Miro Pušnik, Director of the Central Technical Library of the University of Ljubljana (CTK), said goodbye to us on 9 January 2026. He was immensely appreciated by his colleagues for his humanity, kind-heartedness, openness, networking, wit and an exceptional breadth of expertise that few people possess. With his death, CTK has suffered an irreparable loss - his greatness extended to both his professional abilities and his personal characteristics, which made him extremely popular with all his employees, who mourn him deeply. He also managed to do something extraordinary: although he seemed to live for CTK, he was also a loving, devoted, caring husband and father who put his family first.
Miro Pušnik was a librarian and IT specialist, born in 1963 in Črna na Koroškem. He completed his studies at the Faculty of Biotechnology in Ljubljana, where he became a university engineer in zootechnics and a master's degree in natural science and engineering informatics. He first joined CTK as a student courier, but his path, which took him through various positions up to the post of director, enabled him to get to know every pore of the library, with which he breathed with full lungs and ensured that its mission was carried out consistently. He became Director of the CTK in 2009, a post he held until his death, as well as that of President of the National Council for Library Activity of the Republic of Slovenia. During his nearly 20 years as Director, he leaves behind a legacy that goes beyond the walls of the library - both the field of librarianship and the field of science in Slovenia have been enriched by his work.
As Director of CTK, he put the library's users first. He was the first to listen to students» efforts to improve the condition of reading places in Ljubljana and extended the opening hours during the exam period, which later led to other libraries and faculties extending their opening hours. He listened to students« ideas and suggestions, encouraged them to get involved and accommodated them as much as possible. It offered them meeting and event space and opened a new reading room in autumn 2025 to give them more space for quiet study. Under his leadership, CTK created an open-door policy for all who needed a reading place, a place to research and meet, and also for those who just needed a warm space during the winter months. "Mirot's efforts have made the CTK the most student-friendly library, and for this we remain immensely grateful," the Iskra Students' Association wrote of Mirot.
It was important to him that the dialogue with students was continuously strengthened and nurtured, and he therefore also advocated community management of the library, which means inviting users to co-create the library's programme. He took some visionary steps in the operation of the library: he expanded the boundaries of traditionally defined library materials with the creation of the Library of Things, a collection of items for lending, and he offered users a space for education, independent work and knowledge sharing with the Creation Room, a CTK learning workshop. His vision for 2026 included the inclusion of marginalised groups such as migrants, the homeless and people with intellectual disabilities, believing that the library was a community space open to everyone.
He was a fierce advocate of open science and science communication, championing responsible metrics for evaluating scientific research and engaging the wider community in scientific research, and believing in the collaborative nature of open science. He was one of the first in Slovenia to engage in journalism on the World Wide Web; he was involved in the governance of the S Coalition; he was active in the working groups of the European Open Science Cloud; and he was not absent from the activities of the Slovenian Open Science Community. Under his leadership, CTK coordinated the Spoznaj project, which aims to introduce the principles of open science into scientific research, and he took over the coordination of the Citizen Science Network and the Open Library: a Centre for Quality Assurance in Science Communication.
Miro Pušnik will be remembered and his enormous legacy will be shared by generations to come, because his contribution to science and librarianship was outstanding, progressive and sustainable.
Staff of the Central Technical Library of the University of Ljubljana
