'The Burgas Affair' Added to the National Library of Israel

An unexpected message came to me recently on Messenger.

"I discovered 'The Burgas Affair' on the Internet. I work for the National Library of Israel. We are obligated to collect every book published in Israel on behalf of future generations, and to safeguard Israeli culture."

The sender promised to send me additional details by mail and two weeks later an email arrived.

Congratulations on the publication of your book! We are honored to invite you to add it to the National Library's book collection. For the past 125 years, we have been collecting every book, newspaper, and other printed matter published in Israel. This is done so that these materials will document written work and save it for future generations. We invite you to add your book to the millions of items already in our collection.

A nice invitation? Actually, I am required by Israeli law to send my book to the National Library.

As mentioned this week in The Times of Israel, "In accordance with the 2000 'book law,' any book published with more than 50 copies in the State of Israel must send two copies to the National Library. This applies to books written in any language, including translations."

One copy of the book is made available to the general public, while the other is stored in special conditions, preserving its availability to future generations.

According to that law, published books must be sent to the National Library within 30 days of their publication date. I just learned of the law's existence now and will be sending two copies of The Burgas Affair to the library. Readers in the future will thank me. 

Photo by Hanan Cohen for the National Library of Israel.