Saving the national published heritage

The article Priceless Books Rot Due To Lack Of Funds (May 28) has provoked a notable reaction as many people seem concerned about the state of our national published heritage.

The Malta Library and Information Association (MaLIA) would like to point out that, as an association, it has been trying to bring this and other library-related issues to the attention of the competent authorities for many years. MaLIA's efforts to highlight the very important issues related to the local library scene include a Report On The State Of Maltese Libraries, published in 2006. This report, apart from giving a detailed analysis of the situation of all the various sectors of our libraries at the time, also made a number of recommendations on the way forward for all sectors, including the National Library of Malta. The section of this report dedicated to the National Library included 13 recommendations that referred to issues such as storage, collection development, budget and national and international cooperation.

MaLIA has repeatedly brought issues such as the preservation of priceless items to the attention of the competent authorities and was informed that new premises were acquired (in Ħal-Far) that should serve to alleviate the problem of lack of storage space, which is also contributing to the deterioration of our priceless collections. The fact that the restoration centre was moved to Bighi has definitely been a contributor to the current dire situation but, nevertheless, MaLIA feels that funding to ensure the preservation of our published national heritage should be allocated on a regular basis. Furthermore, the need to explore the possibility to involve the public, voluntary organisations and the commercial sector to ensure the necessary funding and support for the proper preservation of our priceless collections has been pointed out to the authorities for many, many years but, unfortunately, very little attention has been paid to these issues despite MaLIA's efforts.

This leads to another issue related to an important component of our national heritage that has been repeatedly overlooked despite MaLIA's frequent reminders to the authorities and also in articles printed in the local media: our national digital heritage. Apart from the online content, this includes audio and visual recordings in various formats including CD-ROMs and DVDs, databases and born-digital publications.

Despite the fact that we have had these various formats and internet access (and, consequently, publishing of local content) in Malta for the past 15 years or so, no effort has been made to try and preserve this important part of our national heritage. While other national libraries all over the world have made huge efforts to try and preserve digital content related to their national identity, no such efforts have yet been made at the national level. This means that important digital content that would have definitely helped future generations understand better the development of our society has now been lost forever.

While the initiative by the Lions Club Sliema is to be applauded and supported, MaLIA feels that more effort must be made by all parties involved if we are to seriously discuss and act to improve our local library scene. The urgent need for new legislation on libraries has been harped upon for the last six years and, despite recent developments and various contributions by MaLIA, this important piece of legislation seems to have fallen by the wayside once again.

To end on a positive note, MaLIA would like to support the recent initiative taken to promote the use of public libraries and the additional funds made available in the last Budget for the acquisition of books. Further steps to ensure that the National Library is in a position to preserve our national heritage and offer new and innovative services through appropriate funding and professionally-trained and qualified staff should be taken as soon as possible.

The article Minister To Lobby For More Funds For Book Restoration (May 31) is encouraging but we should look beyond trying to convince the Cabinet that we need to save our national heritage by allocating a few thousand euros. What is needed is a strategic plan, backed up by new legislation that provides the necessary infrastructure and leadership for our national and public libraries to move into the 21st century.

The author is deputy chairman and international relations officer, the Malta Library and Information Association.