NYÍREGYHÁZA 

Nyíregyháza is located at the North-Eastern part of Hungary, bordering on Ukraine, Slovakia and Romania. According to archaeological finds, it existed even in the age when the Hungarians arrived to the Carpathian Basin. The first written record of its existence dates to 1326 when King Róbert Károly issued a charter. In the middle ages, the Báthori, later the Rákóczi family ruled over Nyíregyháza. After Rákóczi’s War of Independence, its ruler, Count Ferenc Károlyi populated the city with Slovaks coming from Békés county. Nyíregyháza was given the privileges of a city in 1837, and it has been the seat of the county since 1876. In the second half of the 19^th century, a railway line was built between Budapest and the area, and it greatly facilitated the development of the city, its commerce and industry.

Our city is famous for its schools, our inhabitants are young, the average age is less than 40. Nyíregyháza is the seventh largest city in the country with 116 000 people. The spectacular growth of the city started in the beginning of the 1960s. Industrial plants were built, new blocks of flats were erected, cultural institutions and school were founded. Since then Nyíregyháza has become one of the most dynamically growing cities of the country to fulfill a central role in the culture, education, medicine and economy of Eastern-Hungary.

ABOUT THE LIBRARY

The Zsigmond Móricz County and City Library was established on the 22th of November 1952, with the merging of the Nyíregyháza Area Library and the City Library.

Its predecessor was the Szabolcs County Library that dated to 1898. After World War II, in 1949, its remaining collection was moved to the Nyíregyháza City Library. The County Library functioned in a private house on Benczúr square for more then two decades.

The library found its home on the 29^th of October, 1975: based on the plans of Zoltán Paulinyi, a new building was erected in the beautiful center of the city. Housed in a new place the library became the intellectual center of the city. Due to the integration process the County Library merged with the Nyíregyháza District Library in 1979, then with the Center for Nyíregyháza City Libraries and its units in 1984.

From May 1991 onwards the self government of Nyíregyháza has been responsible for the library. The 1990s were characterized by technological change and the preference for services. The entire collection of the library was digitized together with its circulation system.

The support of the county self-government ensures that our institution can work as a county network center. The department for service organization coordinates the cooperation and the activities of the libraries, the services offered, the education of the librarians, and the improvement of the county IT systems.

The history of our library reached a milestone on 1^st December 2005: the rebuilt county library opened its gates to the visitors.

The full reconstruction of the building of the Zsigmond Móricz County and City Library meant a major change in the life of Nyíregyháza and its libraries. It gave a chance for renewing the service areas, the enlargement of the storage capacities, as well as the improvement of the quality of the services, the broadening of the functions of the public libraries and institutions. Another 1400 m2 was added to the original 3202 m2 building, enlarging it by one and a half floors.

Our library owns more than 455 000 documents, the collection includes 378 888 books and bound periodicals, 21 456 audiovisual, 968 electronic and 52 049 miscellaneous picture and micro documents, printed materials. There are 473 different periodicals in 766 copies available for our readers. Apart from the traditional documents, there is more and more emphasis on computer based information media and databases.

Our collection and services can satisfy the needs of all our readers.