Quiet, curious students and a flock of softly chirping sparrows are back at work inside the newly reopened National Library building near Wat Phnom.
Since a section of the French colonial-era building’s roof collapsed in July 2002, students and scholars have had to buy their reading materials at bookstores or do research at private libraries.
But this month, the government-run library, which includes rare books and manuscripts dating from the 18th century, has thrown open its doors and welcomed between 50 and 60 visitors a day.
“I was like a blind person while the library’s doors were closed, because this is the only library that is run by the state,” said Hok Cheata, a 25-year-old Royal University of Phnom Penh student, who has spent almost three years researching Cambodian history.
The library, located next to the Ministry of Finance and across from the National Institute of Management, was used as a kitchen during the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime. Many books and other documents, such as the Royal Chronicles, were left to rot or were burned or destroyed in the 1970s and 1980s.
Although more than 200,000 volumes did not make it through the years of war and turmoil, about 20 percent of the library’s books did survive.
Because of this, the library’s collection, which includes a French-language section, is considered an important source of information on Cambodia before 1970.
A fund-raiser was held in May 2002 to help the library upgrade its facilities. But several months later, a large piece of rotting ceiling fell to the floor, prompting officials to close the 80-year-old library’s doors while renovations were underway.
The Ministry of Finance pledged $100,000 for the library’s repairs. Work by private construction companies, coordinated by the Ministry of Culture, began last July.
About 70 percent of bookshelves have been cleaned and the roof has been fixed and painted white and yellow, according to Khlot Vibolla, the National Library’s director. A computer, six air conditioning units and 60 chairs have also been added, Ministry of Culture construction chief Suy Sive said.
The library continues to employ about 30 staff members.
“Some readers are not yet aware that we are open again,” she said, adding that about 20 researchers were allowed to continue using library materials during the closure because their work was deemed very important.
Khlot Vibolla said she hoped that the library would soon see about 100 people visiting the building a day, a number that would match the rate before July 2002.
Students and researchers will be allowed to borrow books, as long as they register and pay the 2,000 riel fee, she said.
Normally, a library is a place where focused readers and cramming students insist on silence. But visitors this week, perhaps gratified to once again be inside the library, took a good-natured approach toward the somewhat vocal birds in the rafters.
Nests in nearby trees provide a home base for the birds that enter through the library’s windows and provide welcome entertainment with their “sweet sound” and fast-flying antics.
“I am especially excited to hear the singing of the sparrows,” said Sokha Kallyan, a 19-year-old second-year student at the National Institute of Management.
Also amused, library staff did not bother to shoo the sparrows outside.
