History of Library
The predecessor of our institution, the Regional Library was established in Salgótarján in April 1949.
Ten years passed, when the library took up the name of Bálint Balassi in 1959.
During his short life, the poet lived at several settlements of the historical Nógrád County. The published volumes and bibliographies, the Balassi trivia competition, memorial tours and the Balassi-award founded in 1995 demonstrate that the library has done lot for cherishing the cult of the poet.
In years 1966-1988 the county library was located in József Attila Culture House in Salgótarján.
Later it moved to our current home, the “Culture Castle”, designed by architect József Finta.
The present appearance of our institution also conveys Balassi’s spirit, as the entrance is adorned by the statue of the poet created by sculptor Pál Kő. Our other ornament is the Balassi panel painting of paintress Gizella Péterffy, located on the floor. Finally, the sculpture of Balassi Bálint made by Iván Bíró decorates our rental department for adults.
The new building brought a number of possibilities for the library and visitors as well. Beyond the traditional librarian frames several new spaces were opened; a new exhibition area, lecture halls or tale room was for the disposal of the visitors.
Since 1989 the library has showed a qualitative change in the mechanization of the work processes, information databases or the internet usage. In the recent years the services of the library were broadened and extended in time and space far beyond the walls of the building and the county library became one of the most visited cultural institutions of our city.
The public, artistic and literal journal Palócföld is a nationally recognized publication of our institution.
Our local-knowledge collection was named after the late director of the institution Nándor Kojnok in June 2005. We preserve and afford the values of our past and present via our collection by archiving visual, auditory and written materials linked to Nógrád County.
The Baby-Corner, which belongs to our Child Section, welcomes the smallest ones since 2012.
From January 2013 our institution operates under the supervision of the Municipality of Salgótarján. Our programs and events concerning the reading promotion, culture transmission, raising awareness or recreational activities are regularly updated on our website and Facebook page.
We welcome our visitors by providing reliable expertise and nearly 300.000 documents. They can be found in our electronic catalogue. Some of our publications are available also in digital form.
The library is constantly changing; it is a dynamic, user-needs-following institution of Salgótarján and Nógrád County capable of renewal. We confess and believe that the needs of our guests compose the main aspects of our professional activities.
Our culture transmission role is important due to the positive judgement of our county within and outside its borders as well.
The institution intends to take part in all activities that may transmit, preserve and spread the values of Nógrád County and Salgótarján.
