The library remains a treasure that will be used for a long time to come by true researchers, because not all books or documents can be digitised, Chairman of the Romanian Academy Ioan-Aurel Pop said on Tuesday, informs Agerpres.
"Many people say today that libraries no longer have a purpose and that they will become museums of books. It is possible, but I would not say - at the present moment, the moment being, for me, as a historian, let's say, about a century - if we think about the long term, because not all books can be digitised, nor all documents, nor all sources. I'll give you some examples. At the library there is also a collection of seals. Some are caught in documents, others are not. Seals cannot be studied online. We have the numismatic cabinet, which will open soon in a new form, in my opinion one of the most important, the entire numismatic collection in Europe. Definitely, from Munich onwards it is a unique collection. You can't study a coin or a medal online. First of all, the researcher, with the permission of the custodians, has to touch it, see it and describe it. So, the library remains, in my opinion, a treasure that will be used for a long time to come by true researchers. Otherwise, you can look at a photo online. You see it and write something about that object," Pop told the release of a monograph on the Romanian Academy Library between 1919 and 1947.
Addressing the release ceremony were also patriarchal assistant bishop Paisie Sinaitul, who delivered a message from Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Christian Orthodox Church, and Nicolae Noica, general director of the Library of the Romanian Academy, who introduced the audience to a series of precious documents inserted in the monograph, including letters and royal acts, maps, coins from the library's extensive collection, old publications, and photographs.
The release of this vast work is due, as the academician Ioan-Aurel Pop said, to the projects of the engineer Nicolae Noica, the current general director of the Academy Library, honorary member of the Romanian Academy and "tireless seeker of the secrets of the past."
"Reviving the history of the library and honouring the memory of his predecessors, beginning with Ioan Bianu - the father of the library and the scientist who won the admiration of the intellectual world in Bucharest - professor Nicolae Noica raises a hymn of glory to those who deserve from us, the followers. This history is itself a monument of culture, because it brings to the public the entire cultural treasure of the Romanian nation, as it is preserved in the 'Pantheon of the Books' called the Library of the Romanian Academy," said Pop.
In 2022, the first volume of a history of the Library of the Romanian Academy was released covering the years 1867 - 1885. In 2023, three other volumes followed covering the years 1886 - 1918, when the Library of the Romanian Academy flourished, thanks to the role of the great scholar Ioan Bianu.
After a year, three more volumes (1919 - 1947) saw the light of day, a total of seven volumes being published, with over 500 pages each, in just two years.
Apart from outlining the personalities of the three directors and the historical context in which the academy and its library operated, the book reviews the political life in a country and a world troubled by the confrontation between fascism and communism, starting with the fourth decade of the 20th century. The collections, the Periodical Collection and the Book Collection are also reviewed.
Part II is intended for the collections of manuscripts, Romanian books and rare books, and Part III rounds up the book with prints, photographs, maps, music and the numismatic collection.
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