On May 3, 1891, King Carol I addressed a letter to Emanoil Florescu, then President of the Council of Ministers. The document, which can be regarded as the true founding act, recorded the sovereign’s wish to establish an institution “for the benefit of university youth from all faculties in the country, endowed with a library that would always be open.” 

The Birth of a Royal Idea

Carol I, the visionary ruler of modern Romania, understood that education and culture could not thrive without a reference institution—a space where students would have free access to books and ideas.

Thus was born the project of the Carol I University Foundation, a building erected under the aegis of the state and managed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Instruction.

The Architecture of a Vision

For this edifice, Carol I appointed French architect Paul Gottereau, who had already designed the Palace of the Savings Bank and the old Royal Palace. Construction began in 1891 and was completed in 1893, with the following two years dedicated to furnishing and equipping the interior. 

On March 14, 1895, King Carol I officially inaugurated the Carol I University Foundation, thereby establishing one of Romania’s most important cultural centers.

The building was conceived not simply as a repository of books but as a true temple of knowledge, a place designed to inspire respect and encourage research.

The Initial Mission

For fifty years, the University Foundation supported the training of intellectual elites by offering scholarships, subsidies, encouragement prizes, and publishing fundamental works, including theses and doctoral dissertations. 

In a Romania taking rapid steps toward modernity, the institution became a pole of cultural stability and a catalyst of progress.

Expansion and International Recognition

Twenty years after its inauguration, in 1911, Gottereau was again commissioned to design an extension to the building. The new structure, opened on May 9, 1914, included an amphitheater with over 500 seats, four reading rooms, and modern storage facilities. The library reached European standards and established itself as a forum dedicated to study and research.

Between the two world wars, the Aula of the Foundation became a key reference point in Bucharest’s cultural life. Conferences, debates, and symposia brought together the most prominent intellectuals of the age. 

In 1925, the first Conference of Librarians was held here under the guidance of Ion Bianu and Em. Bucuța. Between 1924 and 1927, the halls of the Foundation hosted meetings of the Romanian Social Institute, coordinated by Dimitrie Gusti, and those of the Institute of Literature, chaired by Mihail Dragomirescu.

In the 1930s, cultural groups such as Forum, Poesis, and Criterion organized conferences and symposia here, attracting the era’s intellectual elite. The library became more than a space for books: it was an agora of the Romanian spirit.

The People of the Library

The prestige of the institution was also strengthened by the personalities who worked as librarians. Among them were writer Șt. O. Iosif, art historian Al. Tzigara-Samurcaș (director of the library for nearly half a century, between 1899 and 1946), philosopher Mircea Florian, sociologist C. Rădulescu-Motru, and journalist Ion Clopoțel. 

These individuals were not merely book custodians but also cultural animators, role models for generations of students.

Transformation into the Central University Library

After the establishment of the communist regime, through Decree no. 136 of July 1948, the University Foundation was transformed into the Central Library of the “C.I. Parhon” University of Bucharest. 

The institution was assigned the role of coordinating the network of faculty libraries in Bucharest. In the 1960s, it expanded its mission, becoming the national center for distributing Romanian publications to language and culture departments abroad.

Gradually, the Central University Library (BCU) became the most complex university library in the country, with an encyclopedic collection designed to support advanced studies and research.

The Tragedy of December 1989

The library’s history also includes a moment of tragedy. During the Revolution of December 1989, the building was engulfed by a devastating fire. 

The flames reduced to ashes over 500,000 volumes, including 12,000 rare editions, 52 volumes from Eminescu’s personal library, and nearly 3,700 unique manuscripts belonging to major cultural figures such as Maiorescu, Caragiale, Coșbuc, Blaga, and Mircea Eliade.

The loss was immense, comparable to the great cultural catastrophes of the world.

Reconstruction under UNESCO

In 1990, UNESCO’s Director-General, Federico Mayor, launched an international appeal for the reconstruction of the library. The response was impressive: more than 100,000 volumes were donated from within Romania and over 800,000 from abroad. 

Although the unique documents could not be recovered, the library’s collection was largely restored, and the spirit of cultural solidarity wrote a luminous page in the institution’s history.

Modernization and Digitization

Reconstruction did not mean merely rebuilding the walls but also modernizing the institution. The architectural complex was expanded by integrating the former Dacia-Romania Bank building and the new Boema wing. The idea of expansion had first been proposed by Nicolae Iorga in 1931, and it now came to fruition.

In the 1990s, the Central University Library became the first Romanian university library to implement a modern information system. In February 1994, the VUBIS system was inaugurated, and by June of that year, the library was permanently connected to the internet. The first digitized branches were those of Mathematics and Literature, followed by Geography, Physics, and Biology.

Between 1997 and 2000, with the opening of the Dacia and Boema buildings, the collections were transferred from the provisional location on Calea Plevnei and returned to public access.

A Center of European Culture

At the same time, the Central University Library became a partner in European projects such as the “InfoEuropa Partnership” within the PHARE program, through which the Europe Reading Room was created, offering access to documents on European topics, as well as the interinstitutional database EUREF.

Thus, the BCU became not only a guardian of the past but also a bridge to the future, connecting Romanian research to the international circulation of ideas.

Conclusion – The Temple of Absolute Knowledge

Today, the Central University Library “Carol I” is more than a reading space. It is an institution that embodies the memory of Romania’s cultural elite, a witness to the dramatic history of the 20th century, and a gateway to the future.

Founded through the vision of King Carol I and rebuilt after the tragedy of 1989 with the solidarity of the entire world, the library remains a temple of absolute knowledge. Within its walls, filled with memory and shelves heavy with ideas, generations of students, researchers, and book lovers find inspiration.

More than a building, the Central University Library is a symbol of the belief that the true power of a nation lies in knowledge and culture.

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