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| Libraries in Kosova before 1999: Numbers and volumes of books |
|||
1989 |
1992 |
1995 |
|
| Research and special libraries: | 36 |
31 |
34 |
|
927.000 |
213.000 |
810.000 |
| Public libraries: | 176 |
78 |
59 |
|
1,927.000 |
1,859.000 |
1,080.000 |
| School libraries: | 328 |
146 |
144 |
|
1,224.000 |
639.000 |
578.000 |
| Source 1989: Statistical Yearbook of Yugoslavia: 1989. Belgrade: Federal Institute for Statistics, 1991. | |||
| Source 1992 and 1995: Statistical Yearbook of Yugoslavia: 1999. Belgrade: Federal Institute for Statistics, 1999. | |||
Note that statistical data on libraries have been collected by the Federal Institute for Statistics every three years, thus the 3-year intervals. Data on library staff are not available.
Figure 2.
| University and Public Libraries in Kosova from
1975 to 1990: Numbers and ethnic belonging |
||
1975-1990 |
1999 before the war |
|
| Albanian: | 107 |
37 |
| Serbian: | 20 |
37 |
| Others: | 17 |
6 |
| Total: | 144 |
80 |
| Source: UNESCO: Rapport de Mission au Kosovo. Ros Borath, November 1 - November 30 1999. | ||
The discrepancies in the number of libraries registered by figure 1 and figure 2 – and figure 3 – indicates the general problems collecting data in Kosova. The confusion derives from several factors. Even practical information is coloured by national political or ethnic implications, and ambitions, which vary pending on time and power. The compilation of data is irregular and often careless. The actual status and existence of individual libraries unclear and the definitions of the different categories of libraries, whether school, public or academic are not distinct.
3.2 Library management and administration
The UN Security Council Resolution 1244 entrusts the United Nations Mission in Kosova (UNMIK) with "performing basic civilian administrative functions" and "organising and overseeing the development of provisional institutions for democratic and autonomous self governance" in Kosova.
The features of the inheritance from the preceding administrative system is a model of state-directed activities, with cultural workers as state employees, a highly skewed privileging of Serbian heritage and institutions and a commensurate discrimination of against Kosovar Albanian Culture (Albanian cultural institutions lost state support). All these factors are combined with a considerable under-funding and neglect of the whole sector for the past ten years.
The Kosovo Transitional Council is the highest-level consultative body of Kosovars to the United Nations interim administration. The Interim Administrative Council (IAC) has decided that the 19 administrative departments shall be co-administered by UNMIK and Kosova political leaders, the so-called JIAS (Joint Interim Administrative Structure). On February 28 2000 IAC named Mrs. Edi Shukriu, head of the LDK Women's League, co-head of the department of Culture. Unfortunately we did not have the occasion to meet with Mrs. Shukriu, and the UNMIK co-head, Mr. Gonzalo Retemal Poully, had not yet arrived from Chile. Our contacts at the UNMIK central administration were Ms. Sarah Isakson, at present the only employee dedicated to culture, and Mr. Tom Koenigs, head of Pillar 2, civil administration.
The UNMIK budget of the year 2000 for public libraries and archives estimates the number of employees to be 335 and dedicates a sum of DM 1,061.280 for their wages and salaries, while other goods and services acquires DM 307.346. The total UNMIK budget for the public libraries and archives is DM 1,368.626. It must be noted that the budget will be re-visited, when a more accurate estimation of the staff number and the number of institutions is at hand. The totals budget for UNMIK culture amounts to DM 4,650.483 and includes besides libraries and archives, arts, museums, cultural institutions and sports (DM 1,000.000).
Library workers have not received salaries for at least 1 year, since the outbreak of the war. The payment of librarians and others publicly employed only began March 2000. The exact number of people employed is still uncertain, because UNMIK lacks information from some municipalities, but the actual figure must be somewhat higher than 335. The number of public libraries alone used to be around 180 before 1990 and today is estimated to be at least 118 of which many employ two or more persons. The average salary is between DM 250 and DM 350 a month. According to an estimate by Mr. Gerguri libraries used to employ around 600 librarians.
3.3 Legislation and regulations concerning libraries
The situation concerning legislation in Kosova is still somewhat unclear and the UNMIK administration is still working its way through the various fields of society to clarify the legal status. According to UNMIK regulations 2000/24 and 25, laws applicable in Kosova on March 1989, when Kosova’s Parliament was dissolved and its autonomy revoked, are still valid, until they are replaced or changed by new laws and regulations.
The National and University Library holds copies of all legislation valid or previously valid in Kosova. The director, Mr. Gerguri, provided us with copies of the 3 legal texts relevant to libraries: The Law on libraries, the Decree on the National and University Library and the Decree on legal deposit. Naturally, these texts are in Albanian, so they have been forwarded to UNMIK Culture both to their information and for translation into English. The translations are found as the annexes 4, 5 and 6 to this report.
The current Library Law of Kosova was adopted on April 28 1978 (KK No. 630-2/77). It defines library activity as a social activity the purpose of which is:
"… to increase the general educational level through the help of the book and other library material; To fulfil continuously the cultural needs of the working people and citizens and also to develop the scientific, professional work and to develop the economy, education, science, culture and other activities" (Article 1),
Books and other library materials are at "public disposal" and "working people and the ordinary citizens can use the books and other library material equally", but a strong emphasis is also given to the role of libraries in regard to preservation of cultural heritage.
The law includes all types of libraries, though it focuses on general or national libraries (public and scientific libraries, including the National and University Library). There are very few specific regulations concerning special libraries and school libraries. According to the law libraries can be established by political and social unions, unions of cultural interest (local cultural administrations), regional and other organisations if certain conditions are met in regard to funding, book collections, space and equipment, and professional workers.
The law defines the different categories of libraries and outlines the general structure for a Kosova library system. The National and University Library is the principal institution overall responsible for co-ordination of library activities, library co-operation, professional research and the main catalogue covering all libraries in Kosova and the main bibliography, including material of "the nations and nationalities of Kosova". This function as main central library involves both general libraries and special libraries.
On a second level it defines the tasks of regional main libraries (provincial libraries) to provide professional assistance within their territory, to supervise library activities, to harmonise and to encourage co-operation. The municipal and regional authorities in culture are responsible for the funding and governance of local and regional general libraries according to law, while the provincial authorities of culture, education and science provides the funding for the National and University Library. All general libraries are obliged to have a board and statutes. The law "in principle" provides for interlibrary loans and exchange of materials.
Much attention is given to the correct handling of library materials, conservation, preservation and limitations in use of valuable materials. The Council of the National and University library takes final decisions on weeding of materials of all libraries.
The law also defines the levels of education necessary for library workers distinguishing between 5 categories of employees: data entry clerk, senior data clerk, librarian, senior librarian and library advisor. To become librarian a university degree and the professional exam for librarian is needed. Diplomas were issued and exams performed at the University of Belgrade.
The Decree on the National and University Library specifies the tasks given by the law (articles 25 and 27) and adds an important responsibility for proposing and organising the education and professional training of library workers.
The Legal Deposit Decree provides 15 free samples of all publications from Kosovar publishing organisations or agencies to the National and University Library. From these copies the library has to send one copy to each of the central (national) libraries in the other FRY republics, leaving 8 copies for the N&U Library. Furthermore the decree states that all main libraries (provincial libraries) are obliged to provide at least one copy of books, magazines, brochures and other publications published in Kosova at their own expense.
Before the war the standard systems to register printed materials, ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) and ISBN (International Standard Book Number), promoted by the international organisation for standardisation, ISO was managed from a central FRY office in Belgrade. The first digits in these code numbers identify the country in which the publication is made. There is a strong wish to have a special Kosova code and to establish a separate Kosova office handling this registration. At the moment new Kosovar Albanian language books are not registered according to current international standards.
In March 1989 the Serbian parliament adopted constitutional amendments which stripped Kosova of its virtual autonomy, which was granted by the Federal Constitution. This act was in many ways a turning point in both political and human rights developments in Kosova. During the 1990's Serbian authorities have increasingly infringed on fundamental rights of the ethnic Albanian majority of the Kosova population. The Serbian government imposed "emergency measures" and systematically tightened its grip on the region; it purged all sectors of Kosova public life and marginalised about 90% of the population.
On 26 June 1990 the Serbian authorities imposed a new wave of decrees, officially described as temporary measures. These measures, which remained permanent, included the dismissal of thousands of state employees. Approximately 6.000 schoolteachers were dismissed and more were to follow. Ethnic Albanian professors and students were expelled from or began boycotting both university and elementary and secondary schools in 1991, after instruction in the Albanian language was banned and a uniform Serbian curriculum imposed.
Albanian educators were dismissed because they refused to adhere to new Serbian curricula, others appear to have been dismissed form their jobs solely for reasons relating to their ethnicity or political beliefs. The ethnic Albanian population responded by developing a parallel society, which established its own government and its own institutions. Albanian teachers, doctors and other professionals provided their services either from home or in makeshift surgeries and offices. In 1994, for example, Albanian sources claimed that 335,000 pupils taught by more than 18,000 teachers attended their parallel education system.
Mr. Mehmet Gerguri, Director of the National and University Library in Kosova, was appointed to this position in June 1990. Less than four months later on September 27 1990 the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Serbia decided to implement "temporary coercive measures" in the National and University Library. The director was overruled and a directing board of five Serbs and Montenegrins and one Albanian was appointed. The Albanian refused to accept the nomination.
All ethnic Albanians in the leadership were immediately dismissed from their positions and in the end 99 librarians and technical staff - 93 Albanians, 3 Bosnians, 2 Turks and a Croat - were deprived of their jobs.
Since then Mr. Gerguri has frequently attempted to draw the attention of the world society to the situation at his library. He has written several letters of appeal to UNESCO - in 1993, 1995, 1997 and finally after the war in 1999 - and other international organisations, including IFLA, but received practically no response.
Helsinki Watch has examined the dismissal papers of several ethnic Albanian employees of the National and University Library of Kosova. The reason for dismissal of such workers often is attributed - with no further explanation - to the workers’ "failure to perform [his or her] duties and preventing other workers from attending to their responsibilities and doing their jobs." In several instances the dismissal is justified by the following clause:
"... in making statements to the press, the worker misrepresented the situation at the library, misinformed the public and gave a wrong impression of the work of the temporary bodies [i.e. the emergency management teams] and their actions, in that [s/]he accused and rudely attacked their work and the relevant measures of the Serbian Parliament as 'police methods'."
The dismissal notice cited is dated March 4 1991 and is signed by Dr. Slobodan Kostic of the temporary management team. Kostic was director of the N&U library from October 1 1990 until 1995-96. Helsinki Watch retains copies of such dismissal notices dating from 1990 and onwards (Ivana Nizich: Yugoslavia: Human Rights abuses in Kosovo 1990-1992, October 1992. Helsinki Watch).
In 1991 the Serbian government intensified its assimilation policies in Kosova. The Albanian language was banned as language of instruction at all levels of education. Very few ethnic Albanian students were allowed to enrol at Prishtina University and thousands of Albanian teachers and other Kosova Albanians lost their jobs due to their ethnicity. Many ethnic Albanian librarians lost their jobs. At the National and University Library of Kosova alone 99 librarians and other library workers, including the director, were dismissed and ethnic Albanian users were expelled from the reading rooms.
The general decrease in the number of libraries registered in the official Yugoslav statistics (see Figure 1) might well be a reflection of this political development - the attempt to perform an ethnic cleansing of Kosova. To some extend it may reflect a result of Serbian wars with former members of the Yugoslav Federation: the closure of libraries because of the inadequate funding or the inability to collect the correct statistical data.
But the decrease in the number of both public and school libraries is significantly higher than in the number of research and special libraries. This indicates that Serb authorities have either officially closed or just administratively left out public or school libraries located in clearly ethnic Albanian towns and villages, while research and special libraries in major towns have been taken over by Serb officials. The fate of the academic libraries has naturally been closely connected with the fate of Kosovar educational institutions. The radical decrease in the number of book volumes in 1992 may well indicate the removal or destruction of books in the Albanian language, while the increase in 1995 may indicate new supplies of books in Serb. The reasons for the fluxes in the number of libraries and the number of volumes shown in statistical yearbooks for 1989 and 1992 and 1995 should be more closely investigated.
In the autumn of 1999 the National and University Library of Kosova, sponsored by the Kosova Foundation for Open Society (KFOS), undertook the task to take stock of the condition of public libraries throughout Kosova. The actual collection of data took place in September and October 1999 and the survey was completed in December. In January/February 2000 the IFLA/FAIFE Office in Copenhagen had the text of this survey translated from Albanian into English (Annex 3: Overview of the Situation of the Public Libraries of Kosova). The translated text has been revised and approved by Mr. Mehmet Gerguri, director of the National and University Library.
| Public libraries in Kosova before 1990 and
after 1999: Numbers and volumes of books |
|||
Before 1990 |
After 1999 |
Annihilated |
|
| Main libraries | 25 |
22 |
3 |
|
843.123 |
581.431 |
261.692 |
| Branch libraries | 158 |
96 |
62 |
|
1.171.505 |
532.609 |
638.896 |
| Public libraries in total | 183 |
118 |
65 |
|
2.014.628 |
1.114.060 |
900.588 |
| Source: Overview of the Situation of the Public Libraries of Kosova. Prishtina: The National and University Library of Kosova | |||
The survey includes data for public libraries in 25 of Kosova's 29 municipalities. Figure 3. shows the main results of this survey. The municipalities not covered are Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok, Shterpcë/Strepce, Novo Brdo/Novoberdë and Obilic/Obiliq. 3 of these municipalities are areas, which at least before the war were populated with a majority of ethnic Serbs, and this may be the reason, they are not included. The fourth, Obiliq, is a quite small municipality neighbouring Prishtina to the West, of which we were informed that Serbs had burned the main library.
According to the survey the total number of public libraries before the war was 205. 183 of these libraries are located in the areas now dominated by ethnic Albanians and 65 of those were destroyed during the period from 1990 to the end of the war in 1999.
The findings described in the survey were generally confirmed by the information collected by our mission, though there were some minor discrepancies. Most importantly the main library in Peja did indeed survive the war, but is now out of function, because the House of Culture of which it was part, is housing the UNMIK police station. The books are kept in a locked room on the 4th floor of the building. In a few other municipalities visited there were minor and insignificant differences in the number of volumes or in the number of branch libraries. The variation in the number of these libraries was caused by uncertainty regarding their status; that is, if they should be considered strictly school libraries or combined libraries.
3.5 Allegations and responsibility of destructions
During the summer of 1999 IFLA/FAIFE received reports of the massive Serbian abolition and demolition of ethnic Albanian literature and libraries, which has taken place during the period of Yugoslav rule. IFLA/FAIFE also received reports that the destruction of libraries and book collections was still going on in Kosova, but that the roles had changed and that Serb books and libraries were now being destroyed by ethnic Albanians. On June 9 1999 UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Balkans, Carl Bildt, described Kosova as a "devastated wasteland that will have to be rebuilt from the bottom up". He stressed that this would include the reconstruction of archives and libraries and that there was evidence of massive destruction of the collective memory.
Kosovar Albanians claim that Serbs have systematically destroyed Albanian books in an attempt to eradicate Albanian cultural heritage in Kosova and to harass ethnic Albanians into leaving the area. At the National Library alone more than 100.000 books were destroyed in the period from July 1991 to 1995. In July 1991 six truckloads of periodicals, mainly newspapers, were sent to Cardboard factory. In January and February 1992 around 100.000 books, more than 8.000 magazines and more newspapers were taken out and transported to unknown destination by trucks with license plates from Nis in Serbia, and in 1995 a smaller amount of publications were shipped of.
This process of 'ethnic cleansing' is also reported from almost all other public libraries in Kosova. The extend of these measures seems to have depended on the dedication of the director of the individual library to perform the task. For instance the present director of the municipal library of Mitrovice, Hajrulla Mustafa, informed us that no such segregation had taken place under the former Serb director Olja Stevic, who left during or after the war.
Serbs have repeatedly claimed that at least four Serbian libraries have been destroyed and over two million Serbian books burned. The following message was delivered on September 28 by Glas Javnosti, a Serbian newspaper issued in Belgrade, and widely distributed by the official Yugoslav news agency, Tanjug, and the Serb Orthodox Monastery in Decane/Decani under the heading "Goethe, Shakespeare Burning... Albanian Terrorists burned more than two million Serb books in Kosovo":
"Since the arrival of KFOR Albanian terrorists in Kosovo destroyed in Kosovo local libraries more than two million books in Serbian, claim the representatives of the Historical Archive in Kosovska Mitrovica.
The very important archive material is also targeted. It has been destroyed by the terrorists in front of KFOR eyes and nothing has been done to protect the books in libraries and other cultural Serb institutions in Kosovo. It is a shame that the works of Shakespeare, Goethe and other famous writers are burned in front of soldiers who came from the countries of these writers.
In the worst position are the communal libraries in Prizren, Djakovica, Istok, Glogovac, Srbica, Podujevo and other cities, which are under control of the KLA members. This barbarism is not remembered from the time of Hitler and the Nazi burning of books in the Second World War."
The intentions are clearly to attach the actual destruction of libraries to the Albanians now controlling the areas mentioned, but when it comes to facts these statements lacks foundation.
First of all, there were never two million Serb books in the public libraries of Kosova, even according to official Yugoslav statistics (se Figure 1). Secondly, most of the libraries mentioned, Prizren/Prizren, Gjakova/Djakovica, Istog/Istok, Gllogovc/Glogovac and Skenderaj/Srbica are in the Western part of Kosova, where Serbs themselves were responsible for burning down both villages and towns. And most of the destruction of both books and library buildings took place in the countryside. The main libraries of Istog, Gllogovc, Skenderaj and Podujevo/Podujeve, located in the Eastern part of Kosova, have been burned or otherwise destroyed, while this is not the case with the libraries of Prizren and Gjakova. In the surviving libraries of Prizren and Gjakova the collections are intact and books in Serbian are still to be found on the shelves. Finally, it is interesting to note that the Serbs themselves define public libraries in Kosova as 'cultural Serb institutions' and thus leaves out around 80-90% of the area's population.
A more detailed account of alleged Albanian destruction of Kosovar libraries and books were distributed under the heading: "Ethnic Albanian Extremists Burning Serbian Books" by Tanjug, the Decani e-group (http://www.egroups.com/message/decani/23410?&start=22859) and the newspaper "Borba daily" on 20. December 1999. It is mainly quoting the former ethnic Serb director of the National and University library, Mr. Jordan Ristic, who held this position from director from 1995/96 until June 16 1999:
"Since the arrival of the KFOR international forces in Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province in June, all Serb employees have been sacked from the Ivo Andric National Library of the University of Prishtina, and Serbs are now even banned from entering this biggest book center in the province, library Manager Jordan Ristic told Tanjug on Saturday.
Expressing great concern for the fate of the entire book fund of the province, Ristic said eyewitnesses had reported that ethnic Albanian vandals had burned piles of books or otherwise destroyed them and threw them into garbage containers, in plain sight of KFOR members.
Ethnic Albanian extremists also set fire to the Prishtina City Library, which had been the biggest library in the province, with about 400,000 titles.
In addition to Serb books, the arson also destroyed Albanian and Turkish books, and others in the languages of other ethnic groups, Ristic said.
At present, it is not possible to get reliable information on what happened to about a million books of the national university library, and no communication is possible with those who entered its premises after the expulsion of Serbs, Ristic said.
At the time of the expulsion of Serbs, the library had also been host to two exhibitions - "Wooden churches in Serbia" and "Chelandari miniatures", said Ristic. Nothing is known about these exhibits, either, he said.
Within its rich scientific and cultural life, the library had been a specific cultural center in which over a hundred events were staged each year, from concerts and painting exhibitions, to book fairs and symposiums which were attended by prominent figures from the country and from all over the world.
The library also annually published about 30 books, the most prominent of them being a two-volume monograph on the Gracanica Monastery, the Book on Drenica, and three books by Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle.
Earlier, before Kosovo Albanians withdrew from public life in the province under pressure from their terrorist and extremist leaders the library had also hosted all important events in the Albanian language.
Nothing is known either about the book funds of the faculties of the University of Prishtina, Ristic said. Serbs banished from some places in the province told Ristic that they had seen Kosovo Albanians bring books out of Serb houses and apartments and burn them in public in the streets.
It has also been confirmed that the rampant ethnic Albanian terrorists also destroyed almost all private home libraries, in particular from the homes of prominent Serb writers who had lived in the province. Ristic himself had been the proud possessor of one of the most valuable private collections in Kosovo and Metohija - over 4,500 titles. All these books have been destroyed. Ristic was expelled from his apartment at gunpoint. The "third set of tenants" who subsequently moved into his apartment telephoned him to say that his private library "now contains only parquetry," he said.
Nothing at all is known about the fate of the books in libraries in the area of Prizren, south-western Kosovo and Metohija, from where almost all Serbs have been expelled. This includes the library of the Prizren Faculty of Theology, with one of the richest spiritual archives in the area. Serbs who fled from Prizren said the faculty building had been plundered and partly burned, so that one can only suspect what happened to the books, Ristic said".
The timing of this release is remarkable. The 20th of December 1999 is just a few days after the announcement of the major finding of the National and University Library survey, accusing Serbs of destroying libraries. Furthermore the article in several phrases indicates that an overview of the situation is not yet accomplished. More than six months after the end of the war it is still only suspected what happened "to one of the richest spiritual archives in the area" at the Faculty of the Theology or rather the Seminary and theological library of Serb-Orthodox Church in Prizren. According to Andras Riedlmayer this building is intact and closely guarded by German KFOR soldiers. Since the end of the war in June 1999, the seminary has served as a shelter for Serb, Roma, ethnic Turk and Albanian refugees. We have found no Kosovar Serb sources claiming that damages has been done to this library.
The Prishtina City Library has not been burned, and again the numbers of library books are exaggerated and inexact. The Center for Peace and Tolerance in Belgrade provided reports from sources in Prishtina on attacks on and harassment of ethnic Serbs in Kosova from June 18 to September 2 1999, including detailed accounts of thefts or occupied apartments (http://www.cptkosovo.org.yu/English/default.htm). This Serb source only has one mention of libraries during this period. On June 28th 1999 it states that: "The public library of Pristina is forcibly occupied, and the car, Skoda Felicia, registration plates: PR 104 11, dark blue metallic was stolen, Kralja Milutina St. No 10". There is no mention of libraries demolished or books destroyed in Prishtina or elsewhere in Kosova, though many violations of different nature are listed.
The article claims that all Serb employees have been dismissed form the National and University Library of Prishtina. Mr. Gerguri informed us that the ethnic Serb employees had been offered to return to their jobs, but that nobody accepted this invitation. Some libraries in the areas now dominated by ethnic Albanians informed us that they had offered the former Serb employees to return to their jobs, some of these employees had even showed up to do so, but none had actually resumed service. Fear of personal security seems to be the obvious reason for this.
The article clearly seems to be produced as a propaganda response to the allegations made by ethnic Albanians. The information revealed is inaccurate and even incorrect and the interview seems to be outdated reflecting the confusing days immediately after the war and with no knowledge of the situation at the time of publication (December 1999).
It is impossible to rule out that some libraries may have been destroyed by ethnic Albanians attacking 'Serb cultural institutions'. We saw no indications in the libraries visited, that Serb books had been systematically destroyed or demolished. Actually, in some of the most damaged areas like Rahovec/Orahovac, books in Serbian were the only ones left.
Representatives of almost all libraries visited by our mission stressed the fact that they still contained books in Serb and random checks of books on the shelves confirmed this. Mr. Hajrulla Mustafa, director of the Municipal Library in Mitrovice, stated: "We must keep all books, never mind the language". Though these books now are of very little or no use to the libraries and their users they are still kept and preserved.
3.6 Co-operation and reconciliation perspectives
Today there is no co-operation, or even contact, between professionals of the ethnic Albanian majority and professionals in ethnic Serbian enclaves. We only encountered one example of any attempt to establish some co-operation. The director of the main public library in Prishtina, the "Hivzi Sulejman Library", Mr. Sulejman Pireva, told us that he had had a conversation with a Serb librarian in Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje. Mr. Pireva had suggested some exchange of books - books in Serb for books in Albanian, and vice versa, but nothing had come out of it and there had been no further contacts.
We discussed the question of co-operation with several ethnic Albanian librarians. None of these rejected the idea, but all stated that it would be impossible, as they cannot, or rather dare not, go into the Serb enclaves. When we travelled to visit the largest Serb enclave, Mr. Jetish Kadishani, who is responsible for contacts with public libraries at the National and University Library, joined us. Mr. Kaishani didn't dare go with us into the Serb enclave, though we were driving in a UN vehicle, so he stayed in the main library of Mitrovice. Later we were informed that he had tried to pass a message to the librarians in Leposaviq through us. Mr. Kadishani does not speak any foreign languages, so he had asked the UN-employed driver, an ethnic Serb who spoke English, to ask us, if we could offer some co-operation. The driver never mentioned this to us. The reason for this is likely to be that the offer was conditioned by an acceptance of the Republic of Kosova.
We also asked the library director of the public library in Leposaviq, Mr. Milomir Tanaskovic, if he would be interested in some co-operation with the main public library in Mitrovice, which is located on the South-side of the river Ibrit in the ethnic Albanian part of the town. He said that he would be interested in contacts with both Mitrovice and Prishtina, but that he didn't know the people in charge there and even doubted if they held their positions legitimately. On the other hand his library was quite isolated and there were no contacts with libraries in Serbia - though the library had all Serbian daily newspapers on the day of issue. He stated that: "If I enter into such co-operation, I will be the first in this area doing so - in any field"
The general impression during our mission was that the immediate possibilities of co-operation and reconciliation are very limited. It seems that the problems derive from the overall political climate in Kosova and not as much from personal or professional conflicts. Many of the people we talked to implied that co-operation might raise some problems with their own ethnic group. Mr. Sulejman, director of Prishtina Municipal Library, delivered a very characteristic remark on the relation between Kosovar Serb and Albanian library professionals: "If they show any interest, or contact us, it is ok".
4. Specific assessment of institutions and sectors
In the course of the twelve days of our stay in Kosova we were able to visit all regions all 5 districts of Kosova, all major cities and 13 of 29 municipalities, including Leposavic in the major Serb enclave north of Mitrovice. We visited more than 20 libraries and other cultural institutions and had official meetings with UNMIK and 4 other important international organisations. We made professional interviews and had talks with more than 45 persons - and met hundreds of Kosovar library and cultural workers. The information provided in this part of our report is based on our own experiences and supplemented by other sources referred to in the text.
Figure 4. Map of Kosova including districts and municipalities. Place names in Serbian.
4.1 National and University Library of Kosova
The National and University Library of Kosova has its origins as a Regional Library founded in 1944 in Prizren (1944-1963), and later, as a Provincial Library (1963-1970). When the University of Kosova was founded in 1970, the Library also took on the functions and name of National and University library.
The construction of the current building, located in Central Prishtina, began in 1974 and the new library was inaugurated on November 25 1982. Built in a style blending Byzantine and Islamic architectural forms, by 1983 the Library's holdings were comprised of 600,000 items. The seven-level building with 12,000 sq. meter of usable area, houses two reading rooms with respectively 300 and 100 seats, a periodicals reading room, rooms for special collections, cataloguing and research, a 150-seat amphitheatre and a 75-seat meeting hall. It has the capacity to accommodate two million volumes. The book stacks are located on two levels below grade and are closed to the public, as is a common practice in the region.
The N&U Library functions as a legal depository library for all materials published in Kosova. The library had by legal deposit law been receiving 8 copies of all works published in Kosova and one copy of all works published in the other Republics of Yugoslavia by exchange with their National libraries. Mr. Gerguri hopes to enlarge library holdings with Albanian-language publications published in the West "everything written in Albanian". This is the practice, for example, in Croatia, where the N&U Library collects "Croatica", and in Slovenia, where the National and University Library collects "Slovenica", by exchange with other libraries and/or purchase.
The National and University Library intends to reassume the task of producing a national bibliography. We discussed with Mr. Gerguri the question of a bibliography of Albanica versus one embracing all publications deriving from Kosova, including Serbian- and other language publications. The existing law on libraries clearly proscribes that the National and University Library: "Makes the updated and retrospective bibliography of the library material of the nations and nationalities of the Autonomous Socialist Province of Kosova".
Up to 1990/91, the Library was linked via an on-line catalogue to all other national libraries in then Yugoslavia through a joint bibliographic database installed on a host computer in Maribor, Slovenia. At present, only a card catalogue is offered to the readers. The old 1980's computer, which was used to access the catalogue, is still found in the basement and it is not clear whether any back-up cataloguing tapes exist. The library director expects that the data contained in those computers could be converted to a new system.
Though severely neglected, the building is intact, except for some minor damages to the main entrance area. The library is equipped with an automated book ordering and delivery systems, but currently both the book conveyor belt and the building elevators are inoperable. The librarians hand-carries books from the stacks in the basement to the reading rooms. As everywhere else in Prishtina electricity is irregular and there is no heating.
There are major problems with water penetration in the lowest level. Water is standing on the floor, and some shelves are already rusting. The building is on a slope and appears to have been constructed with a sump that required pumping out, but with the failure of the electricity and the removal of the back-up generator the situation has deteriorated rapidly. The book stack is at substantial risk, and failure to restore pumping will create a major problem due to the need to replace stack and equipment.
Though more than 100.000 books have been removed the main research collection of the National and University Library has survived essentially intact. But in ten years only 22,000 items were added to the collection, none of them in Albanian. Since the end of the war there has been no money to buy books to make up for the lost years, but the library often receives donations for the
According to Mr. Bruce Jackson the Oriental Manuscript and Albanian language printed collections has suffered particularly. Since documentation was not complete in 1990, it is not possible to be totally precise about the damage suffered. Manuscripts are now stored in a single room, and many are in poor condition.
Before 1991 the N&U Library carried out its activities through 11 professional and administrative sections, with 139 librarians and other technical staff. Today the library employs a staff of 70, around 50 librarians and 20-22 technical staff. During February/March 2000 further 10 people will be employed. We were informed that priority would be given to younger professionals. According to Mr. Gerguri the library used to have up to 10.000 registered users a year and approximately 1.000 daily users. Today the number is heavily reduced. Although the Library is open to students the lack of electricity is forcing early afternoon closure and the lack of heating equally causes limitations to use. This may be better when spring and summer arrives, but many students and teachers have left the university to work with international NGO’s and UNMIK administration. A local cartoon pictured two people meeting in the street, one saying to the other: "Have you heard, they have closed the university?" - "No, why?" - "The are no students and teachers left. They all work with the internationals".
Around 150 canisters of Kosova Film material were found on the floor. It was not known whether they were still to be preserved, but we were informed that they would be shelved to reduce the risk of damage.
Some international initiatives have been taken to support the N&U Library. Tania Vitvitsky, Project Director at the Sabre Foundation, went to Prishtina in October 1999 for an assessment visit and is working with government agencies and publishers to set up a book donation program. The Soros Foundation has provided access for three years to an on-line database of EBSCO holding approximately 4,500 periodicals. As there is no International Mail service to Kosova, the mailing of journal subscriptions is not feasible at this time, but the electronic access and the possibility to make prints are major achievements in user service. IOM has sponsored the renovation of a smaller section of the N&U Library and set up an Internet Center accommodating computer terminals and workstations.
The library is now attempting to re-establish relations with library professionals outside Kosova. Mr. Gerguri informed us that 10 Kosovar librarians, 6 from the N&U library, one from Vushtrri, one from Mitrovice, one from Gllogovc and one from Skenderaj, were going to attend a conference in Croatia on the 26th And 27th of April this year. Furthermore the N&U library on the 16th of February signed an agreement with the National Library of Albania in Tirana on future co-operation, including the exchange of two copies of all printed material in Albanian and of bibliographic data.
The most pressing problems facing the National and University library at this point are:
- Missing, damaged or outdated equipment:
- Provision of generator to operate pump to prevent major problems with large cost implications
- Restoration of electricity supply
- Repairs to book delivery system and lifts
- Provision of general office equipment
- Restoration of telephone lines
- The need to make up for a decade of neglect of collection development:
- Replacement of Albanian texts destroyed in the 1990s (possibly through contact with other copyright libraries in the former Yugoslavia)
- Provision of modern student textbooks
- Provision of new English-language books with these priorities: Medical, Engineering,
Computer science, Reference (dictionaries and encyclopaedias), Business/economics, Law,
Art/music, Mining (coal, gold, silver) and English language
- The need for conservation and preservation measures
- Relocation of manuscripts to secure, controlled storage
- Conservation programmes with refresher training possibly in Italy?
- Provision of conservation materials and equipment in tandem with restart of conservation at Archives of Kosova
- The loss of on-line catalogue records and automated systems:
- a new automated system
- re-conversion of digital catalogue
- The need for professional training:
- short courses and workshop for library staff workshops by visiting experts
4.2 Academic and faculty libraries
The University of Prishtina embraces 7 high schools (teachers and technical training colleges) and 13 faculties. A High School is a two-year university-level college. Such schools are commonly teachers training or engineering colleges.
The high schools are: 1) a Teachers Training College, Prishtina, 2) a Teachers Training College, Prizren, 3) a Teachers Training College, Gjakova, 4) a Teachers Training College, Gjilan, 5) a College of Economics, Peja, 6) a Engineering College, Ferizaj, and 7) a Engineering College, Mitrovice.
The faculties are: 1) the Faculty of Philosophy, Prishtina, 2) the Faculty of Philology, Prishtina, 3) the Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Prishtina, 4) the Faculty of Law, Prishtina, 5) the Faculty of Economics, Prishtina, 6) the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Prishtina, 7) the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Prishtina, 8) the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Prishtina, 9) the Medical Faculty, Prishtina, 10) the Faculty of Arts, Prishtina, 11) the Faculty Mining and Metallurgy, Mitrovice, 12) the Faculty of Physical Training (Sports), Prishtina, and 13) the Faculty of Agriculture, Prishtina.
The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences includes 5 libraries or book collections allocated to different buildings and departments. All of these were looted and need new books, journals and computers providing access to databases and the Internet. The Faculty of Philology also reports that many books in Albanian and Foreign languages were looted. The Faculty of Economics reports that the library of more than 20.000 books in three languages was looted. There is a need of library equipment, professional literature and scientific magazines.
At the library of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture all but two dozen volumes are reported to have been removed. At the Faculty of Law a lot of technical instruments, water heaters, telephones, computers, etc. were stolen and some books and documents devastated. The fund of books and the entire library inventory has been removed. A 100,000-volume collection was subsequently discovered by KFOR stashed in various locations around Prishtina, boxed for shipping and marked with Cyrillic labels reading "Biblioteka". The Library of the Faculty of Law is in need of modern law literature as well as other common sciences; electronic equipment; computers and alike.
KFOS is involved in a project proving basic literature for the University faculties. The project aims to have 40 core titles within different specialities translated into Albanian. The titles have been selected on the basis of requests and suggestions from the University faculties.
We visited the library of the Teachers Training College or Higher Pedagogical School of Gjilan, which had not been damaged during the war. The library stocks are 50.000 books and the collections are intact, but suffer from the lack of acquisitions during the last decade. The facilities are fairly good including a reading room with around 30 seats.
4.3.1 Prishtina/Pristina district:
Prishtina/Pristina, Podujevë/Podujeva, Gllogovc/Glogovac, Obiliq/Obilic, Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje, Lipjan/Lipljan, Shtime/Stimlje
The region of Prishtina is the largest in both geographical extension and number of inhabitants and it contains the capital of Kosova. It is situated in the central eastern part of Kosova and borders the Federal Yugoslav Republic of Serbia in the northeast.
Prishtina/Pristina Municipal Libraries
The municipality of Prishtina has 17 public libraries, the main library in Prishtina and 16 branch libraries in and around Prishtina: The Youth Palace, the library of "Përrallave"(Fairy tales), the school boys literature library, Hade, Mramor, Kaçikollë, Jugoviq, Barilevë, Llukar, Koliq, Hajvali, Laple Sellë, Graçanicë, çadlavicë, Slivovë and Viti of Mareci. The main library in the city had about 58.475 books and 16 branch libraries 108.541 books, a total of 167.016 books. The Serbian Black Hand burned the libraries in Hade, Koliq and Viti of Mareci. The number of books destroyed is about 23.000. Today there is no contact between the main municipal library and branches in Serb villages, e.g. Jugoviq.
The main municipal library in Prishtina, the "Hivzi Sulejmani Library", includes reading rooms for both children and adults. With the exception of the reading rooms, the facilities are in poor condition, damp and musty. Some windows were damaged by shocks from the bombing, but have been repaired, and the Serbs removed all technical equipment. Only one computer is available for the entire network. The main library including special branches in the city currently holds books in four languages and in the following quantities: 70,000 in Albanian, 37,000 in Serbian, 3,000 in Turkish and 1,100 in English.
Before the war the Prishtina library system had and a Serb director and 44 employees - 34 Serbs and 10 Albanians, 19 of which were working at the main library. Now there are 32 employees - all ethnic Albanians - and still 19 working in the main library. The present numbers do not include staff working in branches located in Serb-dominated areas.
From 1992 the former Serbian library director, Mr Dragolub Petrovic, no longer purchased Albanian-language books. In the shelves were fairly recently published books in Serbian, while the Albanian- and foreign language books were older. Serbian-language books are being maintained at the library.
According to Mr. Pireva, the most pressing needs are renewal of collections, reconstruction of damaged branch libraries, new premises for the main library, and more spacious reading rooms. The lack of Albanian-language books has had the result that library visits have dropped, especially among children. Before 1992, the region had 15,000 registered young readers, now only 4,000.
According to a report of Tania Vitvitsky, Sabre Foundation, the main Children's Library which is housed in a building donated to the city by a well-known Kosovar writer, is well equipped with children's furniture, but rather bare of both books and wall decorations (posters, etc.). Currently under-utilised, the Library cannot even afford a sign on the door.
In terms of acquisition, Albanian-language books for young readers are the priority according to the Director, but English-language materials, not only books but also other educational materials such as posters, puzzles, manipulatives, etc. suitable for pre-school to elementary and high school-age children, are of interest. For students and adults, the priorities for donated English-language books are science, business and economics, and fiction.
The Library has submitted a document describing the priority needs of the library network to IOM, which has resulted in co-operation with both IOM and KFOS in supplying children’s books.
Gllogovc/Glogovac Municipal Library
The municipal library system of Gllogovc was severely damaged during the war. The main library located in a wooden barrack on the grounds of a school was shelled and burned down, probably around the 20th of April 1999. The main library had 32.000 books of which only 380 remains.
The municipality used to have 7 public libraries with a total of 73.000 books, including 6 branches in Tërstenik, Komoran, Arllat, Sankoc, Baicë and Gradicë. Three libraries, including the main library, burned down and three others badly damaged. A total of almost 66.500 books has been detroyed. Serb forces were reported to have killed the librarian Izet Elshani (48), father of four children, burned the library with 9.500 books, expelled his family by force and burned his house.
Today the municipality of Gllogoc has in fact only one library with around 6.500 books. According to the director of Theatre, Culture and Sports, Mr. Xhemë Binaku, there are now plans to reopen three libraries of which one is the main library, but still books are lacking and it is uncertain whether a suitable location and building is available. Furthermore there is the problem of salaries; the library system employs 6 library workers and only one librarian has so far received any payment. Until 1991 the library employed 8 librarians, but then ethnic Albanian librarians were dismissed.
There is a heavy need for funding to build a new main library or renovate facilities suitable, to acquire new books to replace losses, and to buy equipment and furniture
Peja/Pec, Istog/Istok, Kline/Klina, Decane/Decani, Gjakovë/Djakovica
The Peja district constitutes the most western part of Kosova bordering Federal Yugoslav Republics of Serbia and Montenegro in the north and Albania in the south.
Peja/Pec Municipal Library
The municipality of Peja, before Serbian coercive measure in 1990 had 6 public libraries with 87.212 books. Only the city library of Peja and the branch library in Gorazhdec, which is mostly stocked with books in Serbo-Croatian, have survived until after the war. Four branch libraries in the countryside, Vitomiricë, Baran, Tërstenik, and Zahaq, were burned Serbs and 20.171 books were demolished.
The main public library in Peja, which had around 65.000 books, survived the war even though large parts of the city were destroyed. The library was situated in the House of Culture in the town center, but in the aftermath the building was required by the UNMIK and is now functioning as central UNMIK police station. The books of the library are secured and locked up in a room on the 4th floor of the building. We didn't have the time to gain access to the library, but we saw the poor remains of the instruments and books from the Music School in Peja. Though they were stocked in secure rooms, they have been handled and kept without care and will probably be of little or no use in future.
Mr. Marco Mayer, the UNMIK responsible of Culture in Peja, assured us that the reopening of the library has high priority within the UNMIK administration and that he was working to identify a suitable location for the library. A new location providing two smaller rooms were at hand, but were also suggested to house a new Youth center. The IRC (International Rescue Committee) had shown interest in funding some cultural activity in Peja, but seemed to prefer the Youth center. In spite of this, the decision to reopen the library at the new location was taken, while we were in the city.
There is a heavy need for funds to build a new library or reconstruct a suitable building. The solution to reopen the main library in two rooms must be regarded as a temporary measure. The genuine reconstruction must include reading room(s), children’s library, new books, user access to computers, and new equipment and furniture of all kinds.
Mr. Marco Mayer also confirmed the information concerning the libraries in Western Kosova (Decane, Kline, Istoq and Gjakova) provided by the survey of the National and University Library.
Gjakova/Djakovica Municipal Library
Before Serbian coercive measure in 1989, the municipality of Gjakova had 7 public libraries with a total amount of 105.443 books. The main library had 42.193 books, while the branch libraries in Skivjan, Rogovë, Biztazhin, Ponoshec, Brekoc and Cërmjanë had 63.250 books.
The main library has suffered no damages, but two of six branches, Cërmjani and Brekoc, were burned down allegedly by the Serbian Black Hand in April or May 1999. One of these, Cërmjai, was located in a primary school. Today Gjakova therefore has only five libraries with a total amount of 83.061 books. A total of 22.382 books were destroyed. Today three branch libraries are in function.
The main Municipal Library of Gjakova is located in the first floor of the town’s House of Culture and includes two rooms open to the public; a reading room with 20-30 seats and a room stocking the books. The library started working again on February 1 2000. In general all the books were saved, and the only damages to the facilities was disordering of the reading room, but for ten years no new books in Albanian were bought. The library held around 25.000 books in Albanian and 15.000 in Serbo-Croatian, but today only 5.000 books in Serbian remains, according to the director Mr. Masar Peja, the rest was removed by the Serbs.
Mr. Peja was assigned as director in 1989, but 1990 he was transferred to the position as guard and later dismissed and expelled. The main library now employs five people - all ethnic Albanians, but before the war two ethnic Serbs and two ethnic Albanians were working in shifts. The Serbs had left when KFOR entered Kosova on June 13 1999.
When asked about other libraries in the Gjakova area, Mr. Masar Peja told us that all primary school libraries had survived the war. He also informed us that a local textile enterprise has its own library, but he didn’t know of its condition. Equally he had no information about the library at the Teachers Training College in town.
Mr. Peja indicated a special need for bookshelves, new books, also in foreign languages (English, French and German), computers and other equipment (the library has no telephone). There is a demand for books for students related to the studies of various sciences like chemistry, economics, technics and medicine. The students are very interested in books in foreign languages. Today most readers bring their own books, when using the library reading room. He said that they had received many visits from NGOs, but had so far received no support.
He also informed us that the library had plans to open a small bookshop at the entrance on the ground floor aiming to sell books at fair and low prices in order to make an income for the library.
4.3.3 Mitrovice/Kosovska Mitrovica district
Mitrovice/Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposaviq/Leposavic, Zvecan/Zvecan, Zubin Potok/Zubin Potok, Skenderaj/Srbica, Vushtrri/Vucitrn
The Mitrovice district is the most northernly region in Kosova bordering the Federal Yugoslav Republic of Serbia to the north-west, north and north-east. The district has become clearly divided between a northern ethnic Serb dominated part comprising the municipalities of Leposaviq, Zvecan and Zubin Potok and Mitrovice north of Ibar river and a southern ethnic Albanian part comprising Vushtrri, Skenderaj and southern Mitrovice.
Mitrovice/Kosovsko Mitrovica Municipal Library
The Municipal Library of Mitrovice is located south of the river Ibrit in the part of the town now mainly inhabited by ethnic Albanians. From 1945 the main library has functioned both as Municipal and Regional library. The municipal library system consist of the main library and six district libraries or branches of which two were destroyed by Serbs during the war, Tunel te Pare and Trepcha. In December a plan to reconctruct the library in Tunel was forwarded to UNMIK. Only three branches were actually in function in the period before the war.
Today the main library stocks 117.206 books; 62.995 in Albanian, 51.819 in Serbian and 2.392 in Turkish. The library survived the war without major damages to the 1.089 square meter building, though some older shelves in one room collapsed due to the blast and vibrations of a nearby explosion. The Serbs removed all technical equipment (telephones, fax etc) during the war.
The present director, Mr. Hajrulla Mustafa, is the first non-Serb director of the library. The director, Mr. Hajrulla Mustafa, characterised the library as the cultural center of the town, as it is now the only cultural institution functioning in Mitrovice - the UN now uses the building of the House of Culture. The library provides services for children and youth as well as professionals. Since the war the library has hosted 17 different meetings and cultural sessions. There is a growing interest for books and reading and the library today has more users than before the war. The supply of children’s books is insufficient. They provide the daily newspapers and many people without jobs come regularly to read the papers.
The library is in need of new books in Albanian, Serbian, English and other European languages. People want to learn new languages. There is a special need of professional literature in foreign languages.
After the war a library project (DM 33.000) was established through the humanitarian organisation, American Friends Service Committee, which enabled the acquisition of 18.300 new books.
At a brief meeting in the Mitrovice UNMIK Regional HQ, Mr. Ahmad Shamsu Deen-Cole, Civil Affair Officer of Culture, in general confirmed the information from the N&U Library survey regarding libraries in the region. The libraries in Vushtri and especially Skenderaj needs rehabilitation, the library of Mitrovice is fairly ok, and the library of Zubin Potok needs rehabilitation as it is victim of neglect.
Leposaviq/Leposavic Municipal Library
The municipal libraries of Leposavic in the Northern Serb enclave are undamaged. Today the system consists of the main library in the town itself, two branches in Leshak and Socanice and a school library in Vraceve, serving an area inhabited by 15.000 people. 5.000 live in the town Leposavic itself. Today 98% of the population is Serb. There used to be three ethnic Albanian villages in the area. There used to be a branch library in Banja, but it is not functioning anymore.
The main library stacks include 13.500 books, the branch library of Leshak 5.392 and the branch library of Socanice 6.702. They receive supplies of new books from the Yugoslav Ministry of Culture, but lack space. The library includes no technical equipment, like photocopier, fax, computer or television.
After the war three new educational institutions have moved to the town; a college of gymnastics and sports, a high school of economics and business and a teacher's high school. There is no cooperation with other library systems. Before the war interlibrary loans were part of a normal praxis, but not any more. The library system employs 10 people; the director, six librarians, two administrative clerks and one assistant. Two librarians are working in Socanice and one in Leshak. The libraries have around 1.000 registered users with a large proportion of children and youngsters (more than 50%). There has been a decrease in loans in 1999 - a good 15.000 compared to a normal of around 20.000.
Vushtrri/Vucitrn Municipal Library
Until 1990 the municipality of Vushtrri had 9 public libraries with 77.284 books. The main library had 34.000 books, while the 8 branches in Maxhunaj, Dumnicë, Samadrexhë, Pantinë, Strofc, Duboc, Smrekonicë and Prelluzhë had a little more than 43.000 books.
Today the main library and five branches are functioning, though the main library has lost more than 16.000 books and the branch libraries in Strofc and Duboc has been burned down by local Serbs. The building of the library in Dumnicë was also destroyed, but some books survived and are kept in a classroom at the local school. The libraries of Smrekonica and Prelluzha were damaged. All in all around 38.000 books and many inventories were destroyed in the municipality. The library in Pantinë was only reopened at the end of February 2000.
Prelluzhë is an ethnic Serb dominated village, so the director, Mr. Izet Aliu, could give no exact information, as there was no contact: "We don’t have the courage to go there". The librarians at the main library claimed that they had tried to talk with their colleagues in Prelluzhë, but that they were not willing to co-operate.
In 1992 the ethnic Albanians were expelled from the main library, but the continued working in a parallel library system based on branch libraries in the municipality. According to the director the library system of Vushtrri employs 11 library workers, four of these in the main library and 7 in the branches. The main library is located within the House of Culture, but was made an administrative independent unit around the 1 of March 2000. The leadership of the House of Culture has approved this new status.
The libraries in this municipality need rehabilitation; better facilities, more space and a reading room, new books (almost half the books has been destroyed) and computers.
Skenderaj/Srbica Public Library
Before 1990 the municipality of Skenderaj had 7 public libraries with a total of around 68.000 books. The main library had 20.000, while the branches in Likoc, Turizek, Runik, Klinë e Epërme and Prekaz i Epërme with 48.000 books. All the branches in the countryside were demolished to some degree by the Serbian Black Hand; only two library buildings survived – the others were burned - and all the books are gone.
The main municipal library of Skenderaj has except for some damages to the building survived, but is not functioning. The library is located in and administered by the House of Culture. The building is fairly modern and spacious, but suffers from years of neglect. The roof is leaking and all furniture and other equipment has been removed. Though formally intact book collection is in a very bad shape; some books has been damaged by water, some taken away and the remainder is maltreated. Some books were used as 'stepping stones' in the ponds on the floor. The IRC (International Rescue Committee) this summer plans to start rehabilitation of the building and has promised to assist in providing new furniture as well. The library system today employs four librarians.
4.3.4 Gjilan/Gnjilane district
Gjilan/Gnjilane, Shterpcë/Strpce, Kaçanik/Kacnik, Viti/Vitina, Ferizaj/Urosevac, Novobërdë/Novo Brdo, Kamenicë/Kosovska Kamenica
The Gjilan district is located in the south-eastern corner of Kosova. The district borders the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the south and to the Federal Yugoslav Republic of Serbia to the east.
Gjilan/Gnjilane Municipal Library
Before 1990 the municipality of Gjilan had 14 public libraries with 167.562 books. The main library had almost 74.000 books (65% in Albanian), while the branch libraries in Zhegër, Pogragjë, Bresalc, Përlepnicë, Pasjan, Koretisht, Partesh, Budrikë e Ület, Dobërçan, Cërnicë, Malishevë, Llashticë and Shurdhan had 95.546 books.
Today the municipality of Gjilani has 10 working municipal libraries with a total of 116.832 books.
The main library was reopened after the war on June 21 1999. In this municipality the 4 libraries in Dobërçan, Cërnicë, Malishevë and Shurdhan have been destroyed and closed since 1990. Three of these branches were burned down, while the fourth in Malishevë was closed 8 years ago and it has not yet been possible to reopen it. The library was a mixed Serb-Albanian library and all books in Serbian were sent to other branches. Four other branch libraries in Pasjan, Partesh, Budrikë e Ulët and Koretishtë are in Serb areas. According to the director of the municipal libraries, Mr. Shefki Osmani, they are ok and working, but there is no contact to the municipal library system.
Practically no destruction was done to the main library - only 2.000 titles were missing, but more than 64.000 books in Albanian were destroyed in the villages. The branch libraries have since the end of the war received 11.000 new books, but "not the books, the readers want", said Mr. Osmani. The main library still holds 74.000 books in Albanian (64%), Serbian, Turkish and English. Almost all titles in Albanian were published before 1990.
The municipality has 140.000 inhabitants out of which 64.000 live in the city of Gjilan itself. The libraries of this municipality are independent from the House of Culture and are working organisations of their own. The library system today employs a staff of 15 – 11 ethnic Albanians and four ethnic Serbs.
The libraries of Gjilan have received no assistance from international NGOs, but support from local enterprises, e.g. the local company Compact. The Gjilan municipal library system is one of the best functioning library systems in Kosova, despite the difficult situation it has even had the surplus to donate 1000 titles for the library of Gllogovc.
There is a lack of qualified staff and the present staff has not been paid since they started working again after the war. The library lacks a decent reading room and inventory. It does not have a computer, a fax or a photocopier at disposition.
Ferizaj/Urosevac Municipal Library
Before 1990 the municipality of Ferizaj had 7 public libraries with 60.565 books. The main library had 30.913 books, while branches in Gaçkë, Kamogllavë, Talinoc të Muhaxherëve, Nerodime, Babush and Shtërpcë had 29.252 books, but libraries, including buildings and inventory and book collections, were destroyed here as well. The municipality now has five libraries left with total amount of 34.213 books. The main library now holds 2.700 children’s books (before 10.705 – almost 75% in Albanian) and 5.647 books for grown-ups (before 20.208). The branch libraries now only stock 16.652 books in total. The two branch libraries in Shtërpcë and Babush have been destroyed and in Nerodime the books have disappeared, and may have been destroyed.
The main library includes only a small reading room and lacks space for children. The director, Ms. Servete Krasniqi-Hajrullah, who was appointed director after the war, informed us that the branch library of Babush is now being rebuilt. The library system employs 10 to 11 people - three in the main library. None of the employees has had any salary since the end of the war, and since 1987 no acquisition of new books in Albanian has been made.
4.3.5 Prizren/Prizren district
Prizren/Prizren, Suharekë/Suva Reka, Rahovec/Orahovac, Malishevë/Malisevo, Dragash/Gora
The Prizren district constitutes the southernmost part of Kosova and is bounded to the south-west by the mountainous border to Albania and to the south-east by the mountainous border to the Former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia.
Prizren/Prizren Municipal Library
Before 1990 the municipality of Prizren had 8 public libraries with a total amount of 82.293 books. The main library in Prizren had 54.462 books, while 7 branches and combined libraries (school and public) in Zhur, Velezhë, Sredski, Lubizhdë, Pirana, Mamusha and Zym had 27.831 books. The libraries in general survived the war without major damages, though the library in Zhur, the biggest village of the municipality, collapsed as a consequence of Nato bombing. Books and furniture from the library were saved and are now stocked in the main library. The director of the House of Culture, Mr. Dashnor Xerxa, informed us that there are efforts made to find a new location and re-establish the branch library. Furthermore a total of around 24.000 library books have been destroyed or removed in the municipality
The main library of Prizren was established in 1944 and was reopened immediately after the war on June 15th 1999. The library stacks now include 39.945 books: 12.268 in Albanian, 22.216 in Serbian, 5.382 in Turkish and 79 in foreign languages. There has been no acquisitions made during the last ten years and even the books in stacks are in bad condition. The main library is located in and still administered by the House of Culture. The municipal council will decide if the library should be made an independent institution. In 1991 ethnic Albanians were dismissed from the libraries, though some still worked there. The library has been without director except for the last two years (1998-1999), when an ethnic Serb director was appointed. There are three library professionals employed at the main library and Mr. Xerxa would soon request for 2-3 more.
Today the branch libraries stock a total of around 18.000 books. The branches in Velezhë, Lubidzhdë and Pirana are combined school and public libraries located in schools. The library of Zym was closed in 1988, but has been reopened in January 2000 and is now operated by a professional librarian. All other branches are managed by school teachers and are still not functioning. The library in Mamusha, which was a Turkish library, is now closed, but the books are stored in the main library. Sredski is an ethnic Serb village and the library is located in the House of Culture, but there is no contact with the other libraries in the municipality and Mr. Xerxa had no information on the conditions in the library.
Mr. Xerxa indicated needs for new locations for library branches, an overall need for new books and at least three computers. He had submitted a request for a generator to the UNMIK administration and had been promised DM 3.000, but still lacked DM 2.000.
Mr. Xerxa, who is also a professor at the Pedagogical High School, informed us that the faculty has a good library, including reading room, professional literature on physics, chemistry, mathematics, pedagogic and Albanian language and literature.
Malisheva/Malisevo Municipal Library
Prior to 1990 the municipality of Malisheva had five public libraries with almost 41.000 books. The main library had 13.000 books, while the branch libraries in Kijevë, Bajë, Bellanicë and Lubizhdë had had 28.000 books. During the last 10 years, especially during the war of 1999, libraries were practically totally destroyed in this municipality. Today only 1.096 books remain in the branch library of Kijeva, while all the other libraries have been destroyed.
The main municipal library was burned down in July 1998 and the three branch libraries in July 1999. Serb special units were responsible for the burning of houses. They used various units for different purposes. Not just random buildings were selected for burning, those that were suspected of housing offices were given priority. This municipality is one of the most damaged in regard to libraries and library books, both buildings and books or documents have been demolished.
Malisheva has 60.000 inhabitants and is considered one of the poorest areas in Kosova. There are no factories, no House of Culture and the municipality lacks even sewers. During 1998 the area was controlled by the KLA for 3 months and only three of 45 villages were intact after the war. All 21 schools including school libraries were burned down - the schools in town have been rebuild, but in the villages the schools are still in tents. The High school including a library was burned as well. Local enterprises used to have their small professional libraries as well but everything is burned down. The mayor of Malisheva, Mr. Gani Krasniqi said; "The Serbs not only didn’t invest, but the destroyed the small bits in existence".
The municipal authorities have found a location for a new main library, but need support from international NGOs and UNMIK to re-establish library services.
Rahovec/Orahovac Municipal Library
Before 1990 the municipality of Rahovec had five public libraries with a total of about 49.000 books. The main library had 15.320 books, while branches in Ratkoc, Krushë të Madhe, Xërxë and Hoç të Madhe had 33.786 books. The main library in central Rahovec has not been burned, but the building is in a very bad condition (the roof is leaking) and almost all the books have been destroyed or taken away. The library is not functioning and the remaining small collection of 1.200 books in Serbo-Croatian is stocked in the House of Culture. Three branch libraries have been totally burned while the fourth in Krushë të Madhe is the only library of the municipality still working.
34 villages in the area have been burned down and according to the Mayor, Agim Thaci, the only one that survived was Serb village. 10.226 houses were burned. He plans to reopen 10 libraries all in all including some combined school and public libraries in Quifflak, Drenoc, Malsi e Vogel and Raposte. The municipal co-ordinator of culture, Mr. Fehmi Hoxha informed us that all school libraries have been destroyed, including a high school library with two branches, in Rahovec and Krushë të Madhe.
Mr. Hoxha also informed us that he has forwarded a DM 118.000 plan to rehabilitate the building and its services to a German NGO, THW, which has its Balkan HQ in Rahovec. The plan includes a museum, an art gallery and a small scale reconstruction of the library (DM 37,534) involving repairs of the facilities, a reading room, equipment and furniture, and the acquisition of 3.500 books for children, 3.000 books for adults and additional 100 scientific books. The House of Culture is housed in a building constructed in 1962, but maintenance has been severely neglected. There is no electricity - no generator. He has also asked the municipal authorities to provide a new building for the library. "Culture is experience, we have to invest in culture, but not everybody understand that", Mr. Hoxha concluded.
There is no professional staff employed at the libraries, except for the librarian in Krushë të Madhe, Mr. Bajram Nalli, who is also House of Culture co-ordinator. The library of Krushë used to have 12.000 books (some in Serbian), but 6.000 books or 2.500 titles are lost. Most books were destroyed while borrowed along with the homes of library users. Mr. Nalli had lost his two sons, two brothers and five nephews in a massacre committed by Serbs in the village, but still intended to preserve the books in Serbian. Today the library services 400-600 readers. Mr. Nalli’s library and the House of Culture have received some support from ISC (Italian Social Center). This only functioning library in the municipality will soon be removed or closed, because the UNMIK needs the facilities for the civil registration process preparing for the local elections in the autumn.
The large majority of the librarians we met during our stay in Kosova was rooted in either public or academic libraries. When asked about school libraries they frequently answered that each primary school had its own library, and that they were intact and had survived the war. These answers were contradicted by the fact that most public library branches destroyed were located in countryside villages and often served as both school and public libraries. Furthermore it is certain that not every school had a library even according to official FRY statistics. And taking into account the situation of the Kosova educational system since 1989 - an official Serb-dominated system and a parallel inofficial Albanian, it is more than unlikely. They seem to refer more to the intentions of the legal acts, than actual facts.
These statements might either reflect some anxiety that potential assistance efforts and donor contributions should be directed to the school sector instead of their own institutions or simply a lack of real knowledge concerning the issue. Either way it indicates a need for better communication and co-operation between the educational and the cultural sector.
UNICEF has assessed the situation of 1.058, out of a total of 1.200 primary and secondary schools in Kosova. 873 have been committed for repair - 132 schools are totally destroyed and need to be totally rebuilt. Along with these schools, school libraries were also devastated.
271 schools are in the process of repair, and 379 have been completed. UNICEF has funded the work on 35 of the completed schools, UNHCR 96, and ECHO 111. The Red Cross and bilateral donations through NGOs and international organisations have funded the rest.
Water supply and electricity are lacking in many schools; latrines are lacking or in poor condition. The communications around many of these schools also require reconstruction with many homes uninhabitable. After looting and destruction of furniture, schools have requested desks, chairs and blackboards and UNICEF is involved in a range of relief projects, including support to local authorities in the provision of textbooks.
A co-ordinated initiative, the DESK (Designing an Education System for Kosova/Kosovo) is ongoing in order to reconstruct and develop a modernised educational system. Due to the total destruction as consequence of the war there were no books available for more than half the million pupils of elementary and secondary school at the beginning of the school year 1999-2000.
Under the auspices of UNMIK a Consortium on Textbooks for Kosova was established. The Consortium included some major donors: The Austrian Government / Federal Chancellery, Canadian Government / CIDA, Danish Government / DANIDA, Department for International Development, DFID / UK, Kosova Foundation for Open Society / KFOS, Plataforma por Kosova / Spain, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation / SDC, UNICEF and US Department-Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration / BPRM. The project has been co-ordinated by KFOS and OSI Budapest and the books were distributed through the network of Libri Shkollor, which covers every school in Kosova.
The consortium has succeeded to collect funds (around 5 million DM) for printing 192 school textbooks in Albanian with a total circulation of 3.2 million copies as well as for textbook supplies in Serbian, Bosnian and Turkish. To date 131 titles, approximately two million individual copies, have been printed and distributed. UNICEF Prishtina is also supporting the publishing and shipment of Bosnian textbooks from Sarajevo to Kosova for immediate distribution to Bosnian schoolchildren in Kosova.
EU (Education International) helps with the rebuilding of education facilities in Kosova. Education International has affiliates in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. SBASHK (Union of Education, Science and Culture of Kosovo), one of the affiliates, has set about ensuring educational services for Kosovar children and young people.
Like the librarians the Kosova Albanian teachers have been without salaries since autumn 1998, that is prior to and including the period of and after NATO intervention. A programme implemented with the assistance of UNICEF provides teachers’ kits.
Having established, in consultation with UNESCO, building standards for the rehabilitation and construction of schools, UNICEF will soon be seeking NGO partners to rebuild completely destroyed schools, with a US$ 24.3 million donation from the Government of Japan ensured through the UN Human Security Fund for a two-year programme. A total of 73 schools will be constructed, including a number of new schools. Around 300 schools will be provided with basic water and sanitation, following UNICEF's July 1999 assessment that found that 22 per cent of schools are without water, most schools have only exterior toilets, and very few have separate facilities for boys and girls. The same donation will fund a network of 35 model schools in which advanced teaching methods and curricula will be introduced, including schools with Turkish, Bosnian, and Serbian pupils. Support for the education authorities in Kosova will also be funded, while special training will be provided to the teachers of children with special needs.
The question of reconciliation and of cultural plurality is also attempted dealt with in the school sector. After lengthy negotiations, the school in Janjevo finally includes Croat and Roma children, in addition to Kosovar Albanian pupils. The Croat teachers are teaching at the same time as the Kosovar Albanians, in different classrooms. The school has a small library that includes Kosovar Albanian, Serb and Croat books.
On the 20th of March the OSCE started a distribution project delivering 10,000 children's books to schools across Kosova. The idea was born a year ago, when thousands of people were housed in refugee camps in Macedonia and Albania having left everything in Kosova and their children lost their literature. Texts were selected and funding was found from the NGO, Capanamor. But by the time the books were printed the camps had emptied. Those books are now boxed in sets of six with a play, poetry, short stories and two novels, going to the children for whom they were prepared. And instead of being handed out in the camps, the gifts are given in the classrooms of Kosova.
4.5 Religious libraries and book collections
Our mission did not perform a thorough analysis of the state of religious libraries and book collections. We visited shortly the Serb-Orthodox Patriarchat near Peja and the monastery of Ulpiana/Gracanice, but were not able to meet people, who could give extensive information on the situation of orthodox libraries and book collections. We tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting with Father Sava Janjic, the most prominent international representative of the Serb-Orthodox Church, but he was in the USA during the period of our mission.
A general description of the destruction of Serb-Orthodox churches was given. 82 churches, some of them including old books and manuscripts, have been completely or partly destroyed by ethnic Albanians during and after the war. The exact scale of the destruction of books and manuscripts is not known, but it is certain that many Serb-Orthodox churches and monasteries, have been looted, burned down or demolished by explosives. This information corresponds with information available from reporters and international media and we also saw e.g. the central Orthodox Church of Gjakova lying in ruins. To our knowledge all Serb-Orthodox religious building and monuments now have armed KFOR protection.
In October 1999 Andras Riedlmayer, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University, USA, spent three weeks in Kosova conducting a postwar survey of the state of cultural and religious heritage, including libraries. The survey, supported by a grant from the Packard Humanities Institute, was undertaken to assess wartime damage and to identify projects and institutions in need of assistance.
His report provides fairly detailed information on the state of both Christian and Muslim religious libraries and book collections:
"The three most important Serbian Orthodox institutions, the Serbian Patriarchate in Pec and the monasteries at Visoki Decani and Gracanica, have notable collections of manuscripts and documents from the medieval and Ottoman periods. These monasteries and their collections survived the war without damage and are under the protection of KFOR troops; some of the most valuable material had reportedly been moved to Serbia before the outbreak of the war. The Orthodox Church also has a seminary and theological library in Prizren (Bogoslovija Sv. Kirila i Metodija, est. 1871). Since the end of the war in June 1999, the seminary has served as a shelter for Serb refugees; we found the building intact and closely guarded by German KFOR soldiers.
The manuscript libraries and historic archives of the Islamic Community of Kosovo (KBI), which held the written record of 600 years of Islamic culture in the region, suffered terrible destruction. The most serious loss of non-governmental archives in Kosova was the burning of the KBI's Central Archive in the center of Pristina, housed in a building adjoining the fifteenth-century Sultan Murad Mosque. The Islamic Community archive was torched by Serbian policemen on 13 June 1999".
The Serbian Forces also destroyed other major Islamic manuscript collections in Kosova in March-June 1999. Among the most serious losses are according to Riedlmayer:
- The burning on 24 March of the library of Hadum Suleiman Aga in Djakovica with holdings of ca. 200 manuscripts and 1,300 rare books in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic and Aljamiado (Albanian in Arabic script), and the regional archives of the Islamic Community (KBI) with records going back to the 17th century.
- The destruction of the Bektashi tekke (dervish lodge) of Axhize Baba in Djakovica (Gjakova), which had one of the most valuable collections of Islamic manuscripts in the region.