Pančevo City Library

Background and Magistrate

Librarianship in Pančevo dates back to the 15th century, when a library was opened in the Vojlovica Monastery. The Pančevo City Library was preceded by several libraries in the city, the earliest being Čitaonica (lit. 'Reading Room'), founded in 1810. The bookseller Karl Wittigschlager and the lawyer Svetislav Kasapinović respectively opened a library and a library-like society in 1867. Another library, Srpska Čitaonica (lit. 'Serbian Reading Room') was opened in 1894 and had many magazines and journals in stock.

After World War I, many libraries were re-opened in the city, though a library with a unified catalogue still did not exist. The Serbian Encyclopedia gives the date 11 October 1923 as the library's founding, while the city librarian Goran Trailović says it was founded in 1924. The mayor of Pančevo Vladimir Margan initiated the founding of the city library. He was helped by Nikola Đorđević, a retired professor who collected over 3,000 books for the library. The city senate approved the founding in April 1924, and it was officially founded by the city on 3 July. The library contained many books in German and Hungarian languages. Originally located in the Magistrate building, it merged with the National Museum of Pančevo into a single building, though it operated autonomously.

The library was well-funded and had many visitors, mostly high school students. German-language books were mostly classical literature, the Hungarian-language books were mostly fiction, while the Serbo-Croatian-language books contained patriotic publications. The library was reconstructed in 1936 and re-opened to the public the same year. Before the onset of World War II in Yugoslavia, the library contained around 11,000 publications, had 1,300 members and 12 seats. In 1939, Ljubomir Ristić became the director of the library, but was hanged by the Nazi occupiers on 22 April 1941. During the rest of World War II, from 1941, the library was closed.

Post-World War II

After the war, the commissioners of the communist government visited hundreds of homes, including those of fascists, and collected books and archivable material. Together, they collected over 20,000 books for the new library. According to a 1975 news article, around 108 horse-drawn vehicles were brought to the location of the new library at the Zmaj Jove Jovanovića 5 street, where Srpska Čitaonica was located before the war. The authorities discarded books that were related to fascism, as well as periodicals. They brought furniture from a local school, the People's Bank, and fascist businesses. Under the administration of Mihovil Tomandl (1944–1953), it became a public library. Besides him, Đorđe Živanović and Čeda Malešević were also employed as librarians. Nina Mihajlov, Anica Stojšić, Mirjana Milić, and Tatjana Žukov later joined as associates. The library was ultimately opened to the public in 1946. Most of the well-known books that were present then in the library were in Hungarian and German, not Serbian. A kids section was introduced in 1955.

Considering that the local government offices had moved out of the Magistrate building, the city library was relocated back there in 1965. The current building, at the Nemanjina 1 street, was opened to the public on 27 June 1980. The actors Mira Stupica and Mihailo Janketić, as well as the writers Mika Antić and Pero Zubac were present at the opening; the politician Boško Krunić also gave a speech. The newspaper Pančevac reported that 44 million Yugoslav dinars (350 million Serbian dinars in 2025) were spent on the construction. Since then, the library has regularly organised promotional events, lectures, scientific conferences, and exhibitions. As of the 21st century, the library holds over 200,000 books, 60 archives of magazines, and 18 archives of newspapers. In 2018, the library helped build a street library in the National Garden, and in 2023 it became a member of the Library and Information System of Serbia. As of 2024, the director of the library is Dejan Bosnić and there are 13,000 active members.