Personal collections

Our library also keeps a number of personal collections left to us by several prominent locals. The largest personal collections are those of Ivan Potrč, dr. Štefka Cobelj and Ivo Arhar.

 

Ivan Potrč collection

Ivan Potrč’s collection holds a special place among these collections, as the library was named after this writer in 1993. Potrč’s spouse Branka Jurca donated part of his personal library and manuscripts to the library already in 1998, and in 2012 the collection was completed with the donation of the writer’s son Matjaž Potrč. The collection got its permanent space after the library moved to the Mali grad complex in 2000, and in 2007, it was processed and cataloged in COBISS, and exhibited as a special collection in Potrč’s memorial room. The library has 2,781 books and issues of periodical literature on display, while Potrč’s manuscripts and small printed materials are kept in boxes by the Local Studies Department. The collection is presented in the publications Zapuščina Ivana Potrča v ptujski knjižnici (Ivan Potrč’s Heritage in the Ptuj Library), Zapuščina Ivana Potrča v ptujski knjižnici 2 (Ivan Potrč’s Heritage in the Ptuj Library 2), Priznanja, plakete in odličja iz zapuščine pisatelja Ivana Potrča (Recognitions, Medals and Decorations from Writer Ivan Potrč’s Heritage), and digitally on the Kamra portal.

 

Dr. Štefka Cobelj’s collection

The Folk and Study Library received dr. Štefka Cobelj’s personal library based on her will in 1989. The collection is kept on the 3rd floor, alongside Ivo Arhar’s heritage. The library cataloged the collection, which comprises 3,016 items, in the COBISS system in 2011–2012, and small printed materials were stored in archive boxes. Štefka Cobelj and her heritage are presented in the publication Zapuščina Štefke Cobelj (Heritage of Štefka Cobelj), the documentary Zapuščina Štefke Cobelj (Heritage of Štefka Cobelj) and Štefka Cobelj’s digital collection (1923–1989) on Kamra.

 

Ivo Arhar’s collection

Ivo Arhar’s collection is the biggest personal book collection in our library, with 7,201 books and periodicals, and 31 boxes of small printed materials. The Municipality of Ptuj procured the collection from Arhar in 1993. It is kept on the 3rd floor, together with Štefka Cobelj’s collection. The collection was cataloged and organized between 2013 and 2015. Ivo Arhar and his collection are presented in the monograph Ivo Arhar in njegova zapuščina v ptujski knjižnici (Ivo Arhar and His Heritage in the Ptuj Library), and the digital story Ivo Arhar – profesor, bibliofil in planinec (Ivo Arhar – a Professor, Bibliophile and Mountaineer) on the Kamra portal.