Special collections

The Special Collections Department hosts over 100 000 documents: manuscripts, foreign old books, Romanian old books, atlases, albums, maps, engravings, archives, sheet music.

As regards contents, the library owns printed documents from almost all fields of knowledge and human creation, a fact that reflects the history of this cultural establishment. There are kept here literary, theological, philosophical, historical and juridical works, medical, chemistry, physics works, publications which used to belong to political and cultural personalities, sovereigns, famous scholars or to the well-known libraries of the Vasilian Academy, Royal Academy or Mihaileanu Academy. The value of these documents is rendered by their age, their rarity degree or by ex-libris or other written marks they might have.

During the last years, the collections have been enriched with multimedia documents: records, audio tapes, video tapes, CDs and CD-ROMs, photocopies, microfilms.

These collections, which were called at first “the rarity collection” were established and ever since the foundation of the library they have been replenished up to the present.

Reading room

S[ecial Collections Reading Room
On the 2 nd floor, access through Reading Room III
8 seats
Contact: [email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/specialcollectionsbcu/

Instruments available for study : general and specialized encyclopedias (music, arts), printed catalogues for the collections of manuscripts, bibliophile books in the libraries in Iasi and in the country, editions of Romanian old books and manuscripts, other works. The access to the special collections is based on the CUL Entrance Card valid. The online catalogue can be consulted from the computers in the Multimedia Reading Room and Special Collections Reading Room.

The special collections funds can be read only in the reading room.
The number of books borrowed in the reading room is maximum 5.

In order to protect certain categories of documents, there are imposed a few conduct rules:

  • The catalogue for the publications in the general fund should be consulted first
  • In case there are available new editions for old documents, they should be consulted
  • If there is available a digital copy, it should be consulted so as to protect the original

Conduct rules

  • The materials are not to be consulted with dirty hands
  • It is forbidden to make notes in pen or rollerball pen (pencils are recommended)
  • It is forbidden to trace or make any notes on the pages of the library material
  • The readers should not lean on the library items (so as not to put pressure on the binding)
  • The decorated or illuminated manuscripts should not be touched
  • It is forbidden to leave the books open if they are not read
  • It is forbidden to place open volumes on top of one another
  • Depending on the conservation state, age and rarity, the manuscripts will be examined wearing gloves always available from the reading room staff

Special collections catalogues

Online catalogue www.bcu-iasi.ro

  • It includes the digitized cards (there were scanned approximately 81.000 cards from the traditional catalogues)
  • It includes entries since 1998 for the collections of Albums, Atlases, Music Scores
  • It includes entries since 2000 for the other collections

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