Zastava Library ─ a Special Library in a Changing Environment

Abstract

In mid-2011, company "Zastava Automobili" d.o.o., with Zastava Library operating within it, was about to sign the acquisition contract with Fiat. The struggle to find a suitable solution for accommodation of around 24,000 library units lasted almost three years. After long negotiations and extensive correspondence between the Privatization Agency, the Management Board of  "Zastava Automobili" and the City Council, the Library collection was divided into scientific collection and the collection of fiction. On the World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April 2012, in the city district of Stanovo, a branch of the Public Library "Vuk Karadžić" was opened containing mainly the Zastava Library fiction collection. In 2013, the book collection of this branch was registered in COBISS database, which made valuable Zastava books electronically visible and searchable.

The goal of this paper is to present one of the possible ways of finding a place to hold and take care of special libraries whose destiny in the transition period, during the process of privatization of companies under whose auspices they were established, is uncertain until the last moment and often exposed to a fatal outcome.