Books, Bibliographies, and Pugs: A Festschrift to Honor Murlin Croucher

Józef Grycz (1890-1954): An Appreciation

J6zef Grycz (1890-1954): An Appreciation Tim larson In the history of Polish libraries and librarianship in the twentieth century, no individual achieved such prominence or exerted so much influence as J6zef Grycz. He has been called the leading figure in Polish libraries of the first half of the centuryl and the organizer of modern Polish librarianship2 Grycz was active at a pivotal stage in Polish library history, from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s. The period began with libraries still independent storehouses of scholar!y information not meant for broad public access and with no overall organization or standardization. During the war and German occupation, their very survival remained at stake due to staggering losses. After the war, they underwent a rapid transformation into modern, publicservice -minded institutions with national level organization and networking , staffed by trained library professionals and regulated according to centralized policy. While many librarians and library leaders were responsible for saving them during the war and bringing about this modernization, none played a more important role than J6zef Grycz. The following sketch of his life and works addresses an important gap in the literature on Grycz: the total lack of material in English. Grycz scholarship is exclusively in Polish, and its quantity is minimal. There is much more written by Grycz than about him. In 1961, the Biblioteka Narodowa (National Library) issued a festschrift in Grycz's honor that serves as the most comprehensive source about his life and works. This introduction is based largely on Bogdan Horodyski's 1 Z zagadnien teorii i praktyki bibliotekarskiej: Studia p05wircone pamirci Jaze! Grycza, ed. Bogdan Horodyski (Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy Imienia Ossolinskich , 1961), 9. 2 Encyklopedia wiedzy 0 ksiqice, ed. Aleksander Birkenmajer et al. (Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy Imienia Ossolinskich, 1971), 844. Gregory C. Ference and Bradley L. Schaffner, eds. Books, Bibliographies and Pugs. Bloomington, IN: Siavica, 2006,13 1- 43. (Indiana Slavic Studies, 16. ) 132 TIM LARSON extensive biographical portrait3 in this volume. Grycz's letters have appeared in two recent volumes about Polish librarianship during the first half of the twentieth century, one covering 1925 to 19514 and the other 1939 to 1945.5 Then there are Grycz's own myriad writings, many of which represent important contributions to the literature on practicallibrarianship and the history of libraries. They include several books, numerous articles in Polish library journals, conference presentations , lectures and course instructions, and perhaps most useful for their historical value, his letters. This essay will focus on the main periods of his life and his writings within each period. What emerges from a review of Grycz's life and work is a lesson in the importance of three major concepts in librarianship-standardization of practice in library services, training and education of library staff, and the library's chief responsibility to serve the public. Grycz, a true champion of the professional librarian, was not only a master practitioner of virtually all aspects of librarianship , but also deserves to be considered among the great teachers of librarianship in the last century. From local Bookstore Owner to Professional Librarian (1890-1929) Grycz was born on December 11, 1890, in Zebrzydowice, a town in the Cieszyn region. As his father was a folk teacher, Grycz grew up with constant exposure to Silesian folklore. Horodyski maintains that this exposure instilled in Grycz a deep patriotism and interest in the wel3 Bogdan Horodyski, "J6zef Grycz," in Z zagadnien teorii i praktyki bibliotekarskiej , 22-54. Horodyski (1904-65), a well-known librarian and activist within the Polish Society of Librarians and the Polish Union of Librarians, was Grycz's colleague at the National Library after the war. See the sketch of his life in Jan Baumgart, Bibliotekarstwo, biblioteki, bibliotekarze (Warsaw: Stowarzyszenie Bibliotekarzy Polskich, 1983), 252- 62. 4 Bibliotekarstwo polskie, 1925- 1951 w swietle korespondencji jego wsp6ltw6rc6w, ed. Adam Lysakowski and Maria Dembowska (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo SBP, 1995). 5 Biblioteki naukowe w Generalnym Gubernatorstwie w latach 1939- 1945: WybOr dokument6w ir6dlowych, ed. Andrzej M~zynski and Hanna Laskarzewska (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo LTW, 2003). J6ZEF GRYCZ (1890-1954): A N ApPRECIATION 133 fare of the common people6 Though the town was in a sector of Poland controlled by Germany, he chose to attend a Polish gymnasium. He received his later education in Germanic studies and classical philology at Jagiellonian University, then in Berlin, and finally in Vienna, where in 1915, he completed his doctoral studies in German philology; his true interest remained...