Presentation of the ”George Coșbuc” Public Library of Bistrița-Năsăud County

The County Library has its foundation in the love for books and reading, with deep-rooted traditions in Bistrița. Towards the end of the Nineteenth Century and the beginning of the Twentieth Century, we recorded several reading societies of the craftsmen in Bistrița and some incipient libraries.

Ministry of the Arts, by Order no. 6524 of June 20, 1949, decided the building up of a public library in the town of Bistrița. The Library of the "George Coşbuc" Cultural House, which functionned in the building of the Association of German Craftsmen (Gewerbeverein) from 31st Parcului Street, was soon established.

In 1956, the library was moved to the building on Gării Street no. 2, where it stayed opened and operational until the end of 2012. Since January 1968, it had functioned as a city library and, since 1973, as a county library with territorial guidance powers.

The current location of the County Library has both a rich and an interesting history. The building was built between 1883-1884, according to the plans of the architect Carl Schöbel, to house the residence of dr. Christof Reinl, doctor of the Bistrița Garrison. After the Great Unionof 1918, the building got transferred to the Romanian Kingdom’s Ministry of War, the building being attributed to Prince Charles, ashe was moved up disciplinary in Bistrița, in 1919. Later on, this building became the headquarters of "Magyar Nemzeti Bank", and after 1947, it became the county branch of the National Bank of Romania.

After rehabilitation, at the end of 2012, the building was assigned to the Bistrița-Năsăud County Library, following the decision of the Bistrița-Năsăud County Council.

The library carries the name of a great Romanian classical poet, George Coşbuc (1866-1918), born in Hordou (Bistrița-Năsăud County), a village named today after his name. Also, the Building B of the Library is named after the great Romanian prose writer Liviu Rebreanu, born in Târlişua (Bistrița-Năsăud County), the creator of the Romanian modernnovel.

The library holds a collection of 244,668 books and an old and patrimony book fund of 22,234 copies.

The number of visits to the Library increases each year. Thus, in 2017, there were 35,824 visits.

In 2016, Building B of the Library got built – it’s basically the second building that serves our users.

Currently, the County Library "George Coșbuc" Bistrița-Năsăud has got two Lending sections (The Adult Lending Section and The Children Section), a Conference room, The CoșBook Cultural Club, The Acquisitions/Collection Development/Serials Department. There’s, also, a room equipped with a state-of-the-art i2S CopiBook Open System scanner needed to enhance our Digital Library ; The Nicolae Manolescu Donation Hall, The Old Book Collection,book warehousesof the Lending Sections. All of these are already available in the old, but rehabilitated building.

In the Building B, the newest built one, the premises are destined for the Liviu Rebreanu Reading Room, The Reading Room’s warehouses and the Multimedia Resource Center.

The Multimedia Resource Center and the CoșBook Cultural Club are premises intended to be used by students and schoolchildren attending the library, but are also meant to get frequented by readers of all ages.

The rooms got equipped with all the adequateinfrastructure needed for the cultural activities. Young people can carry out their own activities and cultural-educational initiatives. These rooms are, also,adequate social and leisure premises,  in the neighborhood of books.

Users have got accessto books, magazines, cultural press, free wi-fi internet.

The library develops and hosts a very rich program of cultural events (conferences, book launches, book fairs, colloquia, symposiums, etc.).

We have established several branches in the Bistrița-Năsăud County and two subsidiaries in the Republic of Moldova (Chișinău and Glodeni).