Summary
Twenty-five municipalities were directly exposed to the catastrophic floods that occurred in Serbia in May 2014. Sixteen of them suffered damage in the field of culture. According to the Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments, in the period from 15 May to 22 May 2014, a total of 39 cultural resources were threatened by natural disasters. Among them were numerous archaeological sites, religious, cultural and historic objects and spatial entities, as well as two public libraries, the Resava Library in Svilajnac and the Vlada Aksentijević Library in Obrenovac. Data on the extent of damage are listed in the Report on Needs Assessment for Recovery and Reconstruction of the Flooded Areas, made by the Government. In this report, the analysis of the cultural sector was carried out in five sub-categories: 1) heritage consisting of buildings, protected urban areas and cultural monuments (damage was identified on thirty-one buildings); 2) natural heritage (four objects were damaged); 3) intangible cultural heritage (two objects were damaged); 4) places where the cultural heritage is being stored and museums (six of them damaged); 5) cultural centers (ten of them damaged). The Vlada Aksentijević Library in Obrenovac was affected by the floods in two senses: as a cultural institution and as a cultural heritage, since its central building enjoys the status of a cultural monument and cultural property of great importance. In this building, basement rooms in which the permanent official archive has been kept were completely destroyed. Rooms on the ground floor (the Lending Department, part of the Scientific Department, the accounting office) were flooded with water one meter deep. A total of 14,010 books, computer and office equipment and furniture were completely destroyed. Entrance gate, fence in the backyard and official vehicle were also damaged. In the Pavle B. Nikolić Branch, the entire library holdings of 8,028 books, library and office furniture and equipment were irreparably damaged. Walls, woodwork, windows were ruined, too. The Rojkovac Branch irretrievably lost its 2,476 books. Thus, of the total library holdings containing nearly 91,248 books, the flood destroyed 25,514 units, as well as about 600 meters of library shelves.
In the period that followed, the library has gained an unwanted but valuable experience on how to deal with such situations. In this paper, the author provides information on the extent of damage, citing official data of the state authorities. Legislation and activities of competent authorities and institutions relating to the protection of cultural heritage during natural disasters and after them are also being considered. The legislative framework of procedures in emergency situations in Serbia is given in the Law on Emergency Situations, The National Strategy for Protection and Rescue in Emergency Situations and commentary on the law Reacting in Emergency Situations Caused by Catastrophic Floods. Existing legislation, although extensive, does not recognize sufficiently the area of culture and does not specify the way of functioning of cultural institutions endangered by natural disasters, protection of their funds and resources, the damage assessment procedure, etc.

Keywords:
Vlada Aksentijević Library, Obrenovac, natural disasters, floods, protection, library holdings, institutions, culture, legislation

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