Panait Cerna County Library from Tulcea celebrates 40 years of existence (PHOTO GALLERY)

• On April 26, 1984, the new headquarters of the Tulcea County Library was put into use, a building designed and built with an educational-cultural purpose.

With an area of ​​3,400 square meters, spread over three levels, the library included a bookstore and an exhibition space intended for the Union of Visual Artists from Romania.

As a curiosity, the library building was one of three built for this purpose during the communist regime, according to the Tulce library

Brief history of the institution

The library whose successor is considered to be the “Panait Cerna” County Library was created in 1900, when the director of the high school in Tulcea, C. Moisil bought the personal library of the former director of the high school N. Alexandrescu and turned it into a public library. This year the library had a fund of about 2,000 volumes. The library operates until 1916 and is destroyed during the first world war.

In the period 1919-1920, a book fund was collected again for a public library, but its establishment was not successful.

Between the years 1922-1923, the “Teacher’s House Library” was born, on the initiative of some teaching staff from the city, which had subscriptions to all the publications of the Romanian Academy Library.

During the years 1928-1929, a new public library called “Panait Cerna” was established under the patronage of the retired general Panaitescu. In the beginning, it came into existence from small donations and subsidies. It has a lending section and a reading room. The home loan was based on a monthly contribution paid by the readers. They worked with an alphabetical catalog, the fund of this library reaching 10,000 – 12,000 volumes (by the years 1938-1939).
In a table of data, requested by the Prefecture of the city, for the preparation of the Encyclopedia of Romania, the information appears that in 1937 the “Panait Cerna” Library, located on Ştefan cel Mare street, was operating in Tulcea.

This oasis of culture and spirit operates until January 12, 1942, when the doors of the “Panait Cerna” public library are closed, and the seal is applied by the police. On July 23, 1942, the lawyer Traian C. Radu, as president of the “Panait Cerna” public library (located on Sfântul Nicolae street), made a request to the Tulcea County Prefecture requesting the reopening of the library. On August 5, 1942, the head of the Tulcea Police returned the request submitted by Traian C. Radu stating:

“Since the youth who feed themselves with books and who would gather at this library, continue to be occultly active within the legionary movement, I consider it inappropriate to open a library.”

During the Second World War the library is evacuated.

Between 1944-1948, a public library was again organized under the auspices of the Cultural Council of Tulcea County, led by Grigore Cuculis. The book collection of the library is made up of the books of the “Teacher’s House” that remained after the purge, the books of the “Panait Cerna” library and of the novelties received from the Ministry of Arts and Information. The fund of this library amounts to approximately 18,000 volumes.

By HCM 1452/1952 “Panait Cerna” PUBLIC LIBRARY is transformed into a district library with qualified staff who were able to serve the reading public and ensure the methodical guidance of libraries within the county (city, commune, village).
Between the years 1951-1952, following the verification of the treasury owned by all the libraries in the city, a fund of documentary books of approximately 5 wagons was collected. There were many valuable publications such as: monographs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.

In 1952, a certain Bejan Dumitru – probably out of too much zeal and too little culture and respect for the book, handed over this fund to DCA. destroying very valuable publications, both for the library and for the users. By chance, an almost complete series from “Larousse” was saved, which is currently at the Tulcea Museum.

In the Library Guide of the Republic of Poland, published in 1958, on page 202 there is the “Maxim Gorki” District Library, with the address Progresului Street, no. 26. It was also mentioned that the library was operating at that time with a reading room with 40 seats and a section for children and a book collection of 22,172 volumes.

Between 1960-1974, the library operated on Progresului street in a building built in 1875, with 2 levels. On the ground floor, there was a 46 sqm children’s room; mature lending section of 63 square meters, book depository of 46 square meters; on the first floor was the director’s office of 18 square meters, two reading rooms of 50 square meters each.

Starting with 1962, the completion of the library’s collections is carried out systematically.

In 1969, the bibliographic service was established that prepares recommended bibliographies, edits the current local bibliography, prepares and organizes information tools on the library’s collections (catalogues, thematic files). In 1968, the children’s section had 703 registered users who borrowed 14,559 books. The library operates with free access to the shelf. In number 7 of the Libraries Magazine (1969), in the article “Books and libraries from the Delta”, references are made to the library premises located on Progresului street, as if no premises corresponding to the development needs of the institution were found, the premises being unsanitary, cold , with insufficient rooms.

In 1975, the library operates on Spitalului street no. 4, in the office building of the “Delta” newspaper; it had a lending section for adults and children and a reading room. And the spaces here are insufficient and inadequate for a county library, so the initiative to build a headquarters is taken.

In 1984, on April 26, the library moved to a new, modern premises, located on Isaccei street, no. 20, headquarters where it still operates today. The new headquarters, with a constructed area of ​​3400 square meters on three levels, allowed the diversification of departments and services and a good promotion of the collections both in the rooms with free access to the shelves and in the warehouses.

A lot of glass, the building allows a generous penetration of light and at the same time suggests the permanent openness of the institution to the world.
By decision no. 50 of May 29, 1992, the name “Panait Cerna” is attributed to the County Library.

Since 1997, it has been operating under the authority of the Tulcea County Council.

“In this moment of retrospect, we thank all the people of Tulcena who have contributed over time to the consolidation of this institution, thus increasing the cultural prestige of our county!”

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