Berne
Manuscrit, non publié à l’époque. Seul le prononcé fait foi. Les notes de travail ont été retirées.
Discours prononcé en anglais et en français. Texte original, non traduit.
“I once stole a book.
It was really just the once, and at the time I called it borrowing.”
Mr President
Members of the Executive Committee
Ladies and Gentlemen
What you have just heard is not my personal confession.
Sorry to disappoint you…
It is a quote by the English author Hilary Mantel.
She kept a library book, when she was 18.
The book had not been read once in the twenty-five years it sat on the shelf of her school library.
This gave her the right she needed.
In her eyes, the scandal of the theft fades behind the scandal of a book not being appreciated.
Mantel’s school library held treasures that a pupil could discover by herself.
Today a similar find in any European library seems unlikely.
Funds are scarce.
An unused book is not a treasure, but a liability.
It would be removed, in order to free expensive storage space.
As a book-lover, I regret this.
As the Head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs, I have to welcome it.
I welcome it on one condition: that there be a heritage library in this country.
A library of last resort, where every researcher, every inhabitant, indeed anybody at all, can have access to anything that has ever been published in this country and about this country.
The Swiss National Library serves this function for Switzerland’s newer intellectual heritage.
Founded in eighteen ninety-five, it keeps Swiss publications produced since eighteen forty-eight.
Printed heritage predating that year – when Switzerland was not yet a country in the modern sense of the word – are held in monastic, cantonal and university libraries,.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The libraries of the Conference of European National Librarians safeguard the intellectual heritage of Europe.
Your mission is “to support the work of Europe’s national libraries.”
You want to do this through collaboration, cooperation and partnership.
Indeed, it is the only sensible way.
As I said: funds are scarce, storage space is expensive and the challenges are manifold.
I am glad that you chose to meet in Switzerland this year.
Some of you have visited the Centre Dürrenmatt in Neuchâtel.
That museum houses the painted work of author Friedrich Dürrenmatt. In a building designed by the Swiss architect Mario Botta.
You were in the French-speaking part of Switzerland,
visiting a building by an Italianspeaking architect,
dedicated to the work of a German-speaking artist.
In one place, you were able to see the multilingual face of Swiss culture – one of the most important aspects of Switzerland.
The Centre Dürrenmatt in Neuchâtel is symbolic of that.
Another symbol is the very building in which we now find ourselves.
Under the roof of the Federal Palace, three languages are spoken daily: Italian, French, and German.
And sometimes Romansh too, Switzerland’s fourth official national language.
The four languages also represent four different outlooks on life or “cultures”.
Maybe more, if we take into account regional and local differences.
Immigration and individual lifestyles create even more diversity.
But: traditional lifestyles, cultures, and their artefacts are under pressure by global market forces.
These contradictory tendencies are not limited to Switzerland, of course.
Similar questions can arise anywhere:
How can we keep what we cherish, but at the same time evolve?
How can we be part of Europe and the wider world, but at the same time stay true to ourselves?
How can we be one nation, but at the same time appreciate and even encourage local, regional and immigrant lifestyles?
Ladies and gentlemen
The answer lies partly in the way we deal with “culture”.
In its new report on culture, the Federal Council plans three approaches:
Firstly, it wants the widest possible audience to participate in cultural events and access their cultural heritage.
We are convinced that this helps counteract the polarities in our society.
Secondly, it wants to ensure social cohesion.
It may seem paradoxical, but we are convinced that the best way to ensure this is to recognize that we are a diverse society.
An important measure in that respect is to encourage school exchange programmes between the country’s different linguistic regions.
Thirdly, it wants to put the creative and innovative potential of art and culture to use in society.
The Swiss National Library has an important role to play in this vision.
By making its collections, both print and electronic, easy to access and simple to use, it enables broader participation in Swiss cultural heritage.
That is in line with the vision of this Conference, as I understand.
Mesdames et messieurs
Un grand merci à l’ancien président de la Conférence, Monsieur Bruno Racine, président de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, qui a géré cette organisation depuis 2011.
C’est sous son égide que la nouvelle stratégie ambitieuse a été développée.
And a heartfelt thank you to all the members of the Executive committee, who have taken it upon themselves to put the new strategic plan into action.
Our own Swiss National Library will be a reliable partner.
Friedrich Dürrenmatt, the Swiss writer whose home you visited in Neuchâtel once wrote:
“Half of what you write is harmful. The other half is useless.”
I am so glad I only had to speak to you.
Thank you