[PADG:990] S.O.S Sarajevo Library

["Arsenio S�nchez Hernamp�rez" <ARSENIO3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

With apologies for cross-posting
 
 

Last August, I had the chance
to visit the destroyed National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovine
in Sarajevo in order to make some reports requested by the National Library
of Spain and the Spanish NGO "Paz Ahora-Peace Now.

As it is well known, war
supposed a steady destruction of the historic and cultural patrimony from
Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina. After war, the damage caused on libraries,
archives, museums and any other cultural buildings was highly superior
to the caused in Yugoslavia by the two World Wars. Destruction has been
extraordinary on those areas considered as ethnically "impure" and specially
on very important settlements such as Mostar, Stolac, Foca or Sarajevo.

On the night of august 25th,
1992, the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina in
Sarajevo was bombed since the hills around the town. The building became
a pyre in which collections placed up on the ground floor, nearly a 40%,
and all the library catalogues, burnt up. The building was absolutely wrecked.
A special report of the European Council says that a part of the most valuable
collections could be saved safe. However, more than 600,000 books were
lost. Nowadays, library keeps on ruins and only first re-building stage,
subsidized by Austria, is going on.

Thanks to Barcelona Council
found, Paz Ahora had the necessary means to carry out a watch mission on
the spot, in august 1999. Due to the excessive complexity of the project,
technically speaking, Paz Ahora formally applied for technical assistance
to Mr. Luis Alberto de Cuenca y Prado, General Manager of the National
Library of Spain -NLS-, in June 1999. NLS took on the cost of the reports.

On the 26th August 1999,
seven years after the bombing, we carried out a watch mission, holding
some meetings in Sarajevo with the Bosnian librarians and we could verify
the total lack of infrastructure maintenance and library resources as well
as a very alarming decrease on the number of reconstruction projects.

Devastation caused by the
Bosnia Herzegovina war has been considerable and of a great importance
for country development. Disaster is particularly hard in libraries and
Archives, because of the lost of huge amounts of irreplaceable manuscripts
and non textual-records. Although different international projects begin
getting out positive results, these were just focused on the Bosnian Bibliography
?by the Michigan University, - or on the endowment of bibliographic materials
to the devastated libraries, forgetting all about the protection of the
preserved pre-war documents. However, endowment on preservation infrastructures
for the NULBiH must be an essential element for the cultural reconstruction
in Bosnia after 1992-1995 war.

The project of NLS and Peace
Now establishes the endowment of a preservation service made up of three
workshops: bookbinding, conservation and microfilming. In the future, it
is considered the possibility to acquire digitizing equipment. The Bosnian
technicians will also carry out in a preservation course in preservation
imparted by specialists of the NLS. The cost of the project it´s
nearly 325.000$ -361.500 ECU-. The total cost for the library rebuilding
would be up to 16.000.000$, -18.000.000 ECU-.

We look forward your cooperation.
There is a current account to subsidize part of the reconstruction project.
Transfers can be done on the Sarajevo Library Account nº 0104 0001
17 0307050019 ?Argentaria Bank-

Further information,

Paz Ahora pazahora@xxxxxxxxxx
C/ Abada nº 2, Piso
6º 8.
28013 Madrid.
España.
Tel : ++34-91-5234091 Fax:
++34-91 5329692.
 

For more Bosnia-Herzegovine
Cultural destruction and specially about Sarajevo Library, visit http://www.nodo50.org/pazahora/proyectos/biblioteca/webdoc7.htm

Best wishes,

Arsenio Sánchez Hernampérez
archival@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Laboratorio de Restauración
Biblioteca Nacional
Pº de Recoletos 20
28071 Madrid
España/Spain