I was extremely excited to visit this museum and will share you in brief here about my experience. But, before I start…
Namaste! I hope, you are doing well and I am so glad you are here to read my thoughts on this banned books museum, I visited in Tallin, Estonia.
This is even more exciting to know every year April 23 is celebrated as “World book day”. And, the theme for World Book Day 2023 is “Indigenous Languages.” The theme is focused on the native languages of a country.
Anyway, coming to the topic, it was a beautiful chilly day at Tallin, even though sun was shining it was not enough to increase the temperature. I along with my friends (Nadia, Mostafa, and Pamela) from my laboratory were exploring this beautiful city. Suddenly, Pamela spotted this name board “Banned books museum, come in it’s FREE!”. It brought me with several questions such as…how can there be a museum for banned books? I had heard about some books that were banned, but never about a museum! So without any second thought I went inside. It was indeed an excellent choice to visit inside. I found collections of lot of books from different countries that were banned or are currently banned 🚫 due to several reasons.
Out of my curiosity, I asked the person seating at the reception desk, how difficult it was to maintain this collection? He just said “Not an easy task, but it is my desire to keep those thoughts of authors alive and united!”. I was surprised with his answer, I asked him you are an employee here but you are so dedicated!! With carrying a smile on his face, he said, “Well, I am the owner/director of this museum”. Then, I asked him, if I can ask some of my other burning questions. He welcomed my question with “Sure! Why not.” I asked… What was the motivation that he even thought to make a museum like this? How he collects this banned books? Whether he faced threats from people or government? How he gets funds to maintain this museum? And manymore… He was kind enough to answer all my questions. Here, to make the long story short, I understood “It is his strong determination and hard work that has brought this museum to a reality at Tallin”. I appreciate his effort and felt like something different. I don’t have any personal comment on banned books in general. But, it was a nice experience to talk to this guy and a nice memory to remember for me.
So, don’t miss to visit his museum if you are there. Interesting to me, I didn’t know one of the famous book on science “Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin was also banned at some point of time! If you know the reason, please share in comment below . Below, I share a selfie with the owner/ director of this extra ordinary museum Mr. Joseph Dunnigan.
Thank you very much for reading. Ernest Hemingway once said, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” But, what if, we are not allowed to read some books? Will I miss a loyal friend of my likings? I conclude here, but the question is open…
Dr. Prabodha Kumar Meher 