Symposium 'National libraries and the humanities'

On 25 June the KB hosted a symposium entitled 'National libraries and the humanities'. The gathering was occasioned by the retirement of two prominent members from the KB's Board of Governors: chairman Prof.dr. Henk Vonhoff and vice-chairman Drs. Erik Bolle.

The Dutch national library and the humanities

The first speaker was Dr. Martin Bossenbroek who was recently appointed as the KB's Director Collections & Services. With his background in historical sciences, it was no surprise that Bossenbroek took the KB's history as his starting point for reflections on future strategic choices for the KB.
Bossenbroek found that throughout the KB's history, librarians have struggled with the question whether the KB ought to be a secluded place of high learning or whether it should cater to the needs of a much wider national audience. He noted that in the early years of the KB it was not unusual for politicians to involve themselves directly with the KB's acquisitions policy. Bossenbroek discovered a note by Minister for the Interior Thorbecke from around 1850 insisting that the KB should cease acquiring old books and other curiosities, and should focus on works of 'lasting importance' in the fields of statesmanship and law. His vision for the KB was that of an open, user-oriented and up-to-date research library, whereas the librarian of the time, Dr. Holtrop, saw himself as the careful custodian of a cultural heritage that should be protected from over-use.
Holtrop's successors tended to follow his lead, while their political counterparts continued to plead Thorbecke's case.

A change of policies: the best of two worlds?

In 1895, however, Dr. Bijvanck became the KB's librarian. He declared that the KB should do both: it should serve the research community and cater to the needs of a wider national audience. Backed by a substantial increase in his budget, he ventured upon a course of stark contrasts, centering on the acquisition of rare bibliographical treasures as well as strengthening the KB's services to the public. The rise in public usage was spectacular: early in the 20th century the number of visitors soared to over 100.000.
Bijvanck's successors judged that his vision for the KB had been far too ambitious. As they were academics themselves, they concentrated on developing the research collections of the KB. At the same time the 'national' position of the KB in the library environment became more prominent. The 20th century also witnessed the arrival at the KB of such expressions of popular culture as a chess collection, cookbooks, children's books, newspapers and popular magazines. It is not until recent years that the value of these collections for serious research activities in the humanities has been duly acknowledged.

Choices for the future

Bossenbroek concluded that, fortunately, direct political interference with the KB's acquisitions policy is now a thing of the past. The KB's dual task, however, is still subject to some debate. The spectacular technological developments of the past 15 years make choices in this respect even more critical.
Bossenbroek referred to Wim van Drimmelen's appointment as director general of the KB in 1991 as a decisive moment in the KB's development towards its present mission: the KB is a research library that serves the scientific community in the field of the humanities, but it also makes the results of these efforts available to a much wider, national audience whenever possible. In its capacity as national library of the Netherlands, collections and activities will focus on Dutch language, history and culture. In the present day and age, the KB's strategic choices for digital preservation and the e-Depot are crucial means to this end.

Text in Dutch

Libraries and scientists: estrangement or hope for the future?

The second speaker was Prof.dr. Cyriel Fijnaut, Professor of criminal law at the University of Tilburg and well-known bibliophile.

The personal connection

Fijnaut first treated his audience to an insight into his personal relationship with books. As a boy, he dreamt of being in a luxurious library. Out of his very first pay-check as an inspector of police in Tilburg, Fijnaut bought a book-case. He went on to marry a librarian. During their first vacation, Fijnaut and his wife took a trip to Leiden, where Fijnaut stumbled upon a rare and precious translation of Cesare Beccaria's 'Dei delitti e delle pene'. He bought the book, thereby depleting the holiday budget. The couple had to cut short their trip and return home. (At the reception following the symposium, we asked Mrs. Fijnaut how she felt about this at the time. With a understanding smile she answered, 'I agreed that this was an extraordinary opportunity to acquire such a beautiful book. He couldn't very well let it pass by.') In the meantime, Fijnaut's childhood dream of a large library with colourful volumes all around has more than come true: the Fijnauts' residence in Tilburg has developed into an extensive private library. Moving house is no longer an option.

'Libraries and researchers are mutually dependent'

As a criminal law researcher, Fijnaut also has a professional interest in libraries. In addition, Fijnaut served as academic head of the Law Faculty of the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) in the 1990s. He signalled two developments that could easily lead to estrangement between libraries and researchers:

(the danger of) one-sided technical professionalisation in (research) libraries;
the 'simplifying, restrictive and addictive effects of the Internet' - giving a 'false impression' that anything and everything can be found from behind your computer.

Fijnaut reminded his audience that during the 1980s and 1990s, the prevailing mood in the academic world was that books and libraries were a thing of the past. He personally never agreed with this conclusion, valuing books, journals and newspapers as an irreplaceable 'collective memory'. But the damage was done: library budgets were cut, libraries were built in which it was hardly possible to study written material anymore and researchers were separated from their sources because collections were hidden away in cellars or transferred to central libraries.
Fijnaut's assessment of the present status of university collections was not an optimistic one: out of sheer necessity he expanded his private library in criminal law to keep up with international developments.
He went on to assert the importance of national libraries in this situation: they should fill the gaps left by university libraries and maintain high-quality research collections in many areas of scientific interest. In this connection he stressed the importance of co-operation with the researchers themselves, much in the way the KB is now envisaging in the context of the alf@ned project (a knowledge domain in the field of Dutch history, language and culture).
In addition, Fijnaut pleaded the case of private scientific library collections. At the present time, too many of these fall apart after their owner is deceased, or are sold abroad. He suggested that the KB actively seek out the owners of these collections to discuss incorporation of (parts of) their collections into the holdings of the KB.

The digital era

Although a great lover of books and traditional libraries, Fijnaut fully realised that national libraries should not restrict themselves to expanding into traditional media. He welcomed the KB's efforts to embrace the digital era in projects such as The European Library, the e-Depot for digital preservation and alf@ned. Here again, Fijnaut stressed the importance of actively seeking co-operation with researchers in the field, e.g., by coupling large research projects to specific KB staff members and/or by including librarians in certain research groups.

Text in Dutch

The digital era: a new continent to be explored

Deanne B. Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library Services of the Library of Congress, had travelled all the way from Washington to The Hague for the symposium. Her presentation took as its starting point the Dutch settlers that ventured onto (what became to be known as) the Hudson River in their exploration of the American continent.
Marcum briefly dwelled on the US-Dutch cultural connection and on the Dutch stereotypes that captured the American imagination, mentioning, a.o., Hans Brinker and his silver skates. The KB's director general, Wim van Drimmelen, later had to inform Marcum that Hans Brinker is, in fact, a figure of very little renown in the Netherlands, having been invented by an American author for an American audience.
Both Marcum and Van Drimmelen thoroughly agreed, however, on the increased need for international co-operation in the digital era. The KB and the Library of Congress have embarked on this path of collaboration, resulting in, a.o., the Internet-accessible digital library collection The Atlantic World: America and the Netherlands.
Marcum stressed that big questions about digital publishing confront national libraries: the fragility of electronic media, issues of copyright, of technical standards, of finance and the 'digital divide'.
Marcum concluded: 'In this era, I feel a bit as Henry Hudson and his Dutch crew must have felt nearly 300 years ago when their little ship, the Half Moon, brought them to behold great wonders in what was then the New World. In today's new world for libraries, I also feel a bit as Rip Van Winkle felt when, in Washington Irving's story, he awoke from his twenty-year sleep to find everything around him bewilderingly changed. Technology is changing libraries rapidly now. It may be hard for those of us who have treasured physical books and manuscripts containing the wisdom of the ages and the fruits of scholarship to realise that humanity's cultural and scientific achievements in the future may be recorded in electronic bits and bytes. But so they will, increasingly. And we national libraries have a particular responsibility to preserve the part of the world's intellectual heritage that is being created in that form, too. I look forward to continuing to work with you on that great challenge to our national libraries for the future.'

Full text of speech

The KB's acquisitions in the past 15 years

At the end of the symposium, the KB's drs. Reinder Storm presented a selection of major and perhaps seemingly minor but yet important acquisitions by the KB in the past fifteen years.