[Spanish] These books are made for talking … About the challenges ecclesiastical libraries face in Flanders

A 2012 report prepared by vzw Vlaamse Erfgoedbibliotheken concluded that “especially in monastery and abbey libraries, the needs are very urgent in these times of secularization. These collections are barely accessible online. Together with the problematic or lack of protection against fire, water damage, and theft, the physical survival of these books and manuscript collections has become extremely precarious”. The collection’s specific needs usually depend on the order or the organization’s ability to support itself. Some ecclesiastical libraries – understood here as an umbrella term for abbey, monastery, and seminary libraries – can still take care of the preservation of their collections themselves, but do not have the resources to make them accessible (metadata and/or digitization). Other libraries simply cease to exist, with their collection at risk of being untraceable scattered around via the commercial circuit, or irretrievably lost via the merciless paper bin. In recent years, efforts have been made by Flemish heritage partners either to assist church libraries in situ with valuation exercises, digital registration, and digitization or to take over entire collections when no other preservatory solution is available. A thorny issue is tracking down the endangered collections and finding out the actual needs of church libraries. Associations of theological and religious libraries can play an essential role in this crucial initial stage. The Flemish association VRB not only brings together librarians from theological and religious libraries in Flanders: it also counts among its members several heritage partners with a service role in the field of religious documentary heritage. In this way, heritage partners and collection owners are brought together and can exchange information and guidance on specific needs, in some cases, also the need for reallocating an entire collection.
In the spring of 2023, the VRB will organize for its members and other interested professionals a study day on the challenges facing ecclesiastical libraries in Flanders, where representatives of these libraries in particular will be given the opportunity to share their experiences.
Our presentation at the BETH conference will first outline the situation of ecclesiastical libraries in Flanders and the support available from heritage partners such as VRB. The main part will present the conclusions drawn from the VRB study day on this topic.