Weekly Residuum 4 - juni 2000 / D
© photo and text Koen Nieuwendijk
|
According to an article which appeared in NRC-Handelsblad on 7 June last, the Amsterdam University Library plagued by lack of space is discarding duplicate and mouldy books by tossing them into the shredder. Exasperation instantly joined forces with my imagination when I read this, and I could see myself taking out an advertisement on the front page of the paper in which I offered the princely sum of one guilder per kilogramme of books, sight unseen, which the University Library had earmarked for the shredder, with the proviso that I would ask those who were with me on this matter to take over one thousand guilders later. In my ad I would also pledge to donate half the gains realised on the sale of the mountain of surplus books to the University Library, although I knew that this initiative might just serve as a warning albeit a belated one to the University Library’s henchmen. As is appropriate, I checked the veracity of the report with its author, Arjen Fortuin, who confirmed that the words “toss in the shredder” were what the library’s director had literally said. He did point out, however, that one week later, in the VPRO radio and TV guide, a spokesperson acting for the library had denied the use of shredders, which could warrant the subtle conclusion that although the public outcry had since prompted them to stop shredding books, they couldn’t quite muster the courage to admit that they had used the shredder before or had intended to do so. Which of course does not detract from the shocking fact that the supposed custodians of our collective cultural heritage are evidently capable of thinking up such bizarre actions, as if their well-stocked shelves are sufficient for all eternity to document the fortunes of mankind, as if no-one outside their inner sanctum gives a hoot about the past. And anyway, what can be more beautiful than a tattered, tarnished and mouldy book, even if the passing of time has caused the wisdom which was once contained therein to disintegrate into incomprehensible fragments? Such a splendid object should be worshipped on an altar! Wouldn’t you think that quite apart from man’s trials and tribulations, the love of books alone would keep those involved from wanting to destroy them? The shredder chills me to the core in much the same way that book burning does: there’s simply no excuse for lack of passion. |