The Scientific Library of the Institute of Polymer Mechanics of the University of Latvia was opened in 1963, the year of foundation of the Institute. In 2004, it was inscribed in the Latvian Library Register (No. BLB1503).
During the first several years, the library collection consisted of literature issues granted by the Fundamental Library and libraries of other scientific institutes of the Latvian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Construction and Architecture, etc.)
The first library manager was Yevgeniya Urzhumtseva, whose energy, business acumen, and enthusiasm were put to action in order to systematize and catalogue the issues available and to accession new ones, to buy bookstacks, shelves, and other necessary furniture and implements, and to provide public access to information.
At different times, the library was managed by Yelena Baumane, a highly skilled professional, the businesslike and responsible Nikolaii Yasyukevich, Astrida Gadiga, who contributed much to providing and upgrading the library collection, and other devoted persons.
Since 1986, the library has been under the management of Inna Perkone.

Yevgeniya Urzhumtseva,
the first Library Manager; the 1970s.

Yelena Baumane,
Librarian; the 1970s.

Inna Perkone,
Library Manager. 2008.

At present, the library, whose collection includes more than 15 thousand printed units, provides the research workers of our Institute with scientific literature in physics, mathematics, chemistry, the mechanics of solids, materials science, the mechanics of polymer and composite materials, etc., as well as with various manuals and handbooks, which favors a successful development of research activities and the performance of scientific experiments.

The library collection is constantly renewed through purchases in bookstores, subscriptions to periodicals, and international literature exchanges with other scientific institutions. Among our invariable partners are the Estonian Academy of Sciences, institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and scientific-research institutes of the National Academies of Sciences of Belarus and Ukraine.
In addition, some journals are granted to the library by researchers of our Institute: “Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials,” “Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics,” etc.
The library staff takes an active part in preparating and holding International Conferences on Mechanics of Composite Materials and in publishing current bibliographical issues on the scientific publications of our researchers.

Exhibition of monographs written by research workers of the Institute of Polymer Mechanics, the 1980s.

The library has storage premises and a reading hall for ten persons. The readers can make use of computers with Internet. Owing to cooperation with the “Kultūras informācijas sistēmas” agency, our visitors have access to scientific data bases, such as, for example, “ScienceDirect”. In the reading hall, new books are regularly presented, and thematic exhibitions of scientific literature are held, sometimes in close cooperation with the Latvian Academic Library. A project on creation of an electronic catalogue of the library is in progress.

The reading hall in the 1970s.

The reading hall, 2008.