'urij Ee]ir,atin arid
printed In Wittenberg, Germarf in 1584, thereby establishing the
Slovenian language. A ailture highlight in Xdubljana was the visit to the
16 Iriternatic*ial Gra*iic Biennial, whith is held every two years in this
Slovenian city aid whith ediibits n grabic art frc*u all aver the world;
anether unforgettable event was my visit, under the guidance of my
hestess 1. Rorman, to the oldest p2blic library In Dirope, the Semeniska
lcnjiznica, a baroque jel, fa.uided In 1725 for the educatian and
enjoyment of the 1ic. It Is rxxi part of a ccawent and ae has to be
with a native with special privileges to be able to visit it. Thanks to
Ksenija Roman, my final stop of a lctq b.t fascinating arid meet
unforgettable trip to Fast Central Europe tumid into a grand finale.
Angelika S. Ill
University of Virginia Library
(Aegeli)a will take another eange trip, this tine to Roland, April
8-23, 1986. Editor's note.)
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