Salvaging books - Sept 2000

Salvaging books from the CIVPOL building (ex-Dili Public Library) - Sept 2000

This room holds what was left of the Dili Public Library. The building was trashed and burned. After rough repairs it became the headquarters for Regional CIVPOL (the UN Civilian Police).

The scorched roof is from a fire that burnt out 3 flights of stairs, adjacent rooms and the card catalogues.

Any books salvaged from around Dili were stacked amongst the riot shields, truncheons, helmets and boxes of emergency food rations. There were bullet holes in some of the windows.

The library team combed through everything to rescue the first battered Indonesian language books for the University library.

Forty boxes of poor quality resources had to be ferried across town in the midday heat, in the Rector's tiny car that scraped every bump in the road even before being loaded with boxes!