Society and book culture: Round table “The role of libraries in the return of book collections and other cultural property” to be held in Saint-Petersburg

December 8, 2014 in the main building of the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg) will take place a round table "The role of libraries in the return of book collections and other cultural property".

The World War II caused unprecedented in human history movement of cultural property. Due to the hostilities, evacuation, looting, confiscation, occupations of the world's cultural space disappeared huge number of monuments of culture and art. Among them - valuable book collections of manuscripts, incunabula, paleotypes, incunabula and rare books. Many of them never destined to return home, as some of them were disappeared on the roads of war, others will forever remain in private collections. However, for more than half a century, numerous researchers, librarians, lawyers, diplomats, politicians, individually and in the framework of national and international committees are working on the identification, return of, rehabilitation of displaced and lost cultural values.

In late 2013 - early 2014 in the Russian Federation was held an event that in its international significance worthy of special attention. We are talking about returning to the State Museum "Pavlovsk" 135 books from the library of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, exported by the Nazis in Germany in the World War II and transferred to the private library of Count Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg.

This event, along with the return of the Russian Federation in Austria of the Esterhazy library collections of books and Germany's return books to the library of the University of Smolensk, with absolute certainty can be regarded as one of the most important international projects of the Year of Culture in Russia, as well as the beginning of the program to return to Russia of exported cultural values in the run-up beginning in 2015 the Year of the literature.

The upcoming round table - an open platform for everyone, where it will continue honest and professional conversation about the library book fund, lost or displaced during the World War II. Common efforts will create favorable conditions for cooperation and exchange of information, search, identification, preservation, restoration and introduction into scientific circulation data on displaced book collections. Dialogue helps to establish strong links between libraries and specialists, promote scientific research and exchange of experience.