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| Historical Background |
| Proclamation/Word |
| National Bibliography |
ŠNALE
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ሪከርድ ማዕከል የሪከርድ ማዛወር ሰራውን ጀመረ |
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ለበለጠ መረጃ የሪከርድ ማዕከል ማስተባበሪያ ቡድን አስተባባሪ የሆኑትን አቶ ናስር ኑሩ ያነጋግሩ። ስ.ቁ 011-1232649 ኢሜል nale@ethionet.et |
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Protocol Agreement |
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On 13th and 15th December 2005 Protocol on technical cooperation between the National Archives and Library of Ethiopia (NALE) and the National Library of France and National Archives of France has been signed respectively. Ato Atkilt Assefa Director General of the NALE signed the protocol with the two counterparts. The protocol was signed in Paris while the Director General paid a work visit to Paris in early December. The protocol, among others focuses on provision of training in the field of Archives and Library, facilitating exchange of documents in any reproduction process, and promotion of resources by exhibition and publication concerning mutual historic relationships. The work visit had been very useful
especially to share the French experience, draw the attention of the
French professionals to find ways and means of improvising, the NALE and
to further strengthen the existing ties between the National Archives and
Libraries of the two sisterly countries. The Speech delivered during the laying of Cornerstone for National Archives and Library building. by H.E President Girma W/Giorgis by H.E Ambassador Teshome Toga by H.E Atkilt Assefa Mrs Rita Pankhurst
Honorable Guests Presently, the government and the public are joining hands to bring development & progress endeavor to full fruition and resolutely strive to alleviate man-made and natural calamities. To this end, the laying of infrastructure networks to back-up an all-encompassing development & progress attempt shouldn't be set-aside for tomorrow. Thus, it is our firm belief that, by laying the foundation stone to start the construction of an irreplaceable information center, we are making efforts to bring the project to a fruitful completion within the scheduled time. Finally, I wish to express the government's readiness to forward assistance to the realization of future development objectives of future development objectives the Agency sets-up. Your Excellency president Girma W/Giorgis: On behalf of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and myself, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and heartfelt thanks for your presence on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the new National Archives & Library building of Ethiopia a Mutually beneficial Information center. Since 21st century is signified as a century of Information Technology, information plays a vital role in the day to day affairs of human life. Thus, presently information is a name to conjure with development. Information is an irreplaceable knowledge a power to unveil the hidden facts and/or news and know all there is to know about productivity expedition. Thus, awareness regarding the validity of information, a raw material for development, has increased dramatically over the past half a century. Accrediting the leading role information plays in the realization of development endeavor objectives, most of the countries in the developed world have given due attention to the establishment of purpose built Archives and Libraries on National basis. And so, they have been extensively exploiting the preserved and tended records & archives. Giving due attention to the organization of information storage and processing network proved its worthiness with high technological advancement conceived, unfortunately, in only ten of the world countries flourished to the extent of imposing their will power on the developing world trailing for behind on the development track. This proves the keynote statement. "Information is knowledge ; knowledge is a power-house to development." Honorable President: Likewise, to widen the scope of this development endeavor and incorporate the long forgotten nations, nationalities &/or states under its umbrella, a lot is expected from professionals and the public to hasten the government's strive to equip national Archives and Library of Ethiopia with the high technologically standardized facilities and purpose built building. Thankfully we are on the verge of the most eagerly awaited moment of big leap. Presently, we are about to lay the foundation stone of the new National Archives and Library Building of Ethiopia, which hopefully, would prove its worthiness. Finally, with the fruition of the new building as scheduled we certainly could succeed in sowing the "Cult to read seed" within the young. Moreover, I've firm belief regarding this new building which, hopefully, be a take-off ground to quench information thirst & serve as a research center in its actual sense of the term on national basis. Thank you!
The speech delivered by H.E Atkilt Aseffa, on the ceremony, Ladies & Gentlemen: WELCOME AGAIN! The National Library had started to provide service with the books His Imperial Majesty Hial Sellassie I donated and stocked within the still functional age -old building built by the Italian aggressors for clinical purpose. Though not purpose built,
this organization proved to be the cornerstone for the establishment of
various sectors, In spite of its limited information resources and overcrowded working units, most of the researchers & intellectuals of various levels owed their success and gratefulness to the service this organization had been providing for years. Unfortunately, the organization had not been given due consideration. Thus, year-after-year the number of information seekers and the standard of the service provided deteriorated. As we all know, this inattention & heedless disregard caste its spell on the invaluable service the organization kept on providing. As it's understandable, National Archives And Libraries have been entrusted with duties and responsibilities of top priority. Likewise, Information Resources preserved & properly to be readily accessible whenever the need occurred are invaluable treasures for they:
Thus, dignified with the stock of priceless information resources and the services provided from the National Archives & Libraries, made us rename them as INFORMATION TEMPLES. For books, archives, societal affairs of centuries old, historical incidents and celebrated historians, authors and creative art works are on the top list of the agenda while establishing National Archives and Libraries with the standardized safety precautions to the welfare of information resources, we should underscore the need to trace and pin point the most serious threat to the literary heritages. Considering the prerequisites with utmost caution, Ethiopian Government is taking measures to alleviate the most serious threats caste over Information Resources. Of the steps taken:
Likewise, stuffed far beyond its accommodation capacity, the ONLY NALE turned out to be destructive agent to the information resource stocked to be preserved and properly tended. Since building a new and purpose built information resource Center is the only option left, the government allocated the budget. The budget allocated for the construction amount to 23,367,943.81 while for the purchase of necessary equipment is of 4,628,295.75 total 27,896,239.60 Birr. The construction of the new Building that has started on Sept.7/2002 is expected to be completed within 730 days from its commencement. Thinking of the relief this would be constructed building has in store, joy and thrill spring in us. In general, even if it is needless to say, as always, I firmly believe that the fruition of the new building as scheduled is only possible with the assistance we, hopefully, are to get from the government, the public, national and international organizations. I'm certain to get more than our expectation. Finally, I would like to express how grateful I am with the civil servants who dedicated their time and effort to the realization of the occasion. Similarly, without the sponsorship of:
this high-ranking occasion won't materialize, let alone be a success. Next I'd like to cordially call upon His Excellency Ambassador Teshome Toga, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry to make a keynote address concerning the occasion. Thank you for Your Attention. Atkilt Aseffa Your Excellency President
Girma Wolde Giorgis I had the honor and pleasure to work for distinguished heads. They included the venerable Blatengueta Sahle Tsadalu, one-time Minister of Education; Ato Kebede Mikael, the poet, then developing the Archeaological Section; and the notable historian, Ato TAkla Tsadiq Mekuria. one day I entered his office in a yellow overall. He looked at me, absorbed, as ever, in historical matters, and said "that yellow was the colour of Ahmed Gragn's flag". Among fellow-employees of the Library or Museum were the learned and witty Abba Jerome Gabra Muse, with his flowing beard, Ato Gezaw Hayla Maryam, first Director of the National Museum, and the artists Emailaf Herouy, the son of Alaqa Herouy, the church painter, and Afawarq Takle. In Afawarq's studio upstairs, during coffee breaks, I watched his masterpieces grow. The staff included by devoted colleagues, Ato Jamanah & Ato Gabra Negus amd among our readers, I appreciated Dajazmach Zawde Gabra Sellasse, He was one of the few whom returnd borrowed books on time. One schoolboy now a professor, used to help me on Saturdays by ringing up those whose books were overdue. He devised a successful method of getting them back promptly. "It is wanted at the palace". Another volunteer was Emmabet Hirut Dasta. Who once hide in my office when her grandfather appeared unannounced. On another occasion representatives from the palace strode in, demanding books to ado the newly built Race Course Pavilion for its inauguration. We put up stiff resistance and kept our books. The public Division was in effect a lending library, with a stock of some 10,000 volumes of which 6000 were in English and 500 in Amharic. The research Division was presided over by the meticulous cataloguer, Hans Lockot, later to produce two mighty bibliographies on Ethiopia: the first, of books in German and the second, of those in Englis. Also in that Division was Kagnazmatch Victor, of the well-known Russian Bablichev family. The Manuscript Section of the Library caused me continuous anxiety. The Wonderful manuscripts were kept in a windowless cubicle with a huge thick metal door, made in Sweden. The special lock had only one key, which the head of the section kept in his pocket. My nightmare was that, one day he would lose it, but fortunately he never did. The budget was almost entirely taken up by staff salaries, so that acquisitions had to rely mainly on gifts. The most generous donors were the USA, The UK & the USSR. In those days there was no Law of Deposit, as there is now, at last nor was there then an Institute of Ethiopian Studies Library, where another copy could be deposited as a safety measure, should anything happen to the national collections. We struggled with the printers to get them to obey a letter from the ministry of the Pen ordering them to give three copies of every book they printed to the National Library. Though the public Division did not have many books, it had many readers some 60,000 annually. There were no qualified Ethiopian librarians at that time-indeed, in the late 1950s, if you had a university degree you could expect a high position in Government. We therefore developed evening courses in elementary library science. Among those who later became professional librarians was Ato Germa Makonnen, now Librarian of Addis Ababa University. Evening extension activities proved popula, public lectures, poetry reading film shows and musical performances were held in the spacious Blatengueta Herouy Hall, which was always filled to capacity. Among the lecturers were the Kenyan trade Union leader, Tom Mboya, Ato Takla Tsadiq, Dr Wolf Leslau, the popular author Manghestu Gadamu, and Ato Yilma Deressa who talked about the then forthcoming Conference of Independent African States. Plans for a new library building date back to 1959. Much has changed since then, especially in the development of informatics though the use of computers, as admirably suited to facilitating study and research. In a purpose-built home both the National Archives and Library, together with the planned new library of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, will, I am sure, make huge strides forward in collecting, preserving and making widely accessible the rich, documented past and present of Ethiopia. I have no doubt that, in due course, the National Archives and Library will each achieve its own building, administration, and separate identity, in keeping with their diverse functions, as was proposed during the public Hearings preceding the legislation establishing them under as single management. Meanwhile, I hope that another great day in history of the National Library and Archives will soon arrive, when guests will have the honor of being the first to walk into the great newly completed building. Mrs. Rita Pankhurst
1. Providing online information services for student,
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