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NSK Day 2025: Celebrating 418 years of existence and major achievements in 2024

Members of LADO, Croatia’s world-famous folk dance ensemble.
The celebration of the 2025 NSK Day included a stunning performance by LADO, Croatia’s world-famous folk dance ensemble.

Together with many distinguished guests, the representatives of Croatia’s prominent cultural and academic institutions, our partners and friends we have celebrated this year’s National and University Library in Zagreb Day, happy and proud to be part of more than four centuries of tradition.

The celebration, which brought together the representatives of the University of Zagreb and other Croatian universities and research institutions, the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (CASA), leading library professionals and former NSK directors general and other NSK staff, opened with the addresses by the Envoy of the Croatian Minister of Science, Education and Youth and State Secretary Professor Nikola Mrvac, the Croatian Minister of Culture and Media and Envoy of the Croatian Prime Minister Dr Nina Obuljen Koržinek and the Library’s Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević.

State Secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Youth Professor Nikola Mrvac and the Croatian Minister of Culture and Media Dr Nina Obuljen Koržinek.
 

Over 60 programmes, 28 projects and 400,000 digitised pages – NSK achievements in 2024

Giving an overview of the Library’s activities in 2024 Dr Stričević particularly singled out the development of eOP, Croatia’s new electronic legal deposit system, and Bukinet, a cloud-based system for Croatian academic libraries which NSK started setting up as part of the activities which it has been tasked with as part of e-Universities, Croatia’s major project aimed at reforming Croatia’s higher education system. Also, as part of the same project, the Library introduced to its learning spaces study pods for individual and group work offering up-to-date digital learning facilities.

NSK Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević.

Dr Stričević presented the results of NSK’s many other activities, including over 60 programmes, 28 projects and the digitisation of over 400,000 pages of items in the Library’s collections, the majority of which were historical newspapers, some of the most vulnerable types of library material.

Announcing NSK’s plans for 2025, Dr Stričević emphasised as the most important the programmes which it is preparing at CroAtrium, the Library’s multimedia lab and heritage interpretation centre, as part of the national celebration of 1,100 years of the Kingdom of Croatia as the guardian of invaluable heritage documenting over a millennium of Croatia’s culture, national identity and statehood.

People – the key to NSK’s success

The celebration programme included the National and University Library in Zagreb Awards ceremony – the Head of the Library’s Cataloguing Department and Library Adviser Tanja Buzina received the award for 2024 in the category for the Library’s outstanding employees and the Associate Professor at the Department of Information and Communication Sciences of the Zagreb University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Ivana Hebrang Grgić was awarded as a longstanding and prominent library professional for her outstanding contribution to the development of the library profession in Croatia.

Head of the NSK Cataloguing Department Tanja Buzina, Associate Professor at the Department of Information and Communication Sciences of the Zagreb University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Ivana Hebrang Grgić and Professor Damir Agičić, Head of Kliofest, the Croatian history festival.

The 2024 NSK award for a legal entity successful in implementing intrasectoral and intersectoral cooperation initiatives was presented to Professor Damir Agičić, as the Head of Kliofest, the Croatian history festival, in whose organisation the Library has participated since its inception, in 2014. The remaining 2024 special awards from the NSK Director General went to the Head of the NSK Director General’s Office Gordana Radočaj, for excellence and proactivity in her 16-year long professional career in NSK, and to the NSK team headed by Hrvoje Špac for excellence and effective teamwork in organising NSK’s first ever escape room event.

Head of the NSK Director General’s Office Gordana Radočaj and the head of the most successful NSK team in 2024 Hrvoje Špac with the NSK Director General Dr Ivanka Stričević.

The celebration participants enjoyed an accompanying musical programme featuring a captivating performance by LADO, Croatia’s world-famous folk dance ensemble, and had a unique opportunity to see one of the major acquisitions to NSK’s special collections in 2024 – a 1725 Pauline codex Antiphonarium Romanum.

Performance by Croatia’s world-famous folk dance ensemble LADO.
Antiphonarium Romanum, 1725. NSK Manuscripts and Old Books Collection.
Antiphonarium Romanum (1725), a major 2024 acquisition to the NSK Manuscripts and Old Books Collection.

NSK Day – and the Croatian Glagolitic Script Day

NSK Day is marked in memory of 22 February 1483, the day of the printing of the first book in the Croatian language and the first book in Europe not printed in the Latin script, a ‘Missal by the Law of the Roman Court’ (Misal po zakonu rimskoga dvora; Missale Romanum glagolitice). Also, since 2019 this historic date has been celebrated as the Croatian Glagolitic Script Day.

“Missale Romanum glagolitice” (1483), the first book printed in the Croatian language.
Missale Romanum glagolitice (1483). NSK Manuscripts and Old Books Collection.

This invaluable work of Croatian written heritage is preserved as part of the Library’s Manuscripts and Old Books Collection, whose treasures were displayed as part of this year’s NSK Doors Open Days, traditionally ushering in the celebration of NSK Day. Having spotlighted NSK’s manuscript holdings, the 2025 edition of the Days once again attracted visitors of all ages who were able to learn more about the Library’s collections, services, programmes and events through special guided tours and an interesting workshop programme.

We had a wonderful time with all the celebration programmes’ participants, we look forward to seeing you again!