Awards and acknowledgements
At the UNESCO General Conference held on October 30, 2017 in Paris, the Manuscript Collection of the Gazi Husrev-Beg Library in Sarajevo was included in the Register “Memory of the World” which is dedicated to the movable world cultural heritage.
UNESCO established the Memory of the World Programme in 1992 with the aim of preserving and providing access to documentary cultural heritage in various parts of the world, especially those threatened with destruction and extinction due to wars and social upheaval. UNESCO, together with IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations), and ICA (International Council on Archives) launched a project to preserve this heritage through the “Memory of the World” programme and prepared a list of endangered library and archive holdings.
At the same time, during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, in addition to hundreds of thousands of innocent people killed and expelled and many more homes destroyed, thousands of manuscripts, books and rare historical documents were also destroyed. In addition to the struggle for the physical preservation of the manuscript collection and other funds, the Gazi Husrev-Beg library was working on microfilming, and after the war on digitizing and cataloging this and other collections. After the mentioned projects were completed, and the manuscript collection, together with other library and non-library materials placed in the appropriate space, Gazi Husrev-Beg Library applied for inclusion of its Manuscript Collection in the UNESCO Register “Memory of the World”.
In 2000, Gazi Husrev-bey Library won a City of Sarajevo Award in Honor of April 6th. It was awarded for contribution to preservation of written cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Such important award was given to Gazi Husrev-bey Library as one of the most significant institutions that collects, preserves, processes and offers to the public the most valuable collections of Islamic manuscripts, old Bosnian periodicals, and old printed books in Bosnian and oriental languages.
A special reason for the award was the fact that the Library kept its funds safe and complete during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 1992 to 1995.
In 2002, an award Al-Furqan was presented, by Islamic Heritage Foundation Al-Furqan of London, to Dr. Mustafa Jahić, the Director of the Library; Kasim Dobrača posthumously; Zejnil Fajić, Fehim Nametak, and hafiz Haso Popara for an outstanding contribution in the field of Islamic manuscripts. It was an award in recognition of their efforts to preserve and catalog Islamic manuscripts.
Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2012, awarded a Charter to Gazi Husrev-bey Library for achievement in preservation and restoration of cultural and historical heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 2004, awarded a Charter to Mustafa Jahić, the Director of Gazi Husrev-bey Library at that time, for achievement in preservation and restoration of cultural and historical heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
