In Memory of Danuta Niedzielska-Starzyk

30 01 2024

With deep sadness, we received the news that on January 21, 2024, after a long and serious illness, Danuta Niedzielska-Starzyk passed away. She was the long-time head of the Library of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw.

Her entire professional life was connected to the Faculty of Biology—first as a staff member of the Department of Parasitology, later of the Library of the Institute of Zoology at the Main School, and from 1988, as its head.

She worked at the Department of Parasitology from 1971 to 1984. She took part in research on the parasitic fauna of the Zegrzyński Reservoir and Żarnowieckie Lake. She devoted much heart and time to this work. She prepared a collection of microscope slides, which to this day serves as educational material in parasitology and zoology classes.

In 2000, she organized the relocation of four institute library collections from Krakowskie Przedmieście to the new Faculty of Biology building on the Ochota Campus. She took on the task of organizing and managing the newly created Faculty of Biology Library.

These were not easy times for university librarians. The shared catalogue of Polish academic libraries and the integrated library system were just taking shape. Joining this march toward modernity required building a modern, computerized library. It was necessary to train staff in online cataloguing and system operation, switch to a computer-based circulation system, and serve users without relying on call slips and paper accounts.

For the following years—until her retirement in 2016—she tirelessly modernized the library, introducing further improvements for readers, whose needs, expectations, and comfort were always her top priority. At the same time, she was a dedicated advocate for us, the librarians—encouraging continuing education, organizing training and study opportunities, supporting our career development, and fostering a positive work atmosphere.

She was a kind, warm-hearted person—always smiling, always ready to talk, to listen, and to offer advice on any topic.

“Books are both good and bad, and one must know how to read them […].  Some books are monuments—they reflect a time, ideas—yet they may not be healthy to read […],

They must be preserved, but we must know who should be allowed to read them.” (J.I. Kraszewski)