Background

Palettes of donated books sat in the CNRT carpark for 6 months until a secure storeroom was found

In the first months of the Library Project, every time that we put any very mouldy, damaged or useless books out on a rubbish pile to burn, they would be gone within 5 minutes, spirited away by many hands. There were so few books left in Dili that a blackened, hairy chemistry book, a text on how to build an ice-rink or a tatty 1978 pamphlet on “Computers in the Classroom” were prized, even if only as a source of learning English.

Meanwhile the library team scoured the motley collections of books salvaged after the destruction of 1999 for any remotely suitable texts in Indonesian that could be used by the University. They had been securely locked away by Interfet Forces and the Students Solidarity Council. UN funds later extended the collection of 1,500 rescued books by another 800 books ordered from Indonesia, yet to arrive when the University opened for classes late November 2000.

There were not enough for teachers preparing classes, let alone 6,500 students (who would anyway not have access to any library resources for the first year and more of classes).

And there were still no other libraries in East Timor and no bookshops

Since then the Asia Foundation has made a considerable donation of Indonesian language books. Many more are needed as there is roughly less than one Indonesian language book for each student.

Large quantities of English and Portuguese language books have been donated and more will be wanted when there is the capacity to deal with them. BUT they are not a major priority at this time. Most have been stockpiled until the small library team have catalogued and processed higher priority resources. They are struggling to make headway in dealing with the enormous backlog that already exists.

The recently reconstructed library building now provides limited space for storage. Until donated shelving from ANU arrived in Dili in Sept 2002 there was still inadequate shelving for the Indonesian language collection, much less for resources in other languages.

The library team is learning English and Portuguese, as are many teaching staff and students.