In Memoriam: Miro Pušnik (1963-2026)

In Memoriam for Miro Pušnik (1963-2026), Director of the Central Technical Library at the University of Ljubljana. 

With heavy hearts, we at LIBER share the news of the recent passing of Miro Pušnik on Friday, 9 January. As the Director of the Central Technical Library at the University of Ljubljana (CTK), Miro was an enthusiastic, dedicated, and active member of the LIBER Research Library community. Miro was a passionate advocate for open science, and his experience and expertise in this area were instrumental for developing open science and citizen science in research libraries in Slovenia and the wider region. 

Miro was an active contributor to many LIBER events, emphasising the importance of international collaborations. This came to full fruition when he initiated the LIBER Winter Event, which travelled to Slovenia in November 2024. In close collaboration with the colleagues from the Library at the University of Maribor, he and his team delivered a dynamic and energising programme that brought together more than 100 librarians from across Europe. The well-attended National Event, organised in collaboration with the Slovenian Library Association the day prior to the Winter Event, successfully connected the national library network with the international LIBER community. 

 

Miro was continuously looking for opportunities to support the further development of research libraries and strengthen their strategic role in open science, serving their research communities. He will be remembered for building bridges between libraries in Eastern Europe and the wider European library landscape. 

 Dunja Legat, Director of the Maribor University Library, remembers Miro fondly: 

We have lost a remarkable man and an exceptional professional far too early. With great enthusiasm, he helped shape academic librarianship and set important milestones in the development of the field. He was a dedicated leader and a forward-thinking person who placed the Central Technical Library among the leading libraries in Europe. His work also left a strong mark on the University of Maribor Library, where we worked together in many professional areas. He generously shared his knowledge and his passion for the profession with us and with many others.

In acknowledgment of Miro’s contributions to the library field, Giannis Tsakonas, Vice-President of LIBER and the Director of University of Patras Library & Information Center, notes:

Miro was a distinguished advocate for research libraries. Conversations with him at Annual Conferences were consistently enriching, reflecting not only the depth and rigor of his professional intellect but also his profound understanding of local and regional contexts. He had the ability to connect a strategic perspective on global developments, together with extensive firsthand experience from the field, expressing his insights with clarity, integrity, and pragmatic wisdom.

 

We are honoured to have known Miro as our colleague and friend in the LIBER community and will miss his friendliness, dedication, and positive energy dearly. We wish his family, friends, and colleagues our heartfelt condolences. 

 

Julien Roche

President of LIBER