Sponsorship Opportunity

December 2012

National Library of Mongolia:

Saving Tibetan Books for Future Generations

Fragile heritage…

a jewel of humanity’s wisdom

…in need of protection.

• Buddhism spread in waves from Tibet to

Mongolia starting as early as the 3rd

century.

• Zanabazar (1635-1723) was recognized

as a reincarnate lama and became the

first spiritual king of Mongolia and head

of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism

• By the early 20th century there were

upwards of 700 monasteries and

100,000 Mongolians living and

practicing as Buddhist monks

• For 200+ years during the Ming dynasty

Mongolian monasteries printed a huge

body of Tibetan Buddhist literature

Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia

• Beginning in 1921 and for the better

part of two decades, “Cultural Purges”

led and inspired by the Soviets

erased Buddhism from Mongolia

• All but a small handful of monasteries

were destroyed. Monks were

murdered, interned or secularized

• A vast majority of Buddhist literature

in Mongolia was lost at this time

• Some books were rescued and taken

to Ulaanbaatar, others hidden in

caves or buried underground

Upheaval during Soviet period

National Library of Mongolia

• The National Library was founded in 1921

and is the largest library in Mongolia

• In the 1980’s and 1990’s it began

receiving large additions to its Tibetan

collection as more people felt confident

they would be protected

• It is thought to contain the largest single

collection of Tibetan Buddhist books

anywhere in the world

• More than 80% of this collection remains

un-catalogued and housed in less than

ideal conditions

• No one knows exactly what or how many

books are in the collection

Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP)

preserves wisdom traditions

• Since 1999 ACIP has worked to catalogue and digitize

the Tibetan Collection in Mongolia, paying the salaries of

local Mongolian - Tibetan scholars most of whom have a

degree in Textology and Tibetology from the National

University of Monoglia.

• This work was put on hold two years ago due to

increasing salary requirements and insufficient funding

from existing donors

• Books are digitally photographed and archived for future

transliterations freely available to international scholars

• In addition to Mongolia, ACIP maintains input centres in

Bylakuppe, Hunsur and Sarnath, India creating

searchable e-books has also worked in partnership with

the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersberg.

• ACIP was launched with a grant from the David & Lucile

Packard Foundation and has been featured in Wired

Magazine and documentaries made by Xerox and the

Learning Channel

• For more information on the history and current work of

ACIP please visit: www.asianclassics.org

ACIP preserves wisdom traditions

• In addition to Mongolia, ACIP maintains Tibetan

input centres in Bylakuppe, Hunsur and Sarnath,

India and previously in Leh, Ladakh creating

searchable e-books freely accessible to scholars

around the world

• ACIP has also worked in partnership with the

Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersberg as

well as doing work to preserve Sanskrit texts from

various Hindu and yogic traditions in India.

• ACIP was launched with a grant from the David &

Lucile Packard Foundation and has been featured

in Wired Magazine and in documentaries made by

Xerox Corporation and the Learning Channel

• For more information on the history and current

work of ACIP please visit: www.asianclassics.org

GIFT sponsors preservation efforts

• The Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT) is seeking sponsorship for the

preservation of the Tibetan collection in Mongolia

• GIFT has installed new hardware with capacity for up to 48 input operators,

allowing the entire collection to be digitized in 3 years. In addition, GIFT is

supporting six salaried employees including five input operators until additional

funding is secured

• For more information about GIFT please visit: www.global-inst.com

Local support from Ministry of Culture

• Since July 2012 Mongolia has a new

Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism

responsible for the National Library and

other institutions containing items of

cultural heritage

• The Ministry has endorsed the work of

ACIP in building a digital catalogue and

preserving the collection through digital

photographing and transliteration

• National Library Director Chilajaav

Khaidav and his management staff are

available to meet with individuals and

organisations who are interested to

sponsor the project

• Mongolia’s economy is growing at a rate upwards of 15% per year and salaries of

government workers are steadily increasing

• Since economic liberalisation in the early 1990’s Buddhism has been overshadowed by

the dominant market mentality and modernisation

• The opportunity to help save Mongolian heritage and its Tibetan Buddhist roots is

precious and urgent, as sweeping changes are taking place in Ulaanbaatar

• Without financial resources and the awareness that comes with a higher domestic profile

this treasure is in danger of being lost...

Saving Books, as Mongolia grows…

An estimated 800,000 titles…

…waiting to be catalogued

Largest single collection of Tibetan books

…anywhere in the world

Funding Requirements and Timing

* includes additional employees as checkers and compilers for maintaining quality and organizing physical collections

** cost estimations beyond 3 years will be revised upwards for inflation and rising wages in Mongolia

The goal is to catalogue and digitize the entire Tibetan collection in 3-5 years at a total

project cost of just over US$1 million

# of input operators

Total employees*

Fixed costs -infrastructure

Monthlysalaries

Estimated texts input / month

Total time (months)

Estimated** project costs

48 62 $11,200 $31,000 13,680 36 $1.1m

20 27 $4,000 $13,500 5,700 87 $1.2m

10 14 $1,600 $7,000 2,850 175 $1.5m +

5 6 $6,000 $3,000 1,425 350 N/A

How you can be involved

• The priority is to hire additional input operators to

increase the speed of cataloguing and digitizing

• You may offer a one-time donation towards a number of

operators, a number of titles or an ongoing monthly gift

• Using the newly installed server technology you will be

able to directly monitor the results of your donation and

the exact number and titles which are preserved

$1.1m = 48 operators + 14 staff x 36 months

(total project cost)

$120K = 10 operators x 12 months

(est. 34,000 texts saved in 1 year)

$6,200 = 1 operator x 12 months

$500 = 1 operator x 1 month

Your contribution can be aligned with your specific interests and ability

Help preserve Tibetan Buddhist

heritage in Mongolia

To make a donation or to discuss the options available for supporting the project

please contact us. As a sponsor you are intimately involved in a historic effort

toward preserving Mongolian and Buddhist heritage for the benefit of everyone.

Eric Stryson

Director

Global Institute for Tomorrow

+852 3571 8104

estryson@global-inst.com

Thank you for your support!