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The opening of Pik Mirandola Reading Room was one of the accompanying events of the National Congress “Modern Humanities in State Colleges” (13-14 May 2015).

The reading room, equipped and made available for readers, being a cosy, specially designated, organised and fitted intimate space in the library rooms of Stanisław Pigoń State College of Krosno, is dedicated to humanists and enthusiasts of foreign languages of different professions and specialties. The shelves are full of belles-lettres and dictionaries from all over the world, and new books will be acquired in the future.

The patron of this place, Pik Mirandola [actually Franciszek Pik (1871-1922)], is one of the Krosno’s prominent humanists, slightly forgotten and maybe even underestimated in confrontation with the leading engineers of this place: Jan Szczepanik called ‘the Polish Edison’ or Ignacy Łukasiewicz, a brilliant, oil man and pharmacist. This special place in our college’s library is a form of honour to this important figure, a gifted and brilliant man of letters, translator, and humanist.

The initiators of this place were Prof. Grzegorz Przebinda, the Rector of the College, and Dr Władysław Chłopicki, Head of the Institute for Humanities. The opening ceremony of the reading room was honoured by the presence of the Congress guests, inter alia, Prof. Franciszek Ziejka and Prof. Kazimierz Korus. This is the way we want to perceive the humanist mission of our local college which is strongly associated with its surroundings, its heritage, and outstanding figures of different eras, who right here in Krosno left non-transferable signs of their talents, commitment, and patriotism.