Romanian librarians start silent strike at National Library against takeover of public spaces by Culture Ministry

Librarians at Romania's National Library have started a strike against plans by the Culture Ministry to take over a third of their building.

Scheduled to take place on Friday between 08,00 and 18,00, the work-in strike also includes a 'silence moment' of 10 minutes, when all employees of the National Library will gather in the building's atrium.

They were all required to bring a book, notebook, laptop or smartphone to keep themselves busy. The Culture Ministry recently decided to take over one third of the National Library space – or 65 percent of its public space – under direct administration. Librarians argue that the institution will no longer be able to carry on its activity, if reading areas, offices, and spaces for cultural and scientific events will be managed by the Ministry directly. The new building where the National Library is hosted, finished in 2013, was built by the Culture Ministry, which carried the investments, but the National Library was the beneficiary, according to its director Elena Tîrziman. The Library moved to its new building close to the Unirii Square in Bucharest in May last year, after a 20-year wait. The library has seven floors above ground and two below, a 30 meter atrium, glass elevators and glass ceilings and LED lit floors. Aedificia Carpati won the contract with the Ministry of Culture in March 2009 for the completion of construction work on the building, for some EUR 70 million. Work started on the building, originally planned as a library, during Ceausescu’s regime, but construction came to a halt after the 1989 revolution. The building then stood half finished until 2009 when Aedificia Carpati won the tender for its completion. editor@romania-insider.com