The books in the bin in the photo look like they are in quite good condition. I would have liked an opportunity to rescue some before they were thrown out! Why couldn't there have been a fundraising book sale? Another form of mismanagement, on top of the cultural treason.

The picture says for illustration purposes only...not the actual EH dumpster...

Just FYI, if the mould has not completely damaged a book or document and that book or document is rare, then the mould can be killed fairly easily by freezing the items for a while and them carefully brushing off the mould. There are also other methods to kill the mould. Then one can also scan it to ensure that it is available at least digitally. There is some kind of cleanup going on at Eesti Maja by ignorant persons as earlier they tried throwing out all of the Estonian orkestri music, which luckily was saved by someone else who saw it ready to be thrown out.

Thank you for pointing out that materials can be saved even if touched by mould.

This brings up a painful topic. While we seem to be moving forward with the building of a new Estonian centre downtown, we seem to be "closing down" our social community. The present Estonian House is a gut-renching eyesore left to decay with foul smelling carpets. How can the Estonian Prime rentable space is left unrented. House management and board be allowing this to happen?

Furthermore, there are no experts at the helm of our community salvaging archival materials, which allegedly are being put in the garbage at our present Estonian centre and in the homes of community members by younger generations not aware of their value.

There is no plan for the future of our community. Where are our leaders? Activity is willy-nilly. There is no cohesive discussion about the future of our community that should be flourishing now in anticipation of a new building. Building up activity has to happen in the present, when we still have people to participate, not that we wait until the new building is built years from now and the community has imploded onto itself.

Does anyone know for sure that whoever threw out these books DIDN'T check whether the archive at Tartu wanted them or had a better preserved copy? It seems like everyone is being awfully quick to condemn the disposal without considering that perhaps it wasn't willy-nilly at all. why would you assume that anyone at Estonian House - Board or Tenant - would care less about their heritage than you do and therefore act thoughtlessly? I don't know the circumstances in this specific case, but in general try to operate with a modicum of trust for my fellow citizens.

Dear don't jump,
It appears that the Estonian House Board
is taking no responsibility or vigilance as to what gets dumped into their blue bins. So who owns the archives housed at the Estonian House? Have any individuals donated their literary collections to the Estonian House? Who owns the library(ies) at the Estonian House? What will happen to the Estonian House art collection of close to 300 art works which currently are on display in all of the corridors and halls in the Estonian House? Are these 300 works the property of the Estonian House board or the shareholders? Who owns the merchandise in the currently closed and abandoned E-store, which I believe was run by the Estonian House. Many of the used books in the E-store were donated by community Estonians for sharing with the community at large. I am also a bit dismayed at the white pieces of paper covering up the E-Store windows. The Estonian House board could of least put up some promotional billboards for the New Madison Community Business Centre. Or will it be named the Andy Prozes Centre for Business Development. Explain to me why Mr. Prozes gets to name the centre for his private donation, which is quite small in comparison to the lion's share of the cost of this Madison project by the sale of the Estonian House. It is the Estonian House shareholders who should have the right to name this new glass ediface on Madison. Leadership of the community has passed from the wise man to the rich man, a curse of organizational Estonianism even today.

Jaak, I agree with you regarding estore, naming rights, etc, but I don't think EM board is necessarily responsible for dumping books. I'm not sure who owns the archives (EKN?) or library (TESS School?), but before pointing the finger to EM juhatus, you should find out who actually dumped the books.

If scouts or EKK or TEPP or EKN or whoever decide to dump some of their stuff, it is not necessarily EM's fault.

1. I don't agree with Just Jump. If I had tenants in my home who improperly did something on my property, the city is going to get in touch with me, the homeowner who is running the show.

2. I am quite surprised myself that the WHOLE Madison building is going to sport A. Prozes' name. I can understand a part of the building. I guess this signals that the Madison project leadership has exhausted all avenues for funding for the construction project?

As in most internet forums, anonymity is allowed. As far as slandering people goes, I don't believe that's something you need to worry about. Rest assured that the anonymity afforded by this website has it's limits and if do you slander anyone, you will most likely have to answer for it. As far as the rules go, they are hard to miss when you are posting a comment (they are displayed just below the box where you enter your comment) but in case you missed it, here they are:

Ära postita roppusi, ärireklaami, autorikaitse alla kuuluvaid materjale või teksti mis halvustab põhjendamatult teisi isikuid. EWR jätab endale õiguse kustutada mistahes kommentaari. Kommentaarid esindavad kirjutaja isiklikke seisukohti.

As far as the this article goes, this makes me sad. I would hope that before any more stuff is thrown out, people are given the opportunity to take some things. Or at least post a list every day of items that are about to be discarded (I'd be happy to climb into the garbage bins myself if it meant getting free works of art by Peeter Sepp's and old copies of Mana).

Perhaps you should read Jaak's comment again, I don't believe he suggested any such thing.

...the interesting article.
Alas, very little Estonian literature is translated into English.
The late Eric Dickens completed Ristikivi's 'Hingede öö' but, couldn't find a publisher for it. .... A pity!
The younger generation of Estonians (i.e. under 70) "in exile", as we used to say, care about their cultural roots but have a hard time with the language. They might be a market for Estonian literature in translation. Our cultural and charitable organisations should promote this, perhaps, in conjunction with The Estonian Literature Information Centre in Tallinn.

Thank you for this gem of an article. How is the best way to find more of such articles in English? So much amazing content by Ilse Lehiste. Makes me want to find books by these authors at the Estonian House and take them home to read.

Perhaps you are right, perhaps translations will help people connect with their past when they don't have the language or have a poor grasp of it. I really enjoyed I. Lehiste's translation of K. Lepik's poem, which is well explained and translated. The poem makes me feel the hopelessness, despair and for some maybe even depression felt by people whose homeland and families were stolen from them and the world goes on around, business as usual.

Yes, there are a very few exceptional individuals, like Adam Cullen, who have immersed themselves into Estonian life, learned the language well, and contributed to Estonian culture by popularizing it abroad as a translator.
That's a hard act to follow! Still, we might us him as a role-model.
A good start would be to start reading some of the books that are being discarded, to the lament of Jaak Jarve, among others.
That gives rise to some questions: Hey Jaak! How many Estonian books have you read in the past year? Why not encourage the rest of us by writing book reviews in Estonian?

culture

Phony charities are a big problem everywhere. I'm infuriated by their presence in our small community!
We should have a close look at "Friends of Eesti Maja". Who are they? What are they telling our seniors?
Our newspapers are letting us down. We need some investigating and unbiased reporting about an energetic mischief maker. Any mention of his name, here, has been quickly erased. That's an outrage!

In light of the loss of the eStore, closing of the kohvik, throwing out of books and orchestral music, it seems as though there will be a kind of cultural gap. It was really great to have a place to buy books and gifts at the Estonian House. Maybe a separate group would be more interested in restoring the things we lost in a new kind of format. I have seen charity coffee shop/bookstores in other cities, and they are really nice community hubs. Something to consider?

Why can't you mention tell us his name?