The Francis Skaryna Library as Experienced by a Long-Time User

Abstract

Abstract This article presents a personal view of the Francis Skaryna Library and Museum in London from its early days to the present, reflecting its ups and downs, as well as some of its affiliations like the Anglo-Belarusian Society and the Association of Belarusians in Great Britain, and in later years fruitful connections with the British Library and the National Library of Belarus. It concentrates on a few of the many interesting and distinguished people who have been associated with the Francis Skaryna Library and Museum over the years, including clerics, prominent and younger writers from Britain and abroad, not least Belarus, numerous scholars and many other enthusiasts for a small country with its books (old and new), journals, manuscripts, music and many artefacts. By common consent, it is an unmatched source of primary and secondary materials for research, as well as a beacon of stability and culture in the West during the period since World War II that has been so turbulent in Belarus itself.