TIRANA, June 28 – The weekend’s heavy rainfalls in the capital damaged books, magazines and school texts published over a timeframe of fifteen years that were stored in one of the National Library’s underground rooms.
The head of the National Library Persida Asllani declared a state of national emergency immediately after a short press conference, where she communicated the Ministry for Culture is attending to the issue and that the building will remain closed until June 30.
“The environments preserving the rare Albanian books and publications archives have not been touched by the water,” Asllani told the media, also in the presence of experts from the Institute of Construction. “We still don’t understand, as we don’t see peripheral water leaking. We do see, however, humidity signs on the floor, so we will wait for the experts’ opinion.”
It is reported that around 12,000 units have been damaged by the water.
In this context, Asllani also said the library does not fulfill the necessary standards, as water should not enter the building of the biggest literary reserve in the country in any circumstance, and added that she has called for the construction of a better building time and time again.
“This is an issue that we have raised constantly. Previous institution directors and myself, in different press conferences, have confirmed the National Library does not meet any professional standards. We work in very difficult human and professional conditions,” Asllani highlighted.
Although she reassured that the damage suffered by the literary texts is not irreversible, she and other frequent library goes called for a solution that will not put the cultural heritage at risk again.
“It’s time for the National Library to move to a new building, one that will be a modern concept to fit its purpose,” Asllani concluded.
