Vilniaus apskrities Adomo Mickevičiaus viešoji biblioteka, Vilnius

Vilniaus apskrities Adomo Mickevičiaus viešoji biblioteka (Vilnius County Adomas Mickevičius Public Library) is situated in the Old Town of Vilnius. It has been named after the poet Adam Mickiewicz who studied at Vilnius University and wrote in Polish. The library consists of several historical, but anonymous, buildings which are located in a U-shaped form around a courtyard. The public premises are in three floors and they are spacious. They are beautifully renovated but it has been somehow hard to adjust them to the needs of a modern library. It is difficult to get an overview of the different services. The library has a versatile and big collection of books, but not of periodicals. It also has some special collections like the Austrian-Swiss collection in German. The website is multilingual and includes Lithuanian, English, German and Russian so it is easy even for non Lithuanians to learn more about the services. On the other hand as a visitor you wonder if the staff is here to control or to serve? The children´s library is situated in the same complex but has a separate entrance. There is no cafeteria or restaurant which is a shortcoming in a big library like this. The courtyard can in the long run become a great resource for different events, for example literature festivals. THREE stars: Good.