UNESCO
General Information Programme
Assistance Programme for the Revival of the
National and University Library of
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Second Report
February 1996

This report includes a description of new developments of UNESCOÕs 
assistance programme for the National and University Library in Sarajevo 
and a summary of a recent UNESCO Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.  
It informs also about the planned General Assessment of the Situation of 
Libraries in Bosnia and Herzegovina and presents preliminary case studies 
concerning a certain number of libraries in the country.  It highlights 
the problem of Training of Librarians in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Since 
libraries are only one part of a countryÕs information landscape, UNESCO 
is preparing an assessment of the situation of Archives in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina.  Finally, UNESCO is proud to present the success of the 
Call for Solidarity with Librarians in Sarajevo.


UNESCO mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina
30 January to 7 February 1996

The mission, carried out by Mr Axel Plathe, Division of the General
Information Programme, was intended to plan future activities within the
framework of UNESCOÕs assistance programme for the Library in Sarajevo 
and to prepare the assessment of the situation of national information
infrastructures, particularly of libraries and archives in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed
between UNESCO and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The administrative structures to be implemented after the signature of the
political decisions reflected in the Dayton Agreement will be defined
after the elections to be held in summer 1996.  This will also affect
library and archives infrastructures in the Republic of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. New legal texts concerning archival services will be prepared
after elections.  So far, archival laws established before the signing of
the Dayton Agreement are in force. This applies mutatis mutandis to the
National and University Library in Sarajevo which is called upon to play
the role of the main library institution of the country. 

A general assessment of the situation of archival and library institutions
in the country is foreseen to be carried out by UNESCO in the first half
of 1996. This activity will be an important contribution to the
restructuring of the country's information services after elections. 

A major problem in both the library and the archival field is the staff
situation. The country has not only to face an important Òbrain-drainÓ of
specialists in the archival and library field trough exile and departure
in the last four years. The establishment of new political structures also
requires the creation of national training institutions and programmes


National and University Library in Sarajevo
New developments

UNESCOÕs assistance provided to the Library during the war was of 
particularly importance to this institution, providing immediate relief 
through the provision of basic publications and equipment and 
re-establishing international contacts.

In general, the post-war situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the 
new elan of Bosnian Librarians are an important momentum for the 
reconstruction of the Library. In addition to technical support in 
planning and implementation of activities, UNESCO shall continue its 
fund raising efforts, particularly for the reconstitution of collections 
(reference material, bibliographies, handbooks of library sciences, basic 
periodicals, etc.). The funds raised by UNESCO since January 1994 amount 
to US$510,000 (UNESCO contributions US$220,000; donations US$290,000);

A decision as to new premises of the Library has not yet been taken. Its 
Director presently negotiates the allocation of ca 400 m2 (sqm) in the 
centrally located building. Funds from UNESCO Library Fund will be made 
available for the refurbishing and equipping of these premises.

The Library can only resume its function as the central national library 
institution if it rapidly offers services such as the publishing of a 
national bibliography and the establishment of an automated library 
network for cataloguing and retrieval. The Library must take a leading 
role in the establishment of the network of the faculty libraries of the 
University of Sarajevo. A decision concerning the use of the appropriate 
software has to be taken as soon as possible. UNESCO recommended to 
closely examine the integrated  library software UNILIB developed by the 
National Library of Croatia in view of its use in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  
Necessary funds for soft- and hardware and for basic training by experts 
from Croatia will be covered by the UNESCO Library Fund.

As to the reconstitution of Bosniaca the UNILIB software should be used
for the establishment of a data base of Bosniaca holdings of institutions
in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad.  Budgetary provisions for 
identifying these holdings were made available within the framework of 
the contract recently established with the Library covering a contribution 
of US$50,000 made available by UNESCO. Additional funding will be foreseen 
in the UNESCO Library Fund, particularly for microfilming. 

Contact were established with the United Nations INTERNET Project (UNIP)
which is setting up an INTERNET access for the Electrotechnical Faculty 
of the University of Sarajevo as pilot project for the use of modern
communication facilities in Bosnia and Herzgovina. Co-operation with UNIP
with a view of allowing the National and University Library and other
libraries in the country to access INTERNET will be established. 
The Library must play a key role in the establishment of a national 
integrated library system using common standards and compatible hard- and 
software. The various library institutions in the country must be closely 
involved in the decision making process as to the planning and 
implementation of the system.  Funds necessary for regularly bimonthly 
meetings of librarians in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be provided under 
UNESCO Library Fund. 


General Assessement of the Situation of Libraries 
in Bosnia and Herzegovina 

UNESCO will assess the situation of all libraries in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina.  So far, preliminary information as to the situation of 
the following libraries are available:

City Library, Sarajevo
Library of the National Museum, Sarajevo
Oriental Institute, Sarajevo
Kosevo Hospital Library, Sarajevo
National Library of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna, Mostar-West
University Library, Mostar-West
Children Library, Mostar-East

The City Library of Sarajevo suffered important losses during the war. 
50% of the 300,000 pre-war volumes and four of the 20 library branches of
the library were destroyed.  The Central Library was moved to centrally
located premises opposite the Presidency; the former building, heavily
damaged, was put at the disposal of an Embassy.  The library, the staff 
of which decreased from 120 to 20, ceased acquiring publications in 1991. 
The establishment of an automated cataloguing system using a specially
developed library software was interrupted at the beginning of the war; 
the necessary expertise and the main part of the software was removed. 
After the destruction and the non-accessibility of SarajevoÕs main
libraries, the City Library has to face heavy use and reader requests,
which it is not able to satisfy due to the specific profile (public
reading ) and quantity of its collections. 

The Library of the National Museum in Sarajevo is with its ca 400,000
volumes the most important research library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
containing a great number of rare books and manuscripts, inter alia the
famous Sarajevo Haggadah. In 1992, its holdings were evacuated to the
basement of the Library building in order to protect it from the fighting
in the compound of the Museum situated 20m from the front-line. The
Library is inoperative since then. Preservation conditions are precarious
because of high humidity, considerable changes in temperature, unsecured
premises etc.

The Oriental Institute in Sarajevo, with its most valuable holdings of 
5,300 codices (20,000 titles) of mainly Ottoman origin, was totally 
destroyed in 1992, including all card catalogues and inventory lists. The 
publication activities of the Institute were interrupted and have not yet 
been resumed. Temporary new premises were made available in the Academy 
of Sciences. Staff includes 13 persons (pre-war 33). Agreements were 
established with libraries abroad for the reconstitution of the 
collections of the Institute by means of microfilm. Co-operation 
will be established with the National and University Library for the 
identification and reconstitution of the collections which form an 
essential part of Bosniaca.

The Academy of Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo has
established a collection of Bosniaca within the context of its projects
ÒHistory of the Peoples of Bosnia and HerzegovinaÓ and ÒHistory of the
Literature of the Peoples of Bosnia and HerzegovinaÓ which were
interrupted in 1980. UNESCO recommends that these collections mainly
consisting of microfilms are taken into consideration in the restitution
of Bosniaca. 

The Library of the Kosevo Hospital in Sarajevo, the country's main 
hospital, has to face heavity increased requests from medical staff for 
specialized information, particularly concerning war-caused injuries. 
However, the provision of medical literature, particularly of specialized 
periodicals, came to a total stand-still.  The biomedical subsystem of 
the former Yugoslav library network providing bibliographical information 
as to medical literature was interrupted.  The library of the Kosevo 
Hospital plans now to establish a national biomedical information network 
using the UNESCO software CDS/ISIS.

The National Library of Mostar, now called the National Library of the 
Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna, is presently only accessible to users 
from Mostar West and the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna. The building, 
which was heavily damaged during the shelling of the city, was restored 
by the European Union Administration for Mostar (EUAM); ca 70% of the 
pre-war holdings were safeguarded and are again accessible in the 
restored building. 

The Library of the University of Mostar, located in Mostar-West, was 
totally destroyed in 1992 (building, collections, equipment). 

In Mostar-East, the only available library is the children's library 
(ca. 7,500 volumes); the building was recently restored by EUAM. The 
main children's library was totally destroyed.


Training of librarians in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Until 1991, training of librarians in Bosnia and Herzegovina was provided
by the Department of Comparative Literature and Librarianship of the
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo. Training was interrupted
due to the war and is intended to be resumed in September 1996. There is 
an urgent need for trained librarians in order to replace the 70% of the
members of the profession who left the country since 1991. However,
library training within the University has to be re-organized and the
curricula have to be adapted to the new requirements.  The main problem 
in this context is the lack of trained teachers and teaching material. 
International assistance is required in curriculum development


Archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina

UNESCO will assess the situation of archives in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
This activity is not only intended to analyse the situation of the
national archives system in view of destruction of holdings and building
damages, staff situation and preservation and conservation, but also to
recommend basic guidelines to be taken into consideration for the
reformulation of the national archives law after elections in summer 1996.
The Association of Bosnian Archivists will be an important counterpart in
the formulation of these recommendations and the renewed archival law. 

Information as to the situation of the following archival institutions is 
available:

State Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo
City Archives of Sarajevo
National Archives of Herzegovina, Mostar-East
National Archives of Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna, Mostar-West

Together with the regional archives of Travnik, Bihac (Federation of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina), Doboj, Banja Luka and Foca (Republika Srbska), 
these archives form the archival system of the Republic of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina.

The situation of the State Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo
and of the National Archives of Herzegovina in Mostar East was already
assessed during a mission organized by UNESCO and the International
Council on Archives (ICA) in May 1995. Further to the recommendations of
this mission, the heavily damaged building of the Archives of Herzegovina
in Mostar-East was restored under funding by the European Union
Administration of Mostar (EUAM) for a financial input of ca. DM 400,000. 
The repair work was initiated by UNESCO and technically prepared by the
UNESCO/ICA expert. The official re-opening of the restored building was
celebrated on 7 February 1996. 

The City Archives of Sarajevo, covering in addition to the City of
Sarajevo 20 municipalities in the Sarajevo region, has important holdings
related to the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The holdings consist of
3000 linear meters (400 fonds) including an important collection of
Ottoman manuscripts and archival documents from that period. The archival
material is presently stored in two external depositories and were not
damaged, whereas the administrative building, situated in the centre of
Sarajevo, was heavily shelled. The Archives at present has a staff of 18 
(pre-war 27). 

The National Archives of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna in 
Mostar-West was established by parliamentary decree 01-I-307/94 of 
21 May 1994. This new archives has so far very limited holdings (less 
than 10 linear meters) and a staff of one. 


Call for Solidarity with Librarians in Sarajevo
A Success 

The Call for Solidarity with the Librarians in Sarajevo, jointly launched
by UNESCO and IFLA, has so far generated donations in the amount of ca 
US$5,000. The donations were transmitted to the Library Association in
Sarajevo for distributions to the professional community in the city. 

The text of the Appeal is as follows:

"Sarajevo has been under siege for 1000 days. Our colleagues in the 
libraries of this city are facing the severe consequences of the siege 
and the resulting intellectual and professional isolation.  This dramatic 
situation also affects their everyday life: shortage of food and basic 
sanitary supplies, shortage of power and water because of frequent power 
cuts and lack of sufficient heating material in severe winters.

The monthly average salary for a librarian in Sarajevo amounts to two 
US Dollars; one cubic meter of wood for heating costs 500 US Dollars.  
The population of this wounded city cannot afford this and other basic 
necessities of life.

We, therefore, call upon the solidarity of librarians worldwide to
alleviate the difficult conditions of our colleagues in Sarajevo. Your
donation will not only allow the 150 librarians and their families to
better cope with the calamities of war, but also help to revive the
cultural life of this beleaguered city to which librarians always greatly
contributed. All donations will be equally distributed to the librarians
in Sarajevo through the good offices of the local UNESCO Representative
and the Library Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina." 


For more information, please contact
UNESCO, Division of the General Information Programme