The territorial and thematic scope can be divided as follows
Until 1945, documents of social life related to the history and culture of Poland (regardless of the territorial changes that took place during this period), with a special focus on
After 1945:
The Documents of Social Life Division collects normative, programmatic, propagandistic, informational, educational and similar materials related to the activities of institutions, collective bodies, political parties, associations and individuals.
Among the most valuable collections are ephemeral prints from the years 1801-1945 relating to the Napoleonic Campaign, the Duchy of Warsaw, the Congress Kingdom, the Springtime of Nations, national uprisings, the First World War and the formation of the Legions, the period of the Second Republic and the Soviet and German occupation during the Second World War. However, the largest part of the collection is devoted to the history, culture and art of Lwów (Lviv) and the former lands of south-eastern Poland.
Also important is the collected documentation of opposition activities against communist regime in 1978-1989, including Klub Samoobrony Społecznej (Social Self-Defence Club), Studencki Komitet Solidarności (Student Solidarity Committee), NSZZ "Solidarność", Pomarańczowa Alternatywa (Orange Alternative), Solidarność Polsko-Czesko-Słowacka (Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity) and Ruch "Wolność i Pokój" (Freedom and Peace Movement).
Of great interest is the collection of ephemeral prints related to the activities of Polish-American centres in the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and other countries.
In terms of form, the following types of material are collected Bulletins and communiqués (only those accompanying cultural, political and social events, unless they are collected by the Periodicals Division); folders; photographs; newsletters; bulletins; daily newspapers (unless they are a continuous print); manuals; catalogues (of artistic, literary, scientific exhibitions, fairs, etc., unless they are compact prints); publishing and bookstore catalogues (up to 1945); address and telephone books (selected up to 1970), exhibition entry books; obituaries and death notices (of Ossolineum staff and of people connected with the Ossolineum); posters; placards; diplomas; non-actual materials accompanying events (e.g. scenery, badges, pennants and the like); minutes; reports; statutes and the like (not in compact or continuous print); programmes (e.g. theatre, events and the like); rules and regulations; timetables for rail, road and air services; admission tickets; public transport tickets; ration cards; price lists (up to the 1960s); statistical material (e.g. charts, graphs and the like); literary texts (e.g. commemorative poems, martial law songs); invitations; lottery tickets; contributions; fundraising material; leaflets.
Photographs, much in demand for exhibition and publication purposes, are an extremely valuable and separate group in the collection. They make up almost 20% of the entire collection and comprise about 50,000 photographic prints: black and white and colour, some with negatives. The core of the photographic collection consists of the works of well-known Wroclaw photojournalists and photographers. These are undoubtedly Krystyna Gorazdowska, Adam Czelny, Mieczysław Dołęga, Stanisław Wolniewicz, Stefan Arczyński, Zdzisław Zieliński, Józef Sokołowski, Tadeusz Szwed, Andrzej Lachowicz, Zbigniew Nowak, Marek Grotowski, Stanisław Kokurewicz, Adam Hawałej, Wiesław Dębicki, Andrzej Konarski, Stanisław Porowski, Jacek Samotus, Krzysztof Capała, Mieczysław Michalak, Wiesław Sąsiadek, Tomasz Kizny, Henryk Prykiel, Andrzej Łuca, Liliana Sokołowska, Andrzej Niedźwiecki and Andrzej Solnica. With their cameras they captured fleeting moments and important events at every step of the rolling and pulsating life of our beautiful city and region. They immortalised the change from German Breslau to Polish Wroclaw, from the still smoking ruins of the Festung Breslau, through the successive stages of reconstruction, to its development and growth.
A special contribution and commitment to the conception of the photographic collection was made by a long-time employee of the Division and author of most of the photographs from 1962-1989, Tadeusz Drankowski. There are over 12,000 of his photographs in our collection.
An extremely important and carefully supplemented group of photographs is the documentation of the National Ossolinski Institute itself: from its activities in Lwów (Lviv) to its current activities.
The collection of theatrical material, both before and after 1945, is impressive. The collection of material documenting premieres and theatrical events is supplemented by stills from productions of theatres in Wroclaw and Lower Silesia or guest performances in Wroclaw (over 9,000) by, among others, Grażyna Wyszomirska, Zdzisław Mozer, Zdzisław Holuka, Michał Diament, Stefan Arczyński, Kazimierz Helebrandt, Wojciech Plewiński, Jan Bortkiewicz, Marek Grotowski, Adam Hawałej.
The collection of theatrical material is complemented by a unique and extremely valuable collection of some 2,500 designs for stage sets and costumes.
From the very beginning of the Ossolineum Library's existence, i.e. since 1817, the collection has included pamphlets produced both in the Partitions of Poland and abroad by Poles and addressed mainly to Poles. They were acquired mostly through donations from organisations and institutions, individually or in groups, and sometimes through gifts from well-known personalities, usually together with larger collections of books or manuscripts.
Publications of significant historical and scholarly value (for example, printed posters, proclamations, occasional poems, manifestos and the like) were added to the general book collection and kept with it. Each copy was given a separate signature. This practice continued after the Second World War, when the Ossolineum was already located in Wroclaw. As a result, a large number of ephemeral prints are still scattered throughout the catalogue. They can be found under headings such as "Druki ulotne" (Leaflets), "Ulotka" (Flyers), "Odezwa" (Proclamations), "Program" (Programmes), "Apel" (Appeal), "Wezwanie" (Appeal), "Afisze" (Placards), etc., as well as under various other headings: Titles and, in the absence of titles, the incipit of the print, references to particular towns and villages, etc. (see card catalogue up to 1998).
In addition, the Ossolineum Manuscript Divsion holds many valuable documents of social life, which were added to the legacies and family collections of important Poles. As they are an integral part of the manuscripts, they were not excluded from them, but compiled with them. Information about them can be found in the individual volumes of the Inwentarz rękopisów Biblioteki ZNiO (Ossolineum Library's Manuscript Inventory), which are provided with indexes of persons, geographical names and subject indexes.
