Library and Reading Room
Library for several decades, a library has been operating at the State Archives in Suwałki, affiliated with the research department. The collection was created, among other things, from copies inherited from the library of the pre-war District Court in Suwałki. The library is continually enriched with new publications needed for the current work of archivists and users. As of the end of 2015, the collection comprised a total of 7,714 volumes of monographs, periodicals, and rare prints
The archive’s library is a reference library, which means that it does not make its collections available to the public outside its premises; they are only accessible within the archive’s research department (reading room). Due to the thematic scope of the library’s collection, it belongs to the category of special libraries that gather and provide library materials from a specific field of knowledge. The archival library should primarily meet the needs of archive employees during the execution of their duties and also assist individuals using the archival records.
The nature of the collected materials is determined by the specificity of the library and includes primarily works related to archival science and key auxiliary disciplines of history (including genealogy, diplomatics, sphragistics, chronology, demography), Polish and regional history, legal and governmental publications, as well as source publications.
The library possesses a substantial collection of publications on the history of Suwałki and the region, including monographs of various localities. Among the gathered books are “Studia i materiały do dziejów Suwalszczyzny” and “Knuta Olofa Falka Wody wigierskie i huciańskie.” Local periodicals such as “Gazeta Współczesna,” “Krajobrazy,” “Tygodnik Suwalski,” and “Rocznik Augustowsko-Suwalski” are of great informational value for researchers of regional history. Official publications related to the Suwałki region during the partitions, such as “Pamjatnaja Kniżka Suvalskoj Gubernii,” as well as the 1921 General Census of the Republic of Poland and post-war Statistical Yearbooks of the Białystok and Suwałki Voivodeships, are important sources.
A significant part of the collection consists of printed official publications of both Polish authorities (including “Dzienniki Praw Królestwa Polskiego” and complete annual editions of “Dzienniki Ustaw” and “Monitor Polski” from 1919 onwards) and foreign authorities (Russian), for example, “Svody zakonow Rossijskoj Imperii.” Also noteworthy are source publications for various historical periods.
Valuable assistance is provided by subject dictionaries (including “Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich”), encyclopedias (including foreign ones), and language dictionaries.
Publications in the field of archival science and archivistics donated by the National Digital Archives (NDAP), archives belonging to the national archival network, institutions, and associations (including the Central Military Archives and the Institute of National Remembrance) are particularly important for the work of archivists. The library also has a collection of periodicals and serial publications.
The library’s collection is continuously enriched with new items, both through purchases and donations from various institutions and private individuals.
Library opening hours:
From Monday to Friday, from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, on Tuesdays until 6:00 PM.
Reading Room opening hours (State Archive in Suwałki and Branch in Ełk):
Working hours – from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Archive opening days.
Reading Room duty hours – on Tuesdays from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
The library database of the State Archives is available at: https://biblioteka.archiwa.gov.pl