In 2004 the Museum’s collection was enriched by the donation of the Josif Shapiro archive by his son Izaok Shapiro. The collector and ex libris aficionado Josif Shapiro (1921-2004) was born in Kaunas. He was an engineer and worked for many years at Lithuanian graphic reporduction and printing enterprises. Although Shapiro was not a professional artist, he created about 175 ex libris bookplates dedicated to friends and family and regularly participated at many ex libris congresses and conferences.

Shapiro was best known as a collector of diverse things. He has been written about in the press in Lithuania, USA, Russia and Finland. He exhibited his eclectic collections in cities across Lithuania, Russia and other countries. He received various awards, medals and distinctions over the years for his work as a collector.

Items from the Josif Shapiro archive can be classified into several categories: ex libris bookplates; objects; books, plaques, posters and manuscripts; photographs, negatives and postcards; and visual and applied/decorative art.

The largest and most important is the collection of ex libris bookplates. Shapiro collected thousands of the ex libris bookplates, some of which are based on Jewish themes. This is thought to be the largest personal collection of ex libris bookplates in the world. The collector corresponded and traded ex libris with more than 300 people, and his collection reflects the geographical range of his correspondence, with items from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere. The largest part of the ex libris collection is comprised of works by Lithuanian artists.

Shapiro’s collection of books dedicated to graphics in Lithuania and the world, comprised of books, albums and exhibition catalogs, is important. It includes books in Yiddish.

Shapiro also collected postal stamps, postcards, matchbox labels, glass items, rocks, coins and other objects.