In the K21 Quality Management Coordination Committee’s second-quarter report for 2026, the working group leaders provided an overview of the results from the past quarter, as well as ongoing work and changes.

The K21 Quality Management Coordination Committee will organise a quality awareness-raising training session this summer. The Accessible Library Working Group also announced an awareness-raising workshop for the second quarter, led by the Office for Special Student Affairs, which was successfully held on 29 June 2026 amid great interest. The results of the Green Library survey are currently being evaluated.

The Communications Working Group provided information about the tasks carried out and results achieved by the working groups via the website, the ELTE University Library Service’s newsletter, and the short film entitled “3 Months – 3 Minutes” on the Kolibri mailing list, and contributed to the successful preparation and administration of the K21 reporting days meetings. They contributed to the publication of additional news on the ELTE Libraries website, which also appeared in the newsletter.  

The process of requesting the data tables for the ELTE staff service survey and the student needs and satisfaction survey is currently underway. The organisational culture survey was conducted between 17 and 30 June 2026; the Primer Research working group is compiling the results. Descriptions of key processes have been completed, and some are nearing finalisation. No requests were received for process modifications, expansions, changes or deletions. The preparation of the process map for the process management working group will become relevant in the future.

Members of the Library Directors’ Working Group reviewed and updated the table on shared services, revised the University Library Service’s task inventory, and provided feedback on the organisational culture survey questionnaire compiled by the Primer Working Group. During the second quarter, they held four meetings to discuss the process and service for transferring theses from Neptun to the Thesis Repository, as well as preparations for the organisational self-assessment.

An update on the achievements of the K21 Quality Coordination Committee and our new developments will be posted on our website soon.

This year’s first Coordinators’ Day in Göd took place in a wonderful atmosphere with a rich program of events, once again providing an excellent opportunity for members of the ELTE Heritage Coordination Working Group to learn more about each other’s collections and engage in professional discussions. Fifteen coordinators participated in the program, including several new members who recently joined the Heritage Coordination working group.

The day began with a brief but highly productive coordination meeting, during which we reviewed current tasks, challenges, and plans for the near future; the new coordinators also introduced themselves.

After the professional portion of the program, a truly special experience began: led by László Papp, we toured the Huzella Garden in Göd. During this extremely enjoyable and informative guided tour, we learned many fascinating historical facts. Among other things, we learned that Ödön Széchenyi, an outstanding rower and member of the famous Széchenyi family, purchased a portion of the estate in Alsógöd in April 1865. From the balcony of the Huzella villa, he organized rowing competitions, which were major social events of the time. Later, after he moved to Turkey, László Arany purchased the estate, which eventually came into the possession of the Huzella family. During the walk, we visited Tivadar Huzella’s grave in the garden, which serves as a fitting memorial to this prominent figure in the family’s history. After lunch together, the educational program continued at the Huzella Memorial House, where we gained an even deeper insight into the history of the site and the family’s legacy.

The day was a tremendous success not only professionally but also in terms of community building; it was marked by inspiring conversations, new connections, and the formation of a truly cohesive, motivated team. This day reaffirmed once again just how important face-to-face meetings and professional exchanges are.

The Reading Hall will be closed on Thursday, 25 June 2026, between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. due to technical reasons.

The library’s other reading areas will be open to readers with the usual opening hours and services.

Thank you in advance for your understanding!

According to our tradition, this year we joined the Night of Museums series of events, which featured the exhibition MTA 200 – Academicians at the university along with craft workshops, concerts, guided tours of the building, exhibitions, animated film screenings, calligraphy workshop, recipe collection, adventure game and restoration workshop presentations. 

The bookbinding and calligraphy workshop, as well as the guided tours of the commemorative exhibition marking the 200th anniversary of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences – enriched with quizzes, puzzles, a culinary adventure game and bookmark coloring – welcomed visitors of all ages starting at 3:00 p.m. To kick off the evening program, a string quartet composed of members of ELTE’s “Eötvös” Arts Ensemble performed a concert in the Reading Hall, featuring Edit Kollár and Bernadett Pödör-Nagy on violin, Mónika Mezei on viola and Zsuzsanna Kéri on cello.

Through our building tours, visitors could gain insight into the library’s history and the rooms of the historic building, learn about the  restoration process and our museum collection’s treasures, and explore the lives of Ferenc Toldy, Sándor Szilágyi and Loránd Eötvös. Our animated film screenings, accompanied by discussions and guided by Ferenc Rofusz, showcased the life’s work of the Kossuth and Oscar-winning Hungarian animation director. During the event, our guests were able to enjoy a guitar concert by Béla Rák and participate in our culinary adventure tours. For news about our upcoming events, please visit our website!

The 2026 edition of the Journal Citation Reports™ (JCR) provides the global research community with trusted, transparent metrics to assess journal performance and scholarly influence.

Title: 2026 Journal Citation Reports™ edition (MEA)

Date & Time: 30 June 2026, (Tuesday), 11 AM – 12 PM CEST

In this webinar, they will present the key highlights of the 2026 release, including

• key metric updates,
• journal coverage,
• and insights into evolving publication and citation patterns.

Participants will gain a clear understanding of how the JCR supports informed decision-making for authors, editors, librarians, research managers, as well as best practices for responsibly using journal-level metrics, including the Journal Impact Factor (JIF), available in JCR profiles along with descriptive open access and contributor information.

The session will conclude with practical examples and a live Q&A.

Participation is subject to registration:

Registration

The OpenAIRE Train-the-Trainer Bootcamp aims to prepare professionals working in the field of research support for delivering training on current issues in Open Science, Open Access publishing, and research data management. Staff members from the ELTE University Library and Archives also participated in the program, held 25–29 May, 2026, further expanding and deepening their professional knowledge.

The five-day program, featuring lectures as well as individual and interactive group assignments, provided an opportunity for international exchange of experiences.

The training covered the latest trends in Open Access (e.g., Rights Retention Strategy, Diamond Open Access, preprints), the full lifecycle of research data management (FAIR principles, trusted repositories, data management plans), as well as current challenges such as the impact of Artificial Intelligence on scientific communication, Open Peer Review, and Citizen Science.

Participants deepened their knowledge through practical exercises, such as analyzing case studies and developing training plans. They also gained hands-on experience with modern pedagogical approaches, such as the “flipped classroom” method, which relies on prior preparation and active participation, as well as gamification.

During the intensive training week, the participating research support librarians, Liza Németh and Eszter Pálvölgyi-Polyák (Department of Education and Research Support), received up-to-date professional reinforcement and new knowledge based on international examples, earning their Open Science Trainer certification.

Led by Associate Dean Agnes Pearcy, students from the School of Library and Information Sciences at North Carolina Central University visited the University Library on 10 June 2026 as part of a benchlearning initiative.

The delegation gained insight into the University Library’s representative reading rooms, its history and architectural features, as well as its state-of-the-art library services. During the presentation of the community space—which was created as a result of the Book of Your Life cultural inclusion project and regularly hosts workshops, film clubs and exhibitions for international students—our guests also encountered several practical examples of environmentally friendly solutions in the spirit of sustainability.

In line with the University’s internationalisation strategy, the ELTE University Library and Archives places a strong emphasis on fostering institutional and international relations, the integration of international students, meeting their community needs,  and the continuous development of services that facilitate their connection to our culture and support their mental well-being. One such best practice—the first of its kind among Hungarian higher education libraries—is the use of therapy dogs during exam periods to help manage stress and enrich the learning experience.

The institutional partners are open to further cooperation and the exchange of experiences in the future.

Due to the Night of Museums, the library services of the ELTE University Library and Archives will be inaccessible on Saturday, on the 20th of June 2026. Everyone is welcome to join our programmes starting at 15.00.

For more information, please visit our website or the Night of Museums’ homepage. All visitors are welcome!

If you are curious about the secrets hidden in the history of the ELTE University Library and the treasures kept within its walls, explore the library palace with the help of an audio guide. The doors of the country's first state-owned public library will open up to you as you have never seen them before.

Our audio guide tour is now available in Spanish in addition to Hungarian, English and Chinese. Further information regarding the service is provided on our website.

All visitors are welcome!

Artwork of the Month – Zeus, by Imre Varga

The Sándor Kőrösi Csoma Dormitory at ELTE is home to one of Imre Varga’s most outstanding works of art. The statue of Zeus was erected in the college courtyard in 1972 and has remained there ever since. Interestingly, the statue does not face the college itself, but rather Budaörsi Road.

The work currently stands next to Building B of the college; however, this building was constructed after the statue was erected. In 1972, the college had only Building A, and the soil conditions in its immediate vicinity were not suitable for placing the statue there. For years, the sculpture was hidden by the surrounding vegetation, but it is now accessible to everyone. To make it easier for residents to approach the work, a path leading to it was also constructed. Parts of this path have survived to this day, so anyone who wishes to walk around the sculpture can still do so using it.

According to the original plans, the dormitory grounds were not intended to feature a work of this scale; instead, a design for a relief sculpture made of slab stone had been proposed to adorn the retaining wall of the front garden. The idea for the seven-meter-tall portrait of Zeus originated from Imre Varga’s vision, as the artist believed it better represented the spirit of the dormitory. The university originally approached the Cultural Investment Company in 1967 to commission a work for the dormitory grounds; by the time the project was assigned to Imre Varga, the artist had already begun designing a larger sculpture. As a result, the work was completed: a seven-meter-tall portrait of Zeus carved from limestone, which can also be interpreted as a “head standing on legs.” Its unique technique and use of materials make it one-of-a-kind; Imre Varga did not carve the limestone block from the outside, but instead collected stones found in nature, which he used to assemble the portrait with the help of concrete.

Sculptor Imre Varga (1923–2019) was one of Hungary’s most significant artists; his prominent role is well illustrated by the fact that his works have been exhibited in numerous countries, and his life’s work has received significant national and international recognition. His work was honored with the Kossuth and Herder Prizes, among others, and he was awarded the

Commander’s Cross of the Order of Arts and Letters in France and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in Italy.

Photo and written by Szemenyei Dalma, student of ELTE