Świerszczyk [Little Cricket]

The purpose of magazines for children was to bring joy but also to educate and explain the surrounding world. After the war, pre-war magazines resumed to be published alongside some new titles.

On 1 May 1945 the first issue of Świerszczyk was released. It is one of the oldest, continuously-printed children’s magazines in Europe. Since at the time it was difficult to get hold of paper or coloured ink, the magazine was only a couple-of-pages-thick and only the cover was coloured. Immediately after the war, the magazine often replaced unavailable textbooks.

Archival editions of „Świerszczyk” are available on the website of Biblioteka Cyfrowa CRISPA.

Grodzieńska, Wanda (ed.). 1945. Little Cricket: children’s weekly 1. Łódź: Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza Czytelnik.

Grodzieńska, Wanda (ed.). 1945. Little Cricket: children’s weekly 2. Łódź: Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza Czytelnik.

Library

During the war the seat of the Raczyński Library and 90 per cent of its collection got damaged. When the Battle of Poznań ended, the Library began to work on restoring its collection. It tried to find materials for a wide spectrum of readers, including textbooks, popular science literature and Polish classics. A magazine reading room was also created. At first, the Library was opened in a building at Święty Marcin Street and people could only use books and magazines inside the reading room.

„Głos Wielkopolski” 1945, number 143, from the collection of PAN Kórnicka Library