One of the most complete collections of Estonian literature in exile in the world
Grete Lepvalts writes about the Centre for Estonian Literature in Exile at the Academic Library of Tallinn University, whose priority today is the gradual digitisation of the whole collection.
The Centre for Estonian Literature in Exile at the Academic Library of Tallinn University (formerly the Scientific Library of the Academy of Sciences) collects, preserves and makes available publications on Estonians abroad and published by Estonians abroad since 1944 in both Estonian and foreign languages. It is unique both in Estonia and elsewhere for its comprehensive and systematised structure, and the online databases compiled at the Centre for Estonian Literature in Exile were for a long time one of the most complete among memory institutions and archives not only in Estonia but also outside Estonia.
It all started in the 1970s, when such volumes of refugee literature had amassed in various institutions that there was a need to concentrate it in one place. For this purpose, it was decided to create a closed department of the Scientific Library of the Academy of Sciences, where Estonian literature in exile was kept separate from reading rooms, behind iron doors and under 24-hour surveillance. The decision to create such a closed collection in the library was made in September 1972. From then on, the work of the sector was not reflected in any reports, and other librarians and readers were equally unaware of the literature in this sector.
There were strict rules for registering books in the collection: all incoming literature was marked with stamps that determined the degree of restriction, certain works were resealed at the end of each day, and the department was under constant surveillance. The criteria for restrictions included the proportion of hostile, anti-Soviet and anti-communist material, bourgeois-nationalist ideology, religious propaganda and pornographic or cheap mass entertainment material, and whether the work was published by reactionary organisations.
The only people allowed to use the collection were members of the working group for the study of Western ideologies, individuals brought in by them for research purposes, or individuals with a special dispensation from the Central Committee of the Estonian Communist Party. In order to obtain authorisation to use the restricted materials of the archives, the application had to be signed either by the head of the institution or even by the head of the relevant department of the ECP. The dissemination of information about the works and the publication of the content of the works was prohibited, the catalogues and catalogues could not be used by the researchers, and everything was made available for on-site use only. All the transcripts were stored in the archives and handed over to the researcher only after they had completed their work and an employee has inspected it – if the notes were unsuitable, they were made illegible or the entire notebook was confiscated.
Most of the literature entered the archival collection through foreign shipments. All shipments of books were subject to Glavlit’s checks, through which a decision was made as to whether the book would reach its addressee or whether it would be confiscated. In the 1960s, the situation became a little more lenient, more books reached libraries and private recipients, and people also secretly brought books with them from their trips abroad. Thus, ‘forbidden literature’ also entered private collections and these works were often distributed within circles of friends. However, the collections were made up of the copies confiscated at the post office, with all dedications removed and it was therefore not possible to return them to the rightful owners at a later date.
Although, due to the censorship policy of the Soviet Union, one part of Estonian culture was unavailable to the people for nearly half a century, it can actually be said that it was thanks to the management of the library at the time and the restricted department that we have such a complete collection of Estonian books and newspapers published abroad that would have otherwise been simply destroyed. The release of special restricted collections began in 1988 and the Department of Estonian Literature in Exile was formed in the last months of 1989.
An unsystematised collection of books and a large number of periodicals of Estonians in exile, which were not included in the general catalogues of the library, was inherited from the restricted collection. Interest in newly released literature was so great that it was necessary to start compiling catalogues and later databases, and at the same time, the collections were growing thanks to rapidly increasing donations from Estonians abroad. When there were 8,700 units to begin with in 1989, the Centre now has more than 40,000 publications in its collections, including more than 6,000 books and nearly 800 periodicals, plus small printed works and scientific publications.
The main part of the collection is fiction, but there are also many works on the politics and history of Estonia and the Baltic States. There are many other educational books, (translation) dictionaries, literary histories, biographical lexicons and literature on the history of religion and the church, Boy Scout associations and student organisations. The most modest part of the collection comprises scientific literature. It also includes the transcripts and summaries of the radio programmes of the Voice of America and Radio Freedom. Copies of these summaries can be found from the period spanning 1963-1982, after which they are interrupted and it is not known whether the summaries were no longer made or they simply stopped arriving in the library. It is with the help of these summaries that it is possible to get a good overview of world politics after the Second World War, as the programmes covered all major events, in addition to the activities of Estonian communities abroad.
The collections of the Centre for Estonian Literature in Exile also include the bibliographic database VEART and the personal-history database VEPER, which are no longer being corrected or supplemented, and the newspapers Eesti Post (Geislingen), Eesti Päevaleht = Estniska Dagbladet (Stockholm), Eesti Teataja (Stockholm), Meie Kodu (Sydney), Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele (Stockholm), Teataja (Stockholm), Vaba Eestlane (Toronto), Vaba Eesti Sõna (New York), Võitleja (Toronto) and Välis-Eesti (Stockholm) are available in digitised form.
Although the greater interest in Estonian literature in exile at the time of the opening of the collections has now waned, it still offers a lot of interesting material to the researchers, and the Centre for Estonian Literature in Exile participates in various projects whenever possible. The Centre’s collection is constantly replenished with missing publications and bibliographic records are created for the periodicals of Estonians abroad in order to continue to provide support to researchers and interested persons in this field – accordingly, compared to the beginnings, the number of publications has multiplied, and therefore it continues to be one of the most complete collections of Estonian literature in exile in the world. Currently, the Centre’s priority is the gradual digitisation of its unique collection.
Grete Lepvalts, Head of Administration, Academic Library of Tallinn University
Source: Valmas, Anne 2017. Valmas, Anne 2017. „Varjust valgusesse. Erihoiust väliseesti kirjanduse keskuseks (1874–2017)“. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikooli Akadeemiline Raamatukogu.
