About the Library

Mission

The mission of the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Rijeka comes out from the effort to provide every user with a comprehensive, high-quality and fast library service, as well as support in finding relevant information, expanding knowledge and competences necessary for the development of the individual and society as a whole. The library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Rijeka strives to be a quality source of information and support for teaching and scientific research processes, which it achieves through effective partnership, cooperation and listening to the needs of all participants in the academic environment.

Vision

The vision of the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Rijeka is based on exact knowledge about the transformation of traditional into modern information systems and the implementation of that knowledge in everyday library operations. Therefore, the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Rijeka will provide users with relevant information sources and scientific data aiming to reach proactiveness and efficiency in the process of higher education and the continuous progress of scientific and research activities.

The library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Rijeka was established on the first parent institution – the Higher Professional Pedagogical School (HPPS) in 1953.

Throughout its history, the Library has operated at several institutions and in several locations, which is unusual for academic libraries, but despite its location, the integrity of the Library has never been questioned and it has always been perceived as one library.

The library as it operates today was created in 1977 by merging of two libraries, the Library of the Faculty of Industrial Pedagogy (Library 1) and the Library of Pedagogical Academy (Library 2). Library work took place in two locations until it moved to the new building of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences on the University campus in Trsat in 2011, when the library started working at one location. This was followed by a demanding process of moving and consolidating the library collection, updating the user base and repurposing activities for the library work in the new space.

Today, the library operates as a modern information and communication service in an academic environment, exchanging experiences with academic and other libraries. The goal is to become an example of good practice in terms of highlighting the potential that libraries have, with an emphasis on service quality, user satisfaction and appropriate, professional and continuous support for educational and scientific research processes in the higher education system.

The library space is spread over 460 m², in a modernly equipped building of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. This area includes a reading room, spaces for housing the fund, a storage space for archival and other materials, and staff offices. Library operations are performed in the integrated library information system Crolist, which enables connection to the network of Croatian libraries, participation in cooperative mutual cataloging and construction of the Joint Catalog of the University of Rijeka and the Joint Catalog of Croatian Libraries Crolist.

Library users are students, scientific-teaching and art-teaching staff, as well as employees of the Faculty’s professional and administrative services, and it is interesting to point out that due to the Faculty’s location on the Rijeka University campus, students and staff of other components of the University of Rijeka, as well as alumni and other citizens gravitate to the library and use its services.

The library provides users with a number of services that are in accordance with the principles of modern library activity, such as borrowing and interlibrary loan of materials, dissemination of relevant information through relevant information channels, educating users with the aim of achieving a high level of information literacy and competence when using library services. Respecting the principles of the academic and scientific environment, the library promotes open access to science, scientific research data and all other available relevant sources of information.

Library fund

The collection of the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Rijeka is located on the third floor of the Faculty building, where information activities and the lending of materials to users also take place. The library fund is interdisciplinary, predominantly social and humanistic in content, adapted to the needs of studies and scientific work at the Faculty.

The fund is systematically formed and built up through purchases, exchanges and donations, in accordance with the needs expressed in the curricula and the needs of numerous projects implemented at the Faculty. Searching the library collection is enabled through the online catalog of the library, and a unified search of all available databases and the collective catalog of the University of Rijeka is enabled through the library system of the University of Rijeka.