APSIG Newsletter [50] - November 2002

The role of libraries in building civil societies: The East Timor project

Marie Sexton

Report of a seminar organised by the Asia-Pacific Special Interest Group, Australian Library and Information Association at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, Held Wednesday 7 August 2002, 4:30pm-6:00pm.

The meeting was chaired by Jennefer Nicholson, executive director, Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and was attended by 45 people.

The Chair informed the audience that after the speakers, participation from the audience regarding the important topic of the development of libraries in East Timor would be sought.

The first speaker was Professor Jim Fox, Director, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, on the subject of The way forward for East Timor

Professor Fox spoke from his long experience both in East Timor and with the Timorese in various parts of the world. He began with an anecdote, which demonstrated how Timorese access to their own history had been limited. At the 1996 Oslo Seminar on East Timor, held at the time of the Nobel Prize award to Ramos Horta and Bishop Belo, Professor Fox became very aware that Timorese resources held by westerners and overseas libraries were not known within Timor itself. He commented that although the Timorese were hungry for knowledge and information about their own history, this has been denied to them for many decades. He was impressed that the post-Independence government is giving a very high priority to education with 20-25 per cent of the current budget has been allocated to this sector. At present, most of the budget is based on donor assistance. However, in the future, funding will come from oil and gas but the actual amount is expected to be small in comparison to today.

Professor Fox then spoke about the civil service, which at present is composed mostly of teachers. Emphasis is now being given to primary education because of the very large, young population. Funding for tertiary education is only 3% of the total education budget due to the limitations of the whole budget and the calls upon it for basic infrastructure for the country as a whole. It is expected that the proportion allocated to education will fall in the near future.

Professor Fox then explained the overwhelming difficulties faced by developing countries in tropical climates. He noted that basic road and bridge development could take the entire Timorese budget because of the climate with heavy rains and mountainous terrain. The maintenance of this infrastructure to any viable standard will require constant funding.

Plainly, this is unlikely to happen in the present financial circumstances, and so lead to poor communication facilities in the foreseeable future for this country. He welcomed the work that had been done at the National University of Timor Lorosae, Dili and knew that the Timorese people value education very highly. Any steps taken to improve this situation are very worthwhile for this new nation.

Professor Fox was followed by Alex Byrne, University Librarian, University of Technology Sydney, and Chair, Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression, International Federation of Library Associations.

Alex spoke from the perspective of a librarian working at an international level to increase access to library services. He sees this as a way to ensure that people have the basic freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular Article 19 - "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers". He referred to the banner outside the Kabul Museum "A nation stays alive when its culture lives". He stated that this is a basic right to which the Timorese have been denied thereby denying them their national identity.

A national system of libraries is needed in East Timor. UNESCO is willing to provide a consultant to provide a report on how this might be achieved. However, Alex cautioned that here are many different models of how services might be provided. He emphasised that it is imperative that the Timorese decide on what model they want, and that decisions are not forced on them by outside institutions and organisations. Those wishing to offer assistance must listen to what is requested and to be alert to when the Timorese are ready and able to accept such assistance.

The third speaker was Judy Blood, Technical Adviser, UNTL Library Development Project who spoke on At the grassroots: The University of East Timor Library Development Project. Judy spoke from her experience as a volunteer in the APHEDA* project at the National University of Timor Lorosae, Dili.

Formerly the Head Librarian at the ABC Reference Library in Sydney, Judy spent some months during both 2000 and 2002 actively involved in re-establishing a functioning library service at UNTL. Judy referred to the current situation in Dili where students are protesting at an increase in fees for attending the University from US$15 per year to US$100. This is in an economy where people often earn US$1 per week.

In her talk some of the points Judy made include:

Emphasis within the education system must be given to primary schooling as only 31% of students continue to secondary education and 9% to university.
Prior to independence, all technical and senior positions were occupied by Indonesian's who have now left East Timor. Most facilities have been destroyed including 90% of school buildings.
University staffing is constantly eroded by promotions to parliament or the public service.
Because of the present low levels of literacy and secondary education, university courses take up to six years.
Previously library resources were very limited with a lack of emphasis on research.
When she first arrived in 2000 there was almost no glass in any windows at the university.
Library supplies consisted of the four boxes of goods she had brought with her from Australia.
No library services were possible for students in the first year and there are still very few resources.
The lack of any well-constructed shelving is an acute problem, making basic library processing very difficult.
A very large donation of books from Australia on pallets remained to be sorted.
Generally, English language books are not required, as there are no facilities to sort or store books.
Only specific titles known to be required should be supplied.
Two volunteer librarians would be going to UNTL later this year to help sort donations and shelve the books in Portuguese and Indonesian, the two priority languages.
There are gaps and uncertainties in the present method of handling volunteer staff.
Training in IT had been piece-meal. Assistance with IT was particularly needed.
UNTL Library desperately requires a professional librarian for two to three years to provide a stable framework for this library.
At present, the major logistical problem for the new UNTL building is that it has a leaking roof. The roof was to be re-erected with flashings to stop water entering the building. This has curtailed the organisation of the collection until the roof has been made secure IT equipment was in store awaiting completion of the solid roof.
Two branches of the Friends of UNTL had been set up in Sydney and Melbourne. A website had been established for the UNTL Project at: http://www.untl.labor.net.au This website included the history of the project and lists both tasks that can be undertaken and items which are needed.
APHEDA has been the main source of funding and support for the library during the past two years.

Judy was most appreciative of the support provided by APHEDA and other Australian supporting organisations and institutions.

Seminar open discussion and proposals for further assistance

Archival collections on East Timor

There was discussion on archival materials such as photographs, videos, pictures, maps, manuscripts, etc which related or depicted the history to East Timor currently being held in collections outside East Timor.

The major problem in returning such collections to Timor is the lack of suitable buildings, which have even the most basic preservation facilities. Providing such materials as copies on a CD-Rom was an alternative. Northern Territory University Library is scanning materials from its extensive Timorese collections for use in East Timor and any offers of materials could be made to Northern Territory University to include in this program.

Preservation of archival and library materials and training

There was discussion on how to co-ordinate offers of help and training. There was a need to ensure that skilled volunteers are part of any co-ordinated program focused on training the East Timorese.

Alex Byrne and Amareswar Galla, President, International Commission on Museums (ICOM) - Asia-Pacific Branch, reported that the needs of East Timor in heritage preservation and library services are not being put forward to international funding bodies such as UNESCO and the United Nations for a variety of reasons. The suggested way forward is to ensure that suitable proposals are submitted through the East Timorese government. There is always the problem of unsuitable, over-ambitious projects being proposed.

Amareswar Galla (e-mail: A.Galla@anu.edu.au) suggested two useful projects for the preservation of East Timorese heritage materials:

an inventory of world resources on East Timor could be prepared to assist follow-up for scanning
that the International Commission on Museums (ICOM) - Asia and the Pacific, which is based in Canberra, co-operate with the IFLA Preservation and Access Centre (PAC) in the National Library of Australia to prepare a proposal for joint action. The ICOM website is http://www.icom.org
The Asia-Pacific website will be set up at http://www.asia-pacific.icom.org The Asia-Pacific Special Interest Group would undertake to discuss this further with the parties concerned.

Offers of help:

Judy Blood agreed that the number and variety of offers of help are overwhelming and consume much of the time of the few people at the University of East Timor. Although offers of goods and the services of volunteers are very welcome, cash gifts to bodies such as APHEDA to pay for freight, clearances, purchases of specific items, etc. are much more useful.

APHEDA (Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad) is an initiative of the ACTU to provide overseas humanitarian aid. Their website is at http://www.apheda.org.au

Friends of UNTL - Canberra Branch:

Following the APSIG seminar The role of libraries in building civil societies: the East Timor project in August 2002 a group was formed to become the Canberra Friends of UNTL Library. This Friends group joins similar groups based in Sydney and Melbourne.

The Canberra Friends group meet on a regular basis and aim to co-ordinate projects in the Canberra region to assist the development of the UNTL Library. Projects to be undertaken include collecting Indonesian books for the UNTL Library collection and assisting nationally with funding submissions.

A relationship has been established with the Canberra Friends of Dili and there are many opportunities to work together on projects.

Canberra Friends of Dili

Dierk von Behrens (e-mail - vbehrens@actionline.com.au) Canberra Friends of Dili is a body already active in aid and is happy to work with other groups. They already have a website at http://www.users.bigpond.com/shermes.htm and an e-mail newsletter edited by Trish Woodcroft-Lee (e-mail: cpwl@oze-mail.com.au.)Their aim is to set up a direct Canberra-Dili relationship.

The Canberra Friends of UNTL Library are desperately seeking a storage area in the Canberra region to store and sort materials prior to sending to East Timor. If there are any ideas for possible storage areas please contact Jill Haynes at the address below.

Contact details for Friends groups in other parts of Australia is available at http://www.untl.labor.net.au/site/contacts.html.

New members for the Canberra Friends of UNTL Library are very welcome. Please contact:

Jill Haynes
jill.haynes@ausport.gov.au
ph 02 6214 1679 (w)
ph 02 6247 7596 (h)

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