Прокопенко Л. - Бібліотеки, бібліотекарі і читачі під час облоги Сараєва: 1425 днів випробувань, стійкості та надії (2024)

  ARCHIVE (All issues) /     Content (2024, Issue 72)Ukrainian English

Prokopenko Liliia

Libraries, librarians and readers during the siege of Sarajevo: 1425 days of ordeals, resilience and hope

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to study the activities of libraries and librarians during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992–1996 in order to determine the social role and value of libraries and to investigate the importance of reading as a cultural and intellectual practice for supporting society in wartime. The methodological basis of the study are principles of objectivity, complexity, continuity and comprehensiveness. From the standpoint of scientific methodology, the problem is examined on the basis of a systematic and historical approaches. The achievement of the study purpose was carried out with a system of general scientific and special methods: theoretical (analysis, synthesis, abstraction, descent from the abstract to the concrete, explanation, generalization, etc.), empirical (description, comparison), historical comparative, chronological, identification and analysis of sources and others. Scientific novelty. In Ukrainian library science, the experience of the libraries functioning, the work of librarians, and the reading activity of Sarajevans during the siege of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina is being studied for the first time. Conclusions. Based on the description of the living conditions during the siege of Sarajevo, the importance of reading as a cultural and intellectual practice for the mental, spiritual and physical survival of Sarajevans during the siege is revealed; the state of librarianship ss investigated, specific libraries are characterized, and the work of librarians is examined. The significance and value of libraries and reading for the support of society in the warconditions is characterized. The importance of transmitting the experience of the wa rand informing the world community about the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in particular, regarding the Ukrainian librarianship, is emphasized.

Keywords: history of librarianship abroad, librarianship in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo libraries, libraries and war, librarians and war, reading and war.


Author(s) citation:

Cite:
Prokopenko Liliia (2024). Libraries, librarians and readers during the siege of Sarajevo: 1425 days of ordeals, resilience and hope. Academic Papers of V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine, (72) 365-398. (In Ukrainan). doi: https://doi.org/10.15407/np.72.365

References:

  1. Kebo, O., Kalytro, K. (transl.). (2017). Saraievo dlia pochatkivtsiv [Sarajevo for beginners]. Brusturiv, Ukraine. [In Ukrainian].
  2. Kosarevych, S. (2022, September, 20). Pisliavoienna vidbudova Bosnii i Hertsehovyny [Post-war reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina]. Tsentr Dnistrianskoho. [In Ukrainian].
  3. Báez, F., and MacAdam, A. J. (2008). A Universal history of the destruction of books: from ancient Sumer to modern Iraq. New York, NY. [In English].
  4. Bakaršic, K. (1994). The libraries of Sarajevo and the book that saved our lives. The New Combat: A Journal of Reason and Resistance, 3, 13-15. [In English].
  5. Bakaršić, K. (1995). The story of the Sarajevo Haggada. Judaica Librarianship, 9(1-2), 135-143. [In English]. doi: https://doi.org/10.14263/2330-2976.1181
  6. Baumel, J. (1993). The destruction by war of the cultural heritage in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina presented by the Committee on Culture and Education: Information report, Doc 6756, 2 Febr. 1993. [In English].
  7. Blazina, V. (1996). Mémoricide ou la purification culturelle: La guerreet les bibliothèques de Croatie et de Bosnie-Herzégovine [Memoricide or Cultural Purification: War and the Libraries of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina]. Documentation et bibliothèques, 42(4), 149-163. [In French]. doi: https://doi.org/10.7202/1032995ar
  8. Brooks, G. (2008). People of the Book: A novel. New York, NY. [In English].
  9. Civallero, E. (2007). When memory is turn into ashes... Memoricide during XX century. Information for Social Change, summer iss., 7-22. [In English].
  10. Demick, B. (2012). Logavina street: Life and death in a Sarajevo neighborhood. New York, NY. [In English].
  11. Dizdarević, Z., Ridjanovic, M., and Alcalay, A. (1995). Portraits of Sarajevo. New York, NY. [In English].
  12. FAMA Kolekcija [web-site]. [In Bosnian].
  13. (1994) Final report of the United Nations Commission of experts established pursuant to security council resolution 780 (1992). Annex VI – Part 1. Study of the battle and siege of Sarajevo. United Nations, S/1994/674/Add.2 (Vol. II), 27 May 1994. [In English].
  14. Gauthier, B. (1997). La Bibliotheque nationale et universitaire de Sarajevo et les bibliothèques bosniaques. Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France, 42(6), 72-77. [In French].
  15. Gazić, L. (2015). Destruction of the Institute for Oriental Studies during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina 1950–2000. In A. Husić (prired., gl. ured.). Orijentalni Institut u Sarajevu 1950–2015 (pp. 93-98). Sarajevo: Orijentalni Institut u Sarajevu. [In English].
  16. (2023). Gazi Husrev-begova biblioteka u Sarajevu. Bosna i Hercegovina. [In English].
  17. Gienger, V. G. (2002, December, 13). "Small Miracles" save Jewish text: Haggadah’s survival in Bosnia offered as hope of ethnic, religious tolerance. The Washington Post. [In English].
  18. Hadžimuhamedović, A. (2018). Culture-based urban resilience: post-war recovery of Sarajevo. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. [In English].
  19. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. [In English].
  20. Kujundžić, E. (1996). Memoria Bosniaca – Memoria Mundi. Bosniaca. God.1, Br. 1, 5-12. [In Bosnian].
  21. Kujundžić, E. (2000). National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the turn of millennium. Bosniaca, 4-5, 5-8. [In English].
  22. Manuscript collection of the Gazi Husrev-Beg Library. UNESCO. [In English].
  23. Mowat, I. (1995). The Revival of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo; A study of options and proposals for action: Report prepared for the Government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Serial No. FMR/CII/PGI/94/110(Mowat), RP/1994-1995/II.A/Technical report. Paris, France. [In English].
  24. Ornat, N. (2018). Reading for your life: The impact of reading and writing during the siege of Sarajevo. Open Information Science, 2(1), 44-58. [In English]. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/opis-2018-0004
  25. Ovčina, I. (2022, May). The National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina from shelling on 25/26th August 1992 till reconstruction. Protection and rescue of cultural heritage in crisis situations and disaster risk management in libraries, archives and museums: Proceedings of the International conference. Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka. [In English].
  26. Ovčina, I. (2016, September). What did the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina lose after 25/26th August 1992? In What do we lose when we lose a library? Proceedings of the Conference (pp. 77-82), KU Leuven, UC Louvain, the Goethe Institut, the British Council. Leuvenn, Belgium. [In English].
  27. (2003). Pokretno dobro – Sarajevska Hagada: broj: 05-6-80/03-2, 17 januara 2003, Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina Komisija/Povjerenstvo za očuvanje nacionalnih spomenika. [In Bosnian].
  28. (1991). Popis stanovništva 1948, 1953, 1961, 1971, 1981 i 1991 godine, za teritorijalnu organizaciju, općine i pripadajuća naseljena mjesta 1991 godine. Savezni zavod za statistiku i evidenciju FNRJ i SFRJ. [In Croatian].
  29. (2003, December 5). Prosecutor v. Stanislav Galic (Trial Judgement and Opinion), IT-98-29-T, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), 5 Dec. 2003, [In English].
  30. Rešidbegović, A. (2009). Biblioteka koja ima prošlost i budućnost: Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine (1945–2009). Bosniaca,14(14), 65–71. [In Bosnian].
  31. Riedlmayer, A. (2003). Convivencia under fire: Genocide and book burning in Bosnia. Bosniaca, 8, 55-73. [In English].
  32. Riedlmayer, A. (2007). Crimes of war, crimes of peace: destruction of libraries during and after the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. Library Trends, 56(1), 107-132. [In English]. doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2007.0057
  33. Riedlmayer, A. (2002). Destruction of cultural heritage in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1992–1996: a post-war survey of selected municipalities: Expert report commissioned by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, exhibit Number P486. [In English].
  34. Riedlmayer, A. (1996). Libraries are not for burning: International librarianship and the recovery of the destroyed heritage of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Art Libraries Journal, 21(2), 19-23. [In English]. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0307472200009834
  35. Romero, E. G., and Romero I. C. (2016). Breve historia de la guerra delos Balcanes. Madrid, Spain. [In Spanish].
  36. The Sarajevo Haggadah manuscript. UNESCO. [In English].
  37. (2016). Saving Sarajevo’s literary legacy: Interview with M. Jahić, the former Gazi Husrev-beg Library director, written by T. Verde. Aramco World, 67(1), 24-33. [In English].
  38. Sells, M. A. (1998). The Bridge betrayed: Religion and genocide in Bosnia. London, UK. [In English].
  39. (2013, December 23). Shafir, N. Gazi Husrev Begova Library. Hazine. [In English].
  40. Kapić S. (Ed.). (2000). The siege of Sarajevo: 1992–1996. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. [In English].
  41. (1993). Statement by Mrs. Sadako Ogata, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to the meeting of the Humanitarian Issues Working Group of the International Conference on the former Yugoslavia, Geneva, 16 July 1993. [In English].
  42. Wake up Europe!: 100 stories about solidarity initiatives in Europe with citizens of Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992–1995 war [website]. [In English].
  43. Walasek, H. (2019). Cultural heritage and memory after ethnic cleansing in post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina. International Review of the Red Cross, 101(1), 273-294. [In English]. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1816383119000237
  44. (1994). War damage to the cultural heritage in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina presented by the Committee on Culture and Education: Fourth Information Report, Doc. 6999, 19 Jan. 1994. [In English].
  45. (1996). War damage to the cultural heritage in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina presented by the Committee on Culture and Education: Ninth information report, Doc. 74644, 19 Jan. 1996. [In English].
  46. (1993). War damage to the cultural heritage in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina presented by the Committee on Culture and Education: Third information report, Doc. 6904, 20 Sept. 1993. [In English].
  47. Wenzel, M. (1994). Obituary: Dr. Rizo Sijaric, Director of the Zemaljski Muzej, Sarajevo. Killed in Sarajevo, 10 December 1993. Museum Management and Curatorship, 13, 79-80. [In English].
  48. Zećo, M. (1996). The National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the current war. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 66(3), 294-301. [In English]. doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/602886
  49. Zwierzchowski, J., and Tabeau, E. (2010, February). The 1992–95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina: census-based multiple system estimation of casualties’ undercount: Conference paper for the International Research workshop on "The Global Costs of Conflict". Berlin, Germany. [In English].