Gigantic Bibliotech now open [PHOTOS]

"University staff have been dreaming of such a library for generations. Our dreams have now come true. Where? At the Wroclaw University of Technology, of course" said Professor Tadeusz Więckowski, Rector of the University, visibly moved, to those who came to see the Bibliotech building's interiors.

The building has been complete for several months, and some rooms are already put to use. The building was designed by Heinle, Wischer Und Partner from Germany. It took three years to complete, and the construction work came to a close in autumn 2013. Already this year, the complex was awarded a prize in the "Beautiful Wroclaw" architecture competition.

The building also serves as a gateway to the Wroclaw University of Technology campus as seen from Skwer Prof. Idaszewskiego and Plac Grunwaldzki. The building is four-storey high and offers 11.5 thousand sqm of usable floor space for readers and researchers. The investment cost 101 million PLN to complete, and approx. 76 million PLN were subsidised by the EU.

Screens and over 400 terminals

Professor Więckowski: "This is the most modern building that has ever been constructed at our university.

The library provides rooms with screens for multimedia presentations, cosy study rooms designed for both individual and group research, a hall and an exhibition room. Four hundred terminals are waiting for users in open spaces at upper stories of the library. Readers will use the terminals to browse library collections (books, handbooks and electronic journals, databases and research outcomes).

The Bibliotech building houses the Centre for Knowledge and Information on Science and Technology, whose task is to stimulate cooperation between scientists and entrepreneurs and help them make contact with each other. "Now that's what you call a window on the world for entrepreneurs," people said at the official opening of the building.

Vice-Mayor of Wroclaw, Adam Grehl, extolled the virtues of the new investment at the University of Technology. "The Bibliotech building adds to the power of the academic Wroclaw, and it contributes to the university's potential and makes it more attractive for students," he said.