Public Libraries

The former Dili Public Library as Police Headquarters (& future National Library site) - 2000

The Dili Public Library (Perpustakaan Daerah) was in Vila-Verde. There were branch libraries in Suai, Oecussi, Aileu and Baucau. There was also a mobile book service.

The Dili Library was on the second floor of a large 3-storey building opposite the UNTIM campus (the previous University). The Vila-Verde Library had 35,000 books.

Destruction

The Public Library building was largely gutted and partly burnt. The building was roughly rewired and secured to become the headquarters of Regional CIVPOL (UN Civilian Police).

Interfet forces and others rescued books from around town and randomly stacked them in a secure room amongst riot shields, truncheons, helmets and boxes of emergency food rations. An old unsecured shed out the back housed a further mass of books that had been heaved in loosely through the open doorway. The library team combed through every book and box to rescue whatever they could. Many might not have been of great value but they were the first Indonesian language books found for the new library.

Scorch marks on the roof were from a fire that had badly damaged 3 flights of stairs and adjacent rooms. Almost all of the catalogue cards were burnt. The floor was black with dust and ash that had settled on the books – the books had been stored in this room for a year with its wide-open louvre windows (some with bullet holes). The metal shelves were heavily rusted with sagging shelves and the wooden shelves had been hollowed out by borers long ago.

The UNTL Library team managed to rescue about 30 boxes of books from amongst the Barbara Cartlands and Bobbsey twins in Bahasa, ancient encyclopaedias and the proliferation of pamphlets about the Soehartos, Indonesia and Islam.

The status of the branch libraries in the regional areas is unknown but presumably were destroyed.

Library Staff

In the Public Libraries network there were 79 staff in these libraries, only 18 of whom were East Timorese. There were:

• 19 staff in the Cataloguing and Classification department. Titles were catalogued centrally before being forwarded to branch libraries.
• 30 counter staff including Information and Circulation staff
• 18 administration staff.
  

Reconstruction

It has been proposed that the National Library of East Timor will be established again in the old Vila-Verde Library Building along with the National Archive, however the situation remains fluid and any progress is unknown at this stage.

Small aid projects have been working to establish local libraries in Maliana and in Baucau. The Maliana library project has been supported by the Leichhardt City Council in Sydney, NSW. The Baucau library project is supported by a Swiss group called Biblio-Lorosae. It is understood that a library project is also being supported in Ailieu but details are unknown.

Contact details for these library projects are included in the Contacts page of this site and further information will be included as details become known.