Employees of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina announce the closure of this institution

(Patria) - Employees of the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina said they lack basic working conditions and that this institution will be brought to the brink of closure.

The employees believe that unless concrete and appropriate steps are urgently taken to resolve the financial situation, the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina will close on August 25, 2024, symbolically, the same day it was burned in the Vijećnica building in 1992.

The situation at the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina is complex, they stated in a notice to the media.

Workers have not received salaries for three months (the last one for March), resources for normal and regular operations are nearly exhausted, basic funds for the functioning of the institution have been spent, and the survival of the institution, which is based, among other things, on working with users and providing services to the academic, scientific, and wider community, has been called into question.

In short, NUBBiH, due to its unresolved financial status and insufficient support from the competent authorities in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (state, federal, and cantonal levels), no longer has available funds, and thus this institution will not be able to fulfill its role at full capacity.

It was emphasized that the problem is not only financial in nature.

"A disheartening fact for NUBBiH workers is that the competent government authorities in BiH are turning a deaf ear to the fate of this institution, that the state is not showing appropriate concern, and that there is insufficient effort and engagement to find a solution not only for the current situation but for the overall state, which is incomprehensible for an institution that is the foundation of the statehood and cultural-historical identity of the country."

They reiterated that the Assembly of Sarajevo Canton this year adopted the Law on Temporary Co-financing of Cultural and Educational Institutions founded by Bosnia and Herzegovina, based on which a solution was promised, not fully, but more or less acceptable for seven cultural institutions of significance for BiH.

"However, in practice, NUBBiH has so far had absolutely no benefit from this law. The Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Youth of Sarajevo Canton (MONKS) allocated 220,000.00 KM to NUBBiH for 2024, which is approximately the same amount NUBBiH received in the previous year, 2023, thus long before the proposal and adoption of the aforementioned law (also, these funds were reduced by nearly 200,000.00 KM compared to those received in 2022). We emphasize that the MONKS funds are sufficient for only two monthly salaries of NUBBiH employees."

NUBBiH workers are entering the fourth month without salaries and adequate working conditions, and they demand urgent and concrete engagement from the competent institutions.