The secret libraries of history, BBC

"After news emerged about an underground reading room in Damascus, Fiona Macdonald discovers the places where writing has been hidden for centuries."

Highlights:

• French sinologist Paul Pelliot in the Library Cave at Dunhuang in 1908 reading the manuscripts (Credit: The Musée Guimet)
•   The Vatican Secret Archives includes Pope Leo X’s 1521 decree excommunicating Martin Luther (Credit: Capitoline Museums, Rome)
• Solomon Schechter recognised the significance of the manuscripts in the Cairo genizah (Credit: Wikipedia)
• Historian Erik Kwakkel discovered “hidden libraries” within Medieval book bindings (Credit: Erik Kwakkel)  ... continue reading the full article

On the same shelf:

• Top 10 secret libraries of all time | American Libraries Magazine
• Tour of New York's Best Secret Libraries - The Daily Beast
• Top 10 secret libraries of all time, The Guardian
• Secret Libraries of New York City | Atlas Obscura
• 11 hidden libraries - Telegraph - The Telegraph

'People view librarians as peons' James Nye

James Nye in conversation with The Telegraph's Sanjib Mukherjee

"Known for his efforts in documenting thousands of records relating to South Asia, James Nye, the bibliographer for south Asia at the University of Chicago Library, was in Bhubaneswar to speak at the Odisha Knowledge Lecture series hosted by the state government. His connection with India began in 1960s, and since then, he has been coming to this country twice every year. His initiatives also include making the records available online. Anwesha Ambaly of The Telegraph spoke to him on various issues related to archiving of documents and his association with India's history ...
♦ Do you feel that the role of a bibliographer is significant in India as it is in western countries?
There is also a cultural problem where people have viewed librarians nothing more than peons. There is a deep need for people across all the fields in library sciences. From people selecting or cataloguing to administrators, who could run library as organisations, the needs are rising but the gap is huge. But, there are great opportunities and the country needs to realise that...." Full text here and here

On the same shelf:

• The Indiana Jones of words, In a telephone interview, with MEHER MIRZA, The Hindu
• Conservation of cultural assets need of hour: Nye Indian Express

  "Delivering the fifth lecture of Odisha Knowledge Hub (OKH) in the State Secretariat here, Nye emphasised on conservation and open access to cultural assets and heritage." [also here]