In Hungary during the turnof the 19th century, books were provided to the community through reading clubs and casino libraries. Enying was no exception. The following libraries were active until the World War II:Gentlemen Casino Library, Folk Club, Industrial Reading Club, and Citizen Reading Club. During the war the Gentleman Casino Library was destroyed. The remaining three libraries were open – with very limited collection -until 1949. Then, their book collections were united in the Folk Club’s library. The freshly formed library only did book lending and kept developing its collection through items received from the Peoples’ Book Center. The library worked till 1953, when the Township Library began to take shape. The new library, just like others in the country, started its operation at the Culture House. In January of 1954 the library moved to a new building and began to operate in virtually ideal circumstances. This is when it took the name of Vas Gereben Library. In 1961 Enying lost its township center status, which meant the library’s great growth came to a halt, and in some aspects it started to retrograde. The decline stopped in September 1963 when the local high school opened its gates. In 1964 the high school was further broadened with botanical and agricultural mechanic courses. The secondary school’s presence gave the library an important role again, as the students research needs required vast collection development. In the second half of the 1960s’ the stock steadily grew, therefore the library outgrew its original building. In 1974 the library was moved to a new place. The area grew, but since the library’s new building once was a dwelling, its small rooms were not suit to serve as a library.
In 1975 a sudden development ‘surprised’ the townsfolk and the library alike: the high school enrolled a beginner class for the last time. Therefore from 1979 there was no high school in Enying.
The 1980s’ brought huge changes in the library’s life. In 1980, it was moved to a new building once again. Although the conditions were not perfect for library purposes, its design served its purpose better than the previous building. After the building was renovated in 1983, the usable space grew to 270 m2. The Children’s Corner was moved to a newly created area. Despite of the problems with the building, the library improved slowly and steadily and operated smoothly until 1991. That year brought many changes:
Mátyásdomb, which was a part of Enying, became an autonomous administrative territory, therefore the sub-library became an independent one.
The high school renewed operating, but only with postal tuition
The Special Vocational School for Housewivesopened.
The library was once again moved to a brand new building, though still not a one designed for library use.
The new library building had bright and spacious rooms, efficient architectural solutions and elegant furniture, it was able to live up to a cultural center image.The library and the newly renovated community center were the most important and modern building of Enying when it was raised to city status in 1992. In 1993 the city representatives decided the library needs to move back to its former place, where it operates to this day.
In 1993 the library and the community center were united. The current name of the institution is Vas Gereben Community Center and Library.
