”Octavian Goga” Cluj County Library is one of the biggest public libraries in Romania that has a new building perfectly adapted to the needs of its users. With the beginnings in 1921, the library plays a distinct role in the cultural life of Cluj city, due to its dynamic and proactive attitude and to its openness to new challenges. The library serves a population of approximately 691,106 people in Cluj county, covering an area of 6,674 square kilometers. Currently the library has a main building and four branches placed in all the large neighbourhoods of the town, offering modern services and facilities, updated to the present needs for information, reading and leisure activities: over 590,000 documents: books, periodicals, audio-visual documents, electronic and other types of documents; an electronic catalogue which reflects about 90% of the lending stock (through an integrated library software); free Internet access to public users; workstations and self-service stations for the users; reading rooms; free access to lending collections; five years validity for entrance cards; external library services for persons with disabilities, volunteering activities. The library uses an RFID based system for collection management. The library is visited yearly by 292,567 users, it has 31,898 registered users, representing 9.74% of the population living in Cluj-Napoca. They are served by 94 paid staff. Approximately 32,836 are active users of library services. Daily, the library is visited by approximately 1,358 users. The pupils and students represent 58%, the intellectuals – 18%, the technicians, public servants and workers – 3%, the housewives and the unemployed – 1.5%, the retired people – 5%, other categories – 14%. The children under 14 years represent 41%, the teenagers and young adults up to 25 years – 26%, young adults aged 26-40 years – 14%, the adults aged 41-60 years – 14%, and the adults over 61 years – 5% of the library users. The library benefits from the support and cooperation of other cultural public institutions, of the educational sector, non-profit and business environment.
Through all its departments, the library offers a variety of educational, cultural and spare time activities, dedicated to different age groups: children, teenagers, adults and directly dependent on the community’s needs. In 2024, the library organized 222 cultural programs and events, 67 reading promotion programs, 864 themed projects and programs, 1,742 creativity workshops, 149 exhibits and 225 group visits.
