Library of the University of Łódź, Poland

The  Library of the University of Łódź is located in Central Poland. Łódź (pronounced “Woodge”) Łódź was once an industrial center and now attracts young artists and businesspeople. The University of Łódź is a public research institution founded in 1945, after the Second World War. Over 47,000 students attend the University of Łódź, which employs 2,600 ajarns. It has international cooperation agreements with more than 380 institutions. Many undergraduate and graduate courses are taught in English. The library is an important research center, with about three million books. It is mainly a closed stacks library, apart from reference sections in the the main reading room and study rooms. In addition to the Main University Library, 106 branch libraries serve different faculties. Among the university’s bilateral agreements on the faculty level are with the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, Srinakharinwirot University and in management with Rangsit University. As part of the university mission, an academic development plan has been announced that notes, according to the university website:

In recent years, there is a steady decrease in conditions for the functioning of Polish universities. An especially important aspect of this is the still-accelerating demographic decline, whose effect is a decrease in the number of candidates for higher studies, especially extramural. It can be also observed that the degree of financing from state budget is insufficient, while there is steadily growing competition on the market of educational and research services. Another factor is that both the value, and the way of distribution of budget funds, are subject to change. By 2020, the funds will to a lesser degree be distributed through subsidies, while to a higher degree through competitive calls for proposals. The guidelines of the calls for proposals will take account of financing of the undertakings compliant with the priorities of the Europa 2020 strategy, as well as of the country-wide and regional strategies, as well as they will take account of particular financing rules for innovation projects.

Although by all indications, quality of education at the University of  Łódź remains high, there is an issue of decreasing enrollment due to demographic reasons. Among the university’s approaches to resolving this situation:

• Leading objective 3 A high level of internationalization of research and teaching
• Operational objective 1 Double the number of overseas students
• Operational objective 2 Increase the number of English-taught study fields
• Operational objective 3 Increase the number of international employees
• Operational objective 4 Increase the number of staff employed at overseas institutions
• Operational objective 5 Double the number of international projects
• Operational objective 6 Create overseas academic units

The strategic directions of the university’s international cooperation for 2017 includes many countries, including:

East Asia – especially China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand

Among notable graduates of the University of Łódź is the novelist Jerzy Kosiński, who wrote the international bestselling novels The Painted Bird and Being There. The Thammasat University Library owns copies of two of Jerzy Kosiński’s novels. Another graduate of the University of Łódź who is represented in the TU Library collection is the author of memoirs Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm.

Thailand and Poland

Last December, the Nation reported that Łódź was interested in attracting more investment from Thai corporations:

 Łódź, Poland creates an open opportunity for foreign investors to expand their holdings in hospitality, green industry, science, technology, and education by holding 100 per cent of the business in the city, said Mayor Hanna Zdanowska, at a group interview with Thai reporters at Vienna House Andel’s  Łódź hotel recently. “We welcome Thai investors to expand their investment in the hotel business in our city and also suggest they expand their investment more with the strong growth of the hotel industry in the city. Most foreign investors expand their investments in our city, especially green industries,” she said.

In terms of investments in the other direction, in 2015 the Polish-based Jatomi Fitness announced it would invest Bt900 million to open ten fitness clubs in Bangkok and its surrounding areas, starting with locations in Big C and Tesco Lotus retail centers. Currently Jatomi Fitness Bangkok has two clubs, Rajdamri Big C and Tesco Rama 4.

Cultural exchanges

In 2015, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) hosted its first-ever exhibition of Polish contemporary visual art. During the same year, an international folklore workshop was held at Manufaktura, an arts center, shopping mall, and leisure complex in Łódź. The presentations included folk artists from Thailand, among other countries. Manufaktura hosts over 300 stores, malls, restaurants, pastry shops, cafes, pubs and other services. It was renovated from a former textile factory building. The Polish word manufaktura means manufacture.

Diplomatic representation.

His Excellency Zenon Kuchciak is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Kingdom of Thailand. Poland’s former ambassador, H.E. Dr. Jerzy Bayer gave an interview in 2012 where he stated:

I can still recollect that my first impression of Thailand was the aroma of excellent and very delicious food – everywhere, day and night, around the clock. I told myself: ‘This is one of the places to be. If they have good food and smiles, it means they are good people.’ This first impression has proved to be true.

The former ambassador noted that while few Polish people live full-time in Bangkok, even fewer  Thais choose to live permanently in Poland, apart from restaurant employees. By 2012, in terms of economic exchange, the former ambassador observed:

As for bilateral trade, the total amount is about one billion US dollars, with the balance favoring Thailand by seven or eight to one. Poland imports automotive and chemical products as well as machinery, electronics and clothing. There are some small Polish investments in Thailand. The biggest is a manufacturer of medical equipment in Songkhla province. The factory supplies Thai hospitals and clinics and also exports its products to many countries all over the world. The same company plans to invest around Chiang Mai. They are very satisfied with the conditions here. Not many Polish tourists come here – only about 25,000 in 2011, but the figure is increasing. We issue about four to five thousand visas to Thais per year, which is not very many. In the way of cultural exchange, we had a group of folk singers from Poland last year and some soloists, a violinist and a pianist, on separate occasions. We had a concert on the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries in May, so there is some movement in this sphere.                       

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)