National and University Library (NUL) BiH today marked two days ago its 69th anniversary at the City Hall today.
The marking of the anniversary was attended by numerous representatives of the National and University Library of BiH, the academic community, persons from the public and cultural life of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Academy of Arts and Sciences and representatives of the authorities and the diplomatic corps.
The introductory speech was delivered by Director of NUB BiH Ismet Ovčina, pointing out that this institution is the central institution in the field of librarianship in BiH during almost seven decades of existence. This library, he said, collected, documented, preserved and made available monographs and serial publications and other library materials.
Ovčina also recalled the difficult situation of NUB BiH as one of the seven cultural institutions with no resolved legal status since the end of the war, and therefore cannot apply for regular funding. He also noted that the Court takes the process in relation to establishing the right to use the City Hall as a pre-war home to library.
He stressed that the entire library preserves and nurtures the immeasurably valuable wealth of cultural and spiritual documentary BH legacy, and that is after a fire in August 1992 managed to preserve the most important part of the library fund – special collections.
“Despite the apocalyptic suffering, this library today has inherited the most precious specimens of BiH treasure – manuscripts, incunabula, rarities, graphic and cartographic collection, which is the preservation of pride, but also a huge responsibility of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.
As part of the program marking the 69th anniversary of the NUB BiH, the book “A library which has a past and future: National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina” by Amra Rešidbegović, which is a monograph of this institution, and the project “Prince Franz Ferdinand and Sophie: digital narrative” which brings digitized photographs of Ferdinand and Sophie from the library fund were presented.
(Source: Fena)
