Robert Mizzi
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.
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Joe Xuereb
Jun 2nd 2010, 18:02
Archives in manuscript form are hardly part of people's daily consciousness. And it's no surprise that many ignore their existence. This is not unlike the situation with our prehistoric monuments which, to many, are 'just a pile of stones'.
What is of concern is that the people who should be concerned, who are paid to be concerned, are not. A case in point is the current debate of the sheer dereliction - also of duty I should add - that is the Ghajn tal-Hasselin below Mdina (which I didn't know even existed until now). In these days of micro-chipping archives can be saved and, from that point on, be made available for research at minimal cost and no danger to the originals. It is a painstaking task but infinitely worthwhile. The work could be recorded in documentary fashion and televised thus raising people's awareness of things local for a change. It that does not shift the lethargy, nothing will.
Prof John Baldacchino
Jun 2nd 2010, 16:09
Not knowing the whole picture it is difficult to comment. However, it is clear that the National Library patently lacks funding. One finds this rather puzzling given that Malta's membership in the EU opened up further access to grants for this sort of thing. As an academic who worked in the United Kingdom and the United States, I appreciate the growing problem, especially when there are so many competing for the same funding. However in Malta there are no other Libraries of such significance competing for funds--except for the University Library, whose purpose is very different from that of the National Library. I am sure that with some initiative, maybe backed up by the Government and the Private Sector, funds could be found one way or another. It is a known fact that a lot of funds made available in the EU (particularly those within the Education sector) are often not claimed. One would like to think that funding the National Library would not be difficult to justify or indeed make a case for. This may need full time dedication, but Malta has a lot of talent and young graduates would jump to such opportunities.
William Zammit
Jun 2nd 2010, 13:38
The National Library of Malta houses a cultural patrimony of international importance. Successive governments, but also civil servants as well as the public in general have more or less ignored its needs, if not its existence altogether.
It is now time to move away from passing the blame around to actually do something about the situation. The true challenge in such situations is never so much a lack of financial resources as the absence of an honest, energetic and coordinated commitment to address such a precarious situation. Our country can muster the financial resources to save our National Library's treasures ... whether we have enough national pride to be willing to do so is another matter. Many voluntary associations like MaLIA as well as the private sector would be more than willing to contribute either financially or through their expertise once there is commitment on an administrative level.
William Zammit
Lina Caruana
Jun 2nd 2010, 11:09
As Maltese we are not very conscious about record keeping. Few people are aware that throwing away or destroying public records is a crime against society. There are several decaying records in dusty store rooms hidden away in the dark when there are researchers doing their best to reconstruct our heritage and history in the most pleasant and efficient ways to record it and exhibit the findings. To encourage research the public needs to be aware of the importance and utility of these records. All old records should be collected and deposited in archives according to their importance and utility for public access as is being done already with some ancient documents.