Librarians Serving the Censorship
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Paper invited for the International Conference: Freedom of Expression, Censorship, Libraries, Riga 14-17 October 1998 Eva Kodric-Dacic National and University Library of Slovenia Abstract According to a short review of the 200-year history of the National and University Library, Ljubljana (Slovenia), librarians have always been a part of the censorship process, regardless of the rule and its socio-economic order. In the quality of state employees they had to observe instructions imposed by the authorities, thus hiding library materials away from library users in every prescribed manner. Materials that have been banned in various periods of time are now preserved in the library. Awareness of professional principles in terms of resisting censorship has also contributed to this. Introduction Some twenty years ago, within the interval of five years, two outstanding Italian authors portrayed the image of librarian in their works. Librarians working for special libraries, to be exact. The first one is situated in a medieval monastic library, the second one, however, happens to be our contemporary, enrolled with a chemical company. Although engaged in the same business, the authors' approach to librarian's work could not differ more: Umberto Eco, author of the first description (in his famous novel Il nome della rosa, could it be anywhere else?), sees a librarian as a person full of dignity, possibly exercising fatal influence on the course of events: we become acquainted with Malahija the librarian as he enters the library, firm of step, rather tall and excessively slim: »Mestizia e severit`a predominavano nelle linee del volto e i suoi occhi erano così intensi che a un solo squardo potevano penetrare il cuore di chi gli parlava, e leggerli i segreti pensieri, così che difficilmente si poteva tollerare la loro indagine e si era tentati di non incontrarli una seconda volta«. At first sight he seems to be steadfast ruler of the library. Later on, however, his image is considerably altered to a sort of humble watchdog and effective tool in the hands of a man who not only possesses knowledge, but firmly insists on his principles in terms of preserving the existing social and ecclesiastic order (Jorge from Burgos). Two hundred years later the invention of press changed the real library custodian as well. In place of Jorge from Burgos inquisition and censorship stood in as respective exponents of church and temporal powers. Thus employees of libraries established and financed by the state (which are currently under research) used to enter the government service by joining the press control. Librarians, being experts in humanities, are included into the system of press control directly, performing functions of censors and librarians at the same time, thus taking special care of dangerous books. To achieve this goal libraries set about the very selection of the books (and users) intended for study. On the other hand, libraries, in co-operation with government officials, take in and store copies of confiscated and banned books. Aided by the government authority, they succeeded in obtaining legal deposit copies. 1 of 10 In the library I work for (National and University Library, Ljubljana) the previously defined roles of librarians can be easily followed right from the beginning (1774) up to nowadays. Numerous rules and fleeting occupational forces that were succeeding one to another, left traces in the library catalogues, testimonies of hostile and feared ideologies: Austrian Empire, French occupation 1808-1812, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, second World War with the Italian and German occupation, and Republic of Yugoslavia. The Habsburg Monarchy: from 1774 to 1918 The establishment of the Lyceum Library in Ljubljana (1774) coincides with the severed press control in the Austrian Empire during the last quarter of the 18th century. In 1782, censorship is put forward as a special government service in Vienna, functioning under the auspices of police from 1801 to 1848, year of its abolition. Trying to severely limit the invasion of unwanted ideas, the Government had to meticulously control imports of foreign literature as well as to limit circulation of works with delicate content, already present in the country. »Not even a sunbeam, from wherever it shines, must not be unexamined and uncontrolled in the Monarchy for the foreseeable future«, reads the introduction to censorship regulations from 1810: its consequences can be noted in our library's catalogues. Thus censorship was not really limited only to examinations of manuscripts as preventive measures, but it was trying to control every single area related to the press: printing process and printing machines, publishers and authors, distributors and – libraries. Being aware that too restrictive a control would suffocate research and development, censorship started differentiating not only between legal and banned books, but it began defining books that could be distributed or read under special limitations and conditions. Levels of suppression were stipulated: admittur, standing for documents allowed to be advertised in newspapers and sold in public; transeatur, standing for documents, inappropriate for public sale, and without any other serious limitations. They can be sold and published in catalogues, nevertheless advertising in newspapers is not allowed; erga schedam conceditur, designing documents authorised to be read by specialists and researchers against a written evidence issued by the police office; damnatur, used to identify documents with the aim of undermining the Government, or considered to be immoral. Permission to read those was released by the Court Police Office who was required to deposit lists of people studying those books with the Emperor on a quarterly basis. In 1815, however, censorship re-examined previously approved books which resulted in publication of newly drafted lists of works with limited use: Catalogue revu et corrige des livres prohibes, français, anglois et latins. (S.l.), 1816, Catalogo de’libri italiani o tradotti in italiano: proibiti negli stati di sua Maesta l’imperatore d’Austria. Venezia, 1815, Neu durchgesehenes Verzeichniss der verbothenen deutschen Bü cher. Wien, 1816 Having this said, university and college libraries were nevertheless in a position to collect and store all banned material, along with items with limitations of use. Libraries were regularly informed about any suppressions: from 1816 onwards they were receiving lists of banned publications, issued bimonthly. Libraries received detailed instructions about how to handle banned books 2 of 10 through Library prescription, released in 1825 by the Court Research Committee (Stud. Hof.-Commision). This regulation describes and stipulates organisation and operation of university and research libraries. Nine items (100. – 108.) relate to work with publications, banned by censorship: The principal is held responsible for manipulation of banned and in erga schedam marked publications in the library. In accordance with the Decree of the Supreme Police and Censorship Office all university and college libraries shall be issued with lists of books, published in 1815 and 1816, together with the newly compiled list of previously banned books in German, Italian, French, English and Latin. All libraries shall receive lists of newly banned or erga schedam limited books or otherwise not allowed to go to print. Lists shall be dispatched by the Presidency of the Country Office (Präsidium der Landesstelle). Lists shall be collected for library use only and therefore stored with care. Hand-written lists shall be bound to volumes with hardback. In doing so, the bookbinder shall be controlled. Lists shall not be distributed (according to the above statement) or released to circulate, not at least to booksellers, antiquarians or with the aim of publishing. Officials in possession of lists shall be held responsible for any misuse, since they are intended for in-house use. If the library used to hold banned or erga schedam limited books, the information about that should have been given discretely and only »wenn das Werk von einem Professor oder von sonst einer Person, welche durch Stand und solidere Bildung ganz unbedenktlich ist, verlangt wird, wenn zugleich rücksichtwürdige Gründe zur Lesung dieses Werkes sich zeigen, und wenn daher die Erwirkung der erforderlichen erscheint«/. In case a banned or erga schedam limited book was required by another person, loan had to be declined for some banal reason without emphasising it had been banned. The library staff were not allowed to provide information about banned publications, but not (yet) received. Periodically, the newly banned books shall be added to the supplement of printed list from 1816. Banned publications shall be neither discarded nor stored in the same location. The bookmark of each volume of a banned or erga schedam limited work shall be accompanied by PR (prohibitus) or E.S. (erga schedam) indication. The same indication shall figure on the catalogue card intended for the in-house catalogue which only librarians have access to. Use of any such (or secret) indications in other catalogues is strictly forbidden. If such indications are nevertheless found, they should be deleted without leaving traces. Printed lists of books approved by censorship shall be collected, bound and exhibited in the library. Only small groups of library users had the opportunity to get an insight into those lists within library reading room, since one could