Warsaw University Library
My travel to Europe in September 2003 was occasioned by an invitation from the International Council of Archives (ICA) ~ Universities and Research Institutions Section (SUV) to attend the 2003 Seminar on "Archives and Changing Societies: Active Strategies for Meeting Public, Institutional, and Archival Needs." This was held in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland on September 7-10. It turned out to be a gathering of mostly European archivists, since only about a dozen came from outside Europe.
As a country, Poland turned out to be quite a revelation. I never expected to fall in love with the country and its friendly people so quickly. From the moment I took a taxi, whose driver charged me only 36 zloty (9 euros, which, believe me, is cheap when compared to my taxi fares much later, from the Schipol in Amsterdam which cost me 55 euros, and in Paris, which was a 10 minute-drive to Charles de Gaulle for 45 euros), I was already enamored with Warsaw: the wide avenues lined with century-old trees, the clean metro stations, the friendly passersby who patiently looked into our city guide-maps and gave us directions despite the language barrier, and the accommodating bus driver who waived our first bus fare because we only had euro coins (Poland has still a year to adopt the euro currency then).
And seminar participants were treated to a half-day tour of the Warsaw University Library. Nothing can compare with this awesome Library ~ its glass and steel roof, all chrome and steel structures and furnishings, stunning roof gardens, and the awesome panorama of the city once you reach the top of the roof. It is definitely one of the coolest and greenest!
The University is the largest in Poland, and the library is the biggest in terms of holdings, with over 4M books. The University employs over 6,500 staff including over 3,300 faculty. It provides graduate courses for 65,000 students (on top of over 9,200 postgraduate and doctoral candidates). The library has one of the largest roof gardens in all of Europe (one hectare). The Library is so accessible even to the public, so welcoming. It is situated not far from the city center in the vicinity of the Old Town and Vistula river, only 10 minutes walking distance from the main campus and the Royal Road, with excellent bus connection (four public buses stop right next to the Library). It is very easy to get there.