The Plenum of the National Library of Serbia (NBS) today expressed concern about this year's Through the competition of the Ministry of Culture for the purchase of books.
"The purchase of books for public libraries is a key support mechanism for publishing, the library system and readers. The lack of dialogue between the Ministry of Culture and publishers, as well as discriminatory conditions of the Competition that produces books in Latin treat the letter as unnecessary for the fund of public libraries in Serbia, they have led to boycott of a large number of renowned publishers, which seriously endangers the functioning of the library system in Serbia", reads the press release of the NBS plenum.
Both Cyrillic and Latin
It was pointed out that the tender condition according to which the Ministry will purchase only books published in the Cyrillic script "leads the libraries to the violation of the Law on Library and Information Activities, according to which they are obliged to, under equal conditions and regardless of differences, provide all citizens with the exercise of human rights in the domain of freedom of expression, creativity, intellectual and other civil liberties".
The NBS Plenum appealed to the Ministry of Culture to suspend the decision to hold the Competition under the current conditions, stating that it is in the interest of the readership, the library system and the overall cultural policy of Serbia that it be canceled and redefined in a way that will enable the equal participation of all publishers and ensure adequate availability of books in libraries throughout the country.
Modest funds
"Incentives for the use of the Cyrillic alphabet in the public space should not be implemented at the expense of already modest library funds, the main criteria for which should be the quality of publications. We also warn the Ministry of Culture and publishers that the institution of the compulsory copy is one of the basic, permanent assets of modern Serbian culture and that it must not be called into question in any case, by anyone," the statement reads.
Let us remind you that at the end of February, the Ministry of Culture announced a competition for the purchase of books under changed conditions, unfavorable for publishers.
The condition that caused the NBS to react refers to the restrictions for publishers who publish books in the Serbian language: the competition committee will evaluate only those of their books that are printed in Cyrillic. This means that it is not important for the Ministry and its commission to buy quality and important books for the libraries, but Cyrillic ones. It also further means that, in the opinion of the Ministry, the Latin alphabet is not desirable in libraries, and that, under the pretext of the struggle for a national script, books become another tool for strengthening nationalism.
