Association of Law Students’ Library of the Jagiellonian University (pol. Towarzystwo Biblioteki Słuchaczów Prawa Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego – TBSP UJ) is the oldest and one of the biggest student scientific associations in Poland.
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History
TBSP was established on 23 June 1851, the aim of the Association was to organize and equip an independent law library for Polish law students at Jagiellonian University, which was Germanised at that time as Galician autonomy has not been introduced yet.
Association’s activities could be performed thanks to multiple donations made by professors and students. The book collection was growing systematically as well as TBSP’s activities – as early as in 1890s scientific and oratorical competitions, congresses and lectures were orgranised. The Association was actively participating in patriotic initiatives in Galicia.
During the years 1914-1915, when Jagiellonian University was closed, TBSP moved to Vienna to continue its activities there and came back to Kraków after re-opening of the University. During the Second World War, the Association joined underground education and made its library (the part which has not been requisitioned yet) fully available to students. In 1950, when Poland found itself in the Soviet zone of influence, the Association was formally liquidated, its headquarters taken over by university and its book collection – by the Jagiellonian Library; scripts duplicating centre was suppressed. However TBSP’s traditions were continued by informal circles of penal law students and historians of law. In 1957 TBSP was officially reactivated, efforts have been made to recover the book collection. Since that time, the Association has not been an independent entity but a unit of Jagiellonian University.
Activities
At present, TBSP unites about 1500 students and runs various educational and cultural activities. In the framework of 23 sections, additional classes are organised for younger students to help them prepare for participation in faculty competitions and final examinations. More advanced students participate in discussions and specialist workshops organised in cooperation with partner institutions and law firms. The Association runs intensive publishing activities, just to mention regular Scientific Books of the TBSP UJ or repetitory courses for students. Traditionally, respective sections organise study trips to the Constitutional Tribunal, the Supreme Court etc., to help students to get to know most important Polish institutions. Each year various scientific congresses are organized, many of them of international dimension, while permanent evening meetings with the most prominent professors and law practitioners allow students to get some less formal contact with legal profession.