Russia's Parliament Library destroyed

The following appearing in the Stanford University Libraries News Notes
and is reproduced here without the knowledge or consent of the author.

    [... The following message received via the Internet was forwarded
    by Wojciech Zalewski.]

    The Parliament Library, the library of the Parliament of the Russian
    Federation, was a victim of the destruction of the White Building in
    Moscow on October 4.  This library, in its current incarnation,
    began with the creation of the Russian Federation in early 1992.
    Among the tasks of its small but dedicated staff were:  (1) to
    provide information needed by the members of the Parliament
    (Deputies) as they set about trying to create a new government
    structure for Russia; (2) to maintain official records of the
    governments of the other members of the CIS; (3) to inventory the
    holdings of several library/information units placed under the
    Library's administration and (4) to bring current technology to
    their information-gathering activities.

    I had the opportunity to visit and work with the Library's staff for
    a week during the summer of 1992.  They were eager to demonstrate
    their accomplishments, but also were very open to suggestions for
    improving their operations.  They faced many obstacles, but were
    incredibly optimistic.  (Acquiring current technology in many cases
    meant photocopiers, let alone computers!)

    For the past year, we had exchanged photographs, information and
    advice.  We had sent them a number of boxes of library resources and
    were awaiting an exchange from them.

    My source tells me that the Library took a direct hit from the
    shelling, and that auxiliary units suffered from the looting that
    accompanied the post-surrender searches.  The Library--its books,
    its new computers, its historic resources, its beautiful reading
    room overlooking the Moskva River--was destroyed.  The staff, as far
    as we can ascertain, are all okay as they had not been on the
    premises since the siege began.

    --Mary Anne Luketich Waltz, Syracuse University Library

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:35
                Distributed: Saturday, October 23, 1993
                        Message Id: cdl-7-35-006
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