Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library celebrated its 120th anniversary with its readers

The library celebrated its anniversary with new services, family and reading promotion events and, at the end of November, the successful Budapest Book Capital program series was closed with a spectacular event. Summary with photos.

The Capital City Library opened in 1904, so this year we turned 120 years old. After only a few years, the library was turned into a modern, public library-style library, and today it is a cultural institution with one of the largest traffic in Hungary: last year about 300 000 users used the library services on 4 million occasions, and this year even bigger numbers can be expected.

Besides upgrading the traditional services, the library is continuously renewing itself. In 2023, the Library of Soroksár was renovated in two phases, and today it offers the most modern services to its readers. This May, the e-book loaning service was started on the CloudLibrary platform, and in June, with the handover of a locker in Lövölde square, the number of self-servicing exchange points with 0-24 daily availability was increased to three. In October, the catalogue of the library was changed into a modern, reader-friendly browsing platform with added community functions, a.k.a. the FSZEK Online, and in December, the "silent book" - picture book - loan service was started, as well. It proves the international professional recognition of MESZL that in spring the library was invited - the first out of Hungary - by the Public Libraries 2030 to the Lighthouse Libraries, a collaborating network of the most innovative libraries across the European Union.

On the occasion of this anniversary year, many big events were organized in the MESZL library network. 

Photos of the events and the programmes (a selection)

We continued the "Otthon a könyvtárban" /Home in the library/ family day program series, during which various libraries welcomed everyone to musical events, exhibitions, robotics sessions and puppet shows.

The free university called "Ferge Zsuzsa szakmai örökségének nyomában" /In the wake of the professional heritage of Zsuzsa Ferge/ started its third season, during which the policies of the European Union will be discussed with the help of expert lecturers. The lectures of the free university were held at Ötpacsirta Salon.

Between September and December, the library organized a series of discussions called "Másfél évtized: társadalom és kultúra a főváros könyvtárának születése idején" /One and a half decade: society and culture during the birth of the capital city library/, which recalls the Budapest of the first decades in the last century - the time during which the library was born and opened, 120 years ago this year. 

The MESZL reattended the International Book Festival with its Budapest Book Capital program series, from the 26th to the 29th of September we had our own stall for the attendees. During the podium discussions "Nekem az olvasás" /Reading for me is.../ guests like Veca Janicsák singer, Tímea Nagy Olympic champion fencer, Erika Szabó actress, János Háy author, Zoltán Szécsi Olympic champion water polo player and Viktor Klem actor, spoke about their relationships and experiences with reading.

On 15th October, the 120th birthday of the institution, the MESZL branch libraries welcomed everyone with a 50% discount on membership, the annual Day of Forgiveness and birthday cakes and cultural programs at various places. In the Central Library, visitors arriving at opening time were welcomed by Ágnes Kovácsné Koreny, the General Director of MESZL, and Ferenc Farkas, the Head of the Central Library, in the Atrium. During the day, the visitors could also attend palace tours and the exhibition organized by the Budapest Collection. In Sárkányos Children's Library, an author-reader meetup was held with Célia Pifkó, the winner of Children's Book of the Year 2024, and in the Ötpacsirta Salon, the Music Collection welcomed everyone to the concert of Domonkos Csabay, Junior Prima-award winning pianist. In the Atrium, visitors could watch old news footage about the history of the library, "borrowed" from the National Film Institution. Almost all libraries had some type of event, featuring guests like János Háy, Noémi Szécsi or the Batyu Színház.

Every year, the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library organizes the Librarians' Day on the Wednesday closest to 15th October, the day of the 1904 opening of the library. The professional event was held in Wenckheim Palace: Gergely Karácsony, the Lord Mayor of Budapest, greeted the employees of the library, then Ágnes Kovácsné Koreny, the General Director of MESZL, presented the professional achievements of the year, the further developments planned and the new logo and renewed image of the institution. László Csorba, the General Director of the Budapest Historical Museum, greeted the 120-year-old library with his presentation called 'Library, citizen, city, nation'. Dominika Ács, Junior Prima-awarded flutist and Kristóf Cseri violinist performed at the event, as well. 
As per tradition, during the Librarians' Day employees of Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library received their institutional recognitions for their exceptional work. 

The significant event of the program series was the family day held on 23rd November 2024 called "Irodalom életre kel(l)". Novels and other literary works live on in many forms: mainly on film, on stage and in music. This was the starting point of the free event, organized for the MESZL120 anniversary program series and the Budapest Book Capital event series, coordinated by the library. Around one thousand people attended this event and we had guests like Pál Mácsai, János Bródy, Petra Grisnik, the Iszkiri Music Band, the Béla Kövér Puppet Theatre from Szeged and the Kőszeg Castle Theatre among others. Special events were the silent book workshop, the steampunk display, the painting of Pucara bulls, courtesy of the Embassy of Peru, and the Library PRO ["programozás, robotika, olvasás" /programming, robotics, reading/] sessions with the librarians of Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library; visitors could try out Bee bot, Sphero Indi Student and the MakeBlock - mTiny Discover floor robots. The members of Székelyudvarhely City Library visiting Budapest made the many arts and crafts sessions even more colorful. 

We would like to thank everyone, who participated in the MESZL120 program series and the various events of Budapest Book Capital.

Photos: MESZL