As a custodian of millennial knowledge and experiences passed down from generation to generation, the library evokes a sense of collective consciousness at first sight. There is a structural and vital, by no means accidental, alignment between our psychological and cultural heritage. Memory, especially collective memory, allows the spirit of our species to remain unchanged throughout time, shaping future generations. Memory serves as a source of inspiration and creativity – many ideas owe their existence to it. Moreover, it determines what will become immortal. Libraries' role is to help make ideas indestructible. They are repositories of confessions from members of many generations, and within these confessions, memory is directly contained and expressed. Therefore, memory as a phenomenon has as many copies as there are members of the human species who transmit it, so it can perish only together with them. The National Library of Serbia is an institution that, by definition, preserves knowledge, information and memories in the broadest sense of the word. Everything that constitutes the most significant civilizational achievements, events, thoughts and attitudes that have marked the course of history falls under its purview, whether it is sharing materials for research or being part of the research process. The National Library is also the oldest cultural institution in Serbia. Regardless of being the largest and leading library in the country with the obligation to remember, such remembrance is not just a mere duty but also an inherent trait of the institution. Moreover, the National Library retains more than what is typically documented in historical records. It holds onto the oral traditions of past generations of librarians and other library staff, preserving intriguing facts and anecdotes from their daily lives. These stories are passed down as internal cultural treasures of the institution. The National Library is the kind of establishment to which its employees often develop a personal connection, becoming immersed in its energy. This attachment makes them individually more significant than they might be without identifying with such a crucial and enduring institution. The cultural heritage of every kind, whether written or oral, official or marginal, has emerged as a result of the continuous flow of people and ideas, and these "migrations" have significantly influenced the daily lives of people in the library. This has impacted shaping individuals' awareness of their own identity and belonging to the institution. Thus, over time, a particular relationship of deep interconnectedness has been formed between the National Library and its employees spanning decades Thus, it is no longer just a generational but also a civilizational legacy. The idea behind this thematic collection is to preserve the internal memories of the library. By gathering artefacts from the lesser-known history of the library profession in one place, we leave traces of the institution's life and the people who were part of it before us. | |
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