Muslim National Library in Mostar: historical overview of the library's work since its initiation in 1928 until 1941 Cover Image

Muslimanska narodna biblioteka u Mostaru: historijski pregled rada biblioteke od njenog nastanka 1928. do 1941.
Muslim National Library in Mostar: historical overview of the library's work since its initiation in 1928 until 1941

Author(s): Arijana Bajrić, Lejla Durmo-Mehmedović, Berina Mihaljević
Subject(s): Museology & Heritage Studies, Library and Information Science, Local History / Microhistory, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949)
Published by: Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine
Keywords: Muslim National Library; Mostar; books; Literacy;

Summary/Abstract: The article presents a historical overview of the initiation and development of the Muslim National Library in Mostar with a special focus on the period from 1928 to 1941; during which this institution played a significant role for the citizens of Mostar. One generation of high school graduates of the Mostar Gymnasium in 1928 had not only ambition; but also a vision of the mass literacy of the population of Mostar and its wider area. Once an idea became an act; as soon as they graduated. They started in unenviable conditions; but very confidently and decisively spreading the idea in the circles of their school colleagues; friends and neighbours and of course; relatives. It will pass several years before Muslim National Library in Mostar gets the trust of its citizens and becomes the center of their emancipation and literacy. Once formed an idea; it has become an ideology that has brought a city and its people into a literacy revolution as well as in a revolution for the liberation of the conquerors. That same idea brought them so close to books; that some of them risked their lives to save those books during the destruction that were carried out by officials of the NDH authorities in the spring of 1941. In these first thirteen years of existence; the Muslim National Library has changed its name several times; but the goal of its existence and work has always been the same – to help and speed up the enlightenment of the broad Muslim population of the city of Mostar.

  • Issue Year: 2020
  • Issue No: 25
  • Page Range: 124-140
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Bosnian, English