Repository of historic manuscripts, books in Kyiv is flooded (11/10/02)

Repository of historic manuscripts, books in Kyiv is flooded

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Just as Ukraine's National Archives prepared to celebrate its jubilee, on October 23 tragedy struck a sister institution, the renowned Vernadskyi National Library, when six tons of water engulfed the historic manuscripts and periodicals section of the library's archives.

The flooding occurred when the plumbing of the archaic and neglected heating system burst, sending piping hot water through the area. Librarians and restoration experts spent the next several days attempting to save what they could by opening the books and newspapers and setting them in open spaces, where large fans circulated air to dry the pages before mold and rot set in.

National Deputy Les Taniuk, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Culture and Spirituality, called the flood - in which some of the country's most valuable manuscripts may have been lost - "a crime."

The lawmaker compared the situation to the fire that destroyed much of the archives of the National Science Library in Kyiv in 1964. During that tragedy, Mr. Taniuk said KGB and police officials stood by as much of Ukraine's documented history burned. This time he blamed government officials for allowing the flood to occur.

"The crime in this case is that the Ministry of Culture did absolutely nothing [to alleviate the poor physical state of the archives]," explained Mr. Taniuk.

He said that some 200,000 documents were affected, but noted that as of that moment none had been declared destroyed. He also pointed out that the National Academy of Sciences had stepped in with a substantial effort, including moving many of the dampest documents to the Kyiv Refrigeration Plant to prevent the growth of mildew as they are slowly dried in cold storage.

A week after the accident, President Leonid Kuchma announced he had ordered an executive commission, to be headed by Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Semynozhenko, to undertake a comprehensive review of the state of the country's museums, archives and libraries. He also said he expected the commission would offer financial and organizational aid to help alleviate the aftereffects of the Vernadskyi Library tragedy.

The criticism offered by National Deputy Taniuk, which seemed to spur the government to action, came at a press conference to announce the upcoming 150th jubilee of the National Archives, which hold 200 million documents of Ukrainian history, extending from the last stages of the Kyivan Rus' era to 1917. The materials consist of a half billion pages of documents stored on the equivalent of 2,500 kilometers of shelving.

Oksana Muzychuk, director of the National Archives, said the situation of its premises are no better than those of the Vernadskyi Library, and hoped that the jubilee anniversary would help to bring needed attention to the plight of one of the main repositories of Ukraine's culture and history.

"We need to protect the records by developing building environments that control climate and processes that protect the materials," explained Ms. Muzychuk.

Ms. Muzychuk added that there have been no building projects in Ukraine's nationwide national archives system for over a decade and that all the various premises had little room for new materials. She explained that the archival depositories in Ivano Frankivsk, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sevastopol, in particular, need new buildings because they have practically no room for additional materials.

Ukraine's National Archives system consists of seven main archival buildings, eight branches and 646 raion-level extensions. The national archive has a three-pronged purpose: to collect Ukraine's cultural and historical treasures; to restore and maintain them; and to make them available to the public, including for scholarly study.

Mr. Taniuk pointed out that the last 10 years should have been a golden period for the National Archives because, theoretically, it finally had free reign over the collection of cultural treasures.

"For a long time the archives were not used for their intended purposes," explained Mr. Taniuk. "Either they were ignored or items were removed to emphasize the working class struggle, or some similar nonsense."

Yet, today, when the archivists are free to do their work openly, a lack of funds has handcuffed them. He said the national archive system needs an infusion of capital, which he hoped would come not only from the government, but also from supporters and benefactors.

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