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UCL SSEES Library
@uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
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UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. The UK's largest university library collection on Russia and Central, Eastern & South-Eastern Europe.
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Here's a selection of #NewBooks added to the Library's collection recently. As always, check out our display on the Ground Floor of the Library. 📚📚📚
Display of new books at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Eleven volumes arranged on a stand. Featured titles are: The Dark Side of the Earth: How the Soviet Union Collapsed but Remained, by Mikhail Zygar, Architecture of Memory: Exploring (Post-) Jewish Spaces in Eastern Europe, by Natalia Romik, The Anatomy of Right-Wing Populism: Dealing with transformational fatigue in Central and Eastern Europe, by Jan Kubik and Richard Mole, Stalin’s Liquidation Game: The Unlikely Case of Oleksandr Shumskyi, His Survival in Soviet Jail, and Subsequent Arcane Assassination, by Filip Slaveski and Yuri Shapoval, Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia, by Maria Alyokhina, The Good Russian: In Search of a Nation's Soul, by Jana Bakunina, Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan, by Joanna Lillis, The Babushka Phenomenon: Older women and the political sociology of ageing in Russia, by Anna Shadrina, Madam War Criminal: Biljana Plavšić, Serbia's Iron Lady, by Olivera Simić, The Minotaur’s Daughter: Selected Poems, by Eva Luka, Media, History, and Education: Three Ways to Ukrainian Independence, by Serhiy Kvit
December 2, 2025 at 11:26 AM
uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
Here's a selection of the #NewBooks we have added to our collections recently. 📚📚📚🙂
Display of new books at UCL's School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) Library. Twelve volumes arranged on a stand. The following books are included: Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, From Revolution to Autocracy, by Julia Ioffe Odyssey Moscow: One American's Journey from Russia Optimist to Prisoner of the State, by Michael Calvey The Light of Days: Women Fighters of the Jewish Resistance - Their Untold Story, by Judy Batalion War, Memorialisation, and Digitality: Mnemonic Practices of Ukrainian Virtual Museums in the Russian War against Ukraine, by Sebastian Graf Ukrainian Vignettes: Essays on a Culture at War, by Mitja Velikonja Assistance to Ukrainian War Refugees in Central Europe (2022-2024), by Małgorzata Dziekońska Helsinki: The History of a Nordic City, by Henrik Meinander Rebooting a Nation: The Incredible Rise of Estonia, E-Government and the Startup Revolution, by Joel Burke Decolonizing Central Asian International Relations: Beyond Empires, by Timur Dadabaev My Ukraine – Rethinking the Past, Building the Present, by Leonid Finberg Swap: A Secret History of the New Cold War, by Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson The Faraway Sky of Kyiv: Ukrainians in the War, by Olga Khomenko
November 20, 2025 at 5:03 PM
uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
We were delighted to welcome new undergraduate students at the UCL SSEES social event, where we talked about the library collections 📚and skills training. 1st-year students, join us for the next social on 26 Nov, 3pm in the Masaryk Common Room to explore databases 🔍 for journals, newspapers & more!
A member of library staff show students items from the collections of SSEES Library. A selection of old books is displayed on a table, with further artefacts from the Library's archives arranged in a small glass display cabinet. Collection of Primers from the Habsburg Lands. Printed between 1850 and 1918, these slim ABC books taught the first letters in Czech, Slovene, Polish, Ruthenian, Croatian and other vernacular languages of the monarchy. The picture features a display of three open books. One is a primer on arithmetic, published in Vienna in 1860. Another is a primer on arithmetic in the Hungarian language, and the third is a primer on the alphabet. A close-up image of a glass display cabinet featuring artefacts from SSEES Library's archive collections - a doll and a horse-head ornament collected by archaeologist Arthur Evans during his travels in the Balkans.
October 30, 2025 at 1:58 PM
uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
We are marking #GreenLibrariesWeek with a small display of books on the nature and environment of Eastern Europe. Do check it out if you are in the Library this week! 🪴🌿♻️📚😊
Display of books at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library, to mark Green Libraries Week 2025. A selection of books arranged on shelves. Some books are displayed open, showing colour photographs of landscapes, birds and flora and fauna. All of the books have a connection to environmental issues in Central and Eastern Europe. Display of books at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library, to mark Green Libraries Week 2025. A close-up shot of two shelves of books. Some of the books are displayed open, showing colour photographs of landscapes, birds and flora and fauna. All of the books have a connection to environmental issues in Central and Eastern Europe. Display of books at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library, to mark Green Libraries Week 2025. A close-up shot of two shelves of books. Some of the books are displayed open, showing colour photographs of landscapes, birds and flora and fauna. All of the books have a connection to environmental issues in Central and Eastern Europe. Poster advertising Green Libraries Week at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. The text reads: "Seeds of Change" - make a difference with your library. Get involved at www.cilip.org.uk/GreenLibrariesWeek Green Libraries Week is the national, annual celebration of libraries, across all sectors – from public libraries on the high street to national, health and academic libraries. This year Green Libraries Week will run from Monday 27 October to Sunday 2 November 2025. In SSEES Library we mark #Green Libraries Week with a book display, featuring some of our books focusing on the nature and environment of Eastern Europe. Feel free to borrow any of these items or browse the section “III” of our classification scheme for similar material.
October 30, 2025 at 10:43 AM
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It's #GreenLibrariesWeek this week - a time to celebrate libraries and all they do to promote sustainability. At UCL SSEES Library we participate in the Green Impact programme, which challenges us to put sustainability at the heart of everything we do. 🌱🪴🌿📗♻️
A poster advertising Green Libraries Week 2025. The text reads: "Seeds of change" - make a difference with your library. UCL SSEES Library is pleased to support Green Libraries Week.
October 29, 2025 at 4:35 PM
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From Slavic Myths to Post-Soviet Graffiti... There's lots to explore in our latest #NewBooks display! 📚📚📚🙂
A display of new books at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. Twelve volumes arranged on a stand. The featured books are: The Mad and the Brave - The Untold Story of Ukraine's Foreign Legion, by Colin Freeman The Slavic Myths, by Noah Charney and Svetlana Slapsak Post-Soviet Graffiti - Free Speech in Authoritarian States, by Alexis Lerner The Traitor's Circle, by Jonathan Freedland Phantom Border - A Personal Reconnaissance of Contemporary Germany, by Kerstin Lange The Last Thing, by Leopold Lahola The Hours and the Minutes, by Alfonz Bednar Leagues of Laughter - War, Comedy and the Soviet Legacy in Russia and Ukraine, by A. Austin Garey Strong Roots - A Ukrainian Family Story of War, Exile and Hope, by Olia Hercules Yiddish Culture in Greater Romania, 1918-1940, by Camelia Craciun Sounds of Survival - Polish Music and the Holocaust, by J. Mackenzie Pierce Czechoslovak Cinema, Czech cinema: 1933-20110, by Ricardo Luiz de Souza
October 24, 2025 at 11:04 AM
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We've updated our #NewBooks display in time for the weekend. 📚📚📚Check it out on the Ground Floor of the Library, next to the self-service machine. All books are available for loan. 🙂
A selection of new books, on display at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Ten volumes arranged on a stand. Titles featured include: The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories, edited by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, The Rise and Fall of Erich Honecker: The Man Who Built the Berlin Wall, by Nathan Morley, Home and the World in Slovak Writing: A Small Nation's Literature in Context Good Change: The Rise and Fall of Poland's Illiberal Revolution, by Stanley Bill and Ben Stanley Short Stories from Montenegro - Sea, Sun, Salt Russia After Putin & Trump, by Sergey Shelin The Laissez-Faire Peasant: Post-Socialist Rural Development in Serbia, by Jovana Dikovic Things That Fall from the Sky, by Selta Ahava Sketches of Sofia, and Austria: Politics of a Nation since 1945, by Paul Lendvai
October 3, 2025 at 10:48 AM
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Happy #EuropeanDayofLanguages from all of us at UCL SSEES Library!
To mark the occasion, we have curated a selection of books to support and inspire your language learning journey.
tinyurl.com/ycxdwna3
#EDL2025 #LanguagesOpenHeartsAndMinds #UCLSSEES #LanguageLearning
Display of books on the Ground Floor of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Three bays of bookshelves, featuring a selection of titles on East European languages and language learning. A selection of language learning packs featuring books and CDs. The languages covered are Hungarian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Slovak, Czech and Polish. A printed poster advertising the European Day of Languages, 26 September 2025. The text reads: Languages: your bridge to the future, and the design features a person, depicted in white, walking across a colouful bridge, with the tagline "Languages: your bridge to the future" translated into a large range of different European languages. Display of books on the Ground Floor of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. A bay of bookshelves featuring a selection of titles on East European languages and language learning.
September 26, 2025 at 11:04 AM
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#NewBooks for a new term! Check out our display on the Ground Floor of the Library. 📚📚📚
Display of new books at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Nine books with colourful covers arranged on a stand. Titles include: Silverwhite - The Journey to the Fallen Sun, by Lennart Meri Central Europe, by Luka Ivan Jukic Rebel Russia - Dissent and Protest from the Tsars to Navalny, by Anna Arutunyan Lithuania - A History, by Richard Butterwick War in Ukraine - Making Sense of a Senseless Contest, by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas J.S. Davies Estonia - a Modern History, by Neil Taylor Blitzkrieg and the Russian Art of War by Andrew Monaghan
September 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
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Now, we like a challenge in the Library, but this donation had us "puzzled". A 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, with 175 pieces missing - including ALL of the edge pieces!!
Still, we got there in the end! 🧩🧩🧩🤔
A partially-completed 500-piece jigsaw puzzle is laid out on a black desk. The scene on the puzzle depicts a garden and garden shed, with a wheel barrow and watering can in the foreground. There are random pieces missing from the jigsaw, including ALL of the edge pieces. In the background the lid of the puzzle box is propped up with an image of the completed scene.
September 2, 2025 at 9:50 AM
uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
Today is a special day for SSEES Library. Exactly 20 years ago today (15th August 2005) we opened at our current location in Taviton Street. The new @uclssees.bsky.social building was not quite finished, but that didn't stop us! 📚🥳🍾🎉🎈
A library counter with a cash till and a computer terminal. There are building works and temporary hoardings in the background. A library reading room with a stack of new chairs in plastic wrapping. In the background there is a stack of blue and yellow book crates. Looking into a library reading room, through a door frame that has no glass or door yet fitted. There are bookshelves full of books in the background, and on the left there is a desk with a printer on it. A library staff office with temporary scaffolding in the background, in front of a window. There are two desks in the foreground and a stack of book crates on the right.
August 15, 2025 at 10:46 AM
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Work on our new entrance gates is progressing well. However, the Library will need to remain closed for a few more days, for essential testing and commissioning to be completed. We look forward to welcoming users back on site from Monday 11th August.
Photograph of the entrance to UCL SSEES Library. New entrance gates are in place but the area is roped off with hazard tape and yellow warning signs. The glass doors are closed and the space is deserted.
August 6, 2025 at 10:20 AM
uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
Skills they don't teach you at Library School, No. 3 - Bookshelf construction 🧰🛠️📚😄
An empty unit of white library shelving with space for seven shelves. Three or four shelves have already been installed. One shelf is lying against the others in a vertical position. There are some metal fittings lying on one of the horizontal shelves. In the distance there are further units of library shelving full of books.
June 20, 2025 at 12:14 PM
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A SSEES Library membership card from the 'good old days', when each ticket was countersigned personally by the Librarian, and the Library closed for two hours for lunch. 🍽️🥪
Just don't ask to borrow a book! 📚😆
An old membership card for the School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library, London WC1. There is space for the reader's name and the dates of validity, and also a space for the card to be signed by the Librarian. The text at the bottom of the card reads "This ticket must be shown on request; and the reader must on each visit enter his name in the book provided in the Library." Library regulations listed on the reverse of a library card. The text reads 1. The Library is open daily from 10 to 1 and from 3 to 7, except on Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays. 2. Readers have access to the open book-shelves , but are requested to observe most carefully the order of the books. After use books must be left on the table. 3. The Library is in principle not a lending library. 4. For the purposes of scientific research work and in cases where it is impossible for a given book to be obtained in other London libraries, books may be borrowed for a limited period, but only by permission of the Librarian. Under no other condition may books be taken from the Library. * For complete Regulations, see the Calendar of the School.
June 13, 2025 at 9:11 AM
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Here are some of the latest additions to our collections. #NewBooks 📚😊
Display of new books at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Eleven volumes arranged on a stand.
June 5, 2025 at 9:43 AM
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Today's random find in the Russian history section of the Library - 6 packs of Soviet era postcards, c. 1985-1991. 🤔
Six packs of Soviet era postcards, featuring landmarks of Tallin, Moscow and Leningrad, as well as paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery.
May 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM
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We have a colourful selection of #NewBooks for you this week. 📚📚📚
Display of new books at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Twelve volumes with colourful covers arranged on a stand.
May 8, 2025 at 12:40 PM
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Our latest Book Display marks the 500th anniversary of the German Peasants' Revolt - a series of uprisings that spread across German-speaking parts of Central Europe in 1525, due to economic, social and religious discontent.
All of the material has been sourced from SSEES Library collections. 📚📚📚
Book display on the Ground Floor of UCL SSEES Library. Books on the topic of the German Peasants' Revolt of 1525 are arranged over three bays, with a number of captions and illustrations. Book display on the Ground Floor of UCL SSEES Library. Books on the topic of the German Peasants' Revolt of 1525 are arranged on shelves, with a number of captions and illustrations. Book display on the Ground Floor of UCL SSEES Library. Books on the topic of the German Peasants' Revolt of 1525 are arranged on shelves, with a number of captions and illustrations. Book display on the Ground Floor of UCL SSEES Library. Books on the topic of the German Peasants' Revolt of 1525 are arranged on shelves, with a number of captions and illustrations.
May 7, 2025 at 9:46 AM
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Here's a book someone returned in 2019...
An open book, with a library date label on the left-hand side. The due date is 4 October 1989. A note is enclosed - "30 years overdue! Sorry!".
May 6, 2025 at 9:31 AM
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As the weather warms up, choose the sustainable way to stay hydrated. You can find our water fountain on the Lower Ground Floor of the Library. ⛲💧♻️ #Sustainability #GreenImpact #SustainableUCL
Photograph of the water fountain in the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library.
April 30, 2025 at 9:40 AM
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From Czech and Hungarian Folktales, to a Croatian Cultural Renaissance - don't miss our #NewBooks display this week. New books for a new term! 📚😊
Display of new books at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Twelve volumes arranged on a stand.
April 30, 2025 at 9:29 AM
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Hope everyone had a good break over Easter. We're back to our regular opening hours from today: Monday-Friday 09:00-21:00, Saturday 10:00-17:00. Don't forget to check out our #NewBooks display if you are in the Library! 📚📚😊
Selection of new books on display in the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Eleven volumes arranged on a stand. Featured titles include: Looking at Women Looking at War - Victoria Amelina, The Last Days of Budapest - Adam LeBor, The Last Peasant War - Jakub Benes, Contemporary Russia - Edwin Bacon, Narratives of the Russo-Ukrainian War - Oleksandr Pankieiev, Putin's Digital Front and the Truth Behind - Steven Broschart, Mixed Signals: Alien Communication across the Iron Curtain - Rebecca Charbonneau, Reading Russian Literature, 1980-2024, Literary Consumption, Memory and Identity, Their Faraway Home: The Story of Croats in New Zealand through publications, Kino Polonia, A Voice from the Lost Town of Trochenbrod.
April 23, 2025 at 12:38 PM
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Looking for something to read over the Easter break? Check out our #NewBook display for inspiration! 📚😊
A display of new books at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Library. Eleven volumes arranged on a stand.
April 2, 2025 at 8:20 AM
uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
Skills they don't teach you at Library School, No. 2 - Leak detection 💧🪣🪜🙄
An aisle of a library reading room with shelves of books on either side. On the floor is a cream-coloured plastic crate to catch drips of water falling through a central light fitting. A water stain is visible on the white ceiling. A cream-coloured plastic crate standing on a beige-coloured carpet. There is a small amount of water in the crate.
April 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
uclsseeslibrary.bsky.social
Spring-cleaning SSEES-style today 🪟🧽🧼🫧😊 @uclssees.bsky.social
A window cleaner abseiling down the lightwell at UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies. A man wearing a blue helmet and carrying a bucket. He is suspended from the roof of the building on a rope and is cleaning the windows. The First Floor bookshelves of the UCL SSEES Library is visible in the background.
March 28, 2025 at 10:00 AM