When Bećir Vuković's book was published: Lompar will report manipulations to the Ministry of Culture

The director of the National Library ''Đurđe Crnojević'' in Cetinje, Dragica Lompar, said in an interview that aired tonight on the show Načisto on Television Vijesti that the institution she heads has no information that the book "Houses of the Homeless", for which Bećir Vuković received the Thirteenth of July Award, has been published in any format, printed or electronic.

"In order to have this information as accurate as possible, we need to obtain that copy from the library as required by law. So far, no copy has arrived, and a catalog record from the National Library of Montenegro has not been requested for that publication," Lompar pointed out.

Komnenić said that Vuković, in an interview with Gradska Television, after the dust had risen over the awarding of the Thirteenth of July Award, first protested that the CIP (catalogue record in the publication) was being peeked at and said that he mainly publishes his books in Serbia with the explanation that when he tells you that he writes in Serbian, he claims that his statement is changed as soon as he turns his back and that you change it to Montenegrin.

When asked if that was true, Lompar said that she had heard that statement from Vuković somewhere.

"Like, the famous CIP expression that is now being looked into. That is absolutely incorrect, because every request for the assignment of a CIP and for the assignment of an ISBN number is officially registered in the Archives of the National Library and there is documentation in every request. With a cursory look at the search for the surname and first name, Vuković Bećir, in our electronic catalogue, you will see that every record is marked in Serbian. In addition, in the COBISS Montenegro database, COBISS -CG, there is another additional tool that serves to standardize personal names, and it is called the Konor CG database, and in that database, you will also be able to see, all the basic data about the author Bećir Vuković, as well as another 85.000 authors from Montenegro, and it contains everything that is important for the processor. It is a short biography, his level of education, the language and script in which he expresses himself. The National Library has no right to deny anyone human freedoms, and these are the right to freedom of writing, freedom of expression," said Lompar.

Komnenić said that after reviewing the website of the National Library of Serbia, his colleagues determined that the book was not, as Vuković says, registered in that library, which, according to local law, is responsible for catalog records.

"The National Library of Serbia, therefore, did not issue a CIP for the book 'Homeless Houses', and a COBISS search determined that the ISBN and COBISS number of the book 'Njegoš's Evenings of Poetry', which were published in April 2025, were allegedly entered alongside it. It should be noted that catalog records published in 2025 cannot appear alongside a book published in 2024, retroactively. Have you checked that? Since this research was based on an imprint circulating in the media," said Komnenić.

Lompar said "that's right".

"We had no information other than the imprint that appeared on social networks... and we, of course, followed that up, since the name of the National Library appeared in the header of that CIP record, as if we had assigned this CIP record, performed all the checks of our database and then we actually saw that it was an ID number assigned by the National Library of Serbia as a national institution in Serbia and then we came to know that the existing record had actually been changed on July 4th. Until then, we did not know which record was in question, however, from experience and the method of searching, we came to know that it was the book 'Njegoš's Poetry Evenings' edited by Gojko Božović in 2024 and that CIP record is in the records of the National Library of Serbia, which they publish monthly about published CIPs for the previous month. So that book, in other words, appeared on that ISBN number and on that COBISS ID number. What is interesting is that on July 9th, that is, yesterday, on that book by Bećir Vuković, the status that was previously in "It was printed and now it appears that the book has physically arrived at the National Library of Serbia, that is, that this is some kind of confirmation that it exists in physical form," said Lompar.

When asked if she saw it as a forgery, Lompar said that the whole situation was very problematic, because her question was why Vuković did not contact the National Library "Đurđe Crnojević".

"Considering that this is the largest state award, the Montenegrin one, why didn't he ask us to create a CIP for him, as in many cases so far. And it is clear that at that moment, as soon as we open the imprint, we could compare the data, because it doesn't exist...", said Lompar.

When Komenić stated that Vuković had been doing this regularly at the "Đurđe Crnojević" National Library, Lompar said "absolutely".

"He has 61 hits in our database, when you search. There was no interference, there was no misuse of his language and script, but it is indicative that he did not officially request this from us, but rather did it at the National Library of Serbia," said Lompar.

When asked where she recognizes any subsequent interventions, Lompar said "they absolutely are, so you can see that the interventions are ongoing until yesterday."

When asked what was happening on April 2, Lompar said that on that date there was a book called "Homeless Houses" with some records with data that she said were incorrect.

"Unbelonging. So that then, on July 4, an intervention appeared in Narodna, we call it redacting the record, meaning someone redacted that record, it says who, but we won't talk about that. And the redaction of that record was in favor of everything being connected to 'Njegoš's Poetry Evenings' and the status of the publication in the press. Status. Yesterday the status of the publication was that the book was deleted in the press, that the book was available. That was done yesterday," said Lompar.

She also said that they had checked and that there was no longer any data on the book "Njegoš's Poetry Evenings" in COBISS Serbia.

"They disappeared, the entire record was erased," Lompar said.

Komnenić said that in the Serbian COBISS the publisher is listed as "Štampar Makarije" from Belgrade, while in this version it is listed as "Štampar Makarije" in Podgorica, and that Vuković said that his book was published in Serbia.

He also said that the book says CIP, cataloguing in the publication of the National Library of Montenegro Cetinje.

When asked what this was about, Lompar said that "Štampar Makarije" is not headquartered in Podgorica.

"We keep records of publishers because of our ISBN database, which currently has 119 publishers registered for last year. 'Štampar Makarije' is not on that list. So, that is the first incorrect information, or rather the first, and it is possible that they made a mistake in their haste, about the headquarters of that publisher. Obodsko slovo is definitely a publisher from Podgorica," said Lompar.

Komnenić said - if it's speed, below it says the international publication code and COBISS SR ID, an identification number in the library information network, where does the SR code come from in this COBISS if, as it further says, it was published by the National Library in Cetinje?

"I think it's a product of ignorance, a product of the situation...", said Lompar.

When asked whether it was ignorance, intent, or falsification, Lompar said that there was clearly intent.

"But in this intention to, let's say, conceal something, great ignorance was also shown. Because what you just said, the National Library of Montenegro could not have assigned this COBISS number with the SR designation, but it would have said COBISS CG. That's one thing. And another thing, the ISBN number, this is not a number for Montenegro. This is a number for the state of Serbia," said Lomppar.

Komnenić said that COBISS, also taken from Vuković's book "Torn to a Deserted Island".

When asked if they checked it, Lompar said that it started from that book.

"Then it became clear that it couldn't just go away, so everything was deleted. That's April 2nd. And it was linked to the book 'Njegoš's Evenings of Poetry' by Gojko Božović. So the initial one, yes, the imprint from the book 'Taken to a Deserted Island' was copied. So when we got to the point that it absolutely couldn't be transferred to the book 'Homeless Houses', that copy exists in libraries, as physical, as relevant evidence. You can compare the covers and the imprint. Then this second variant was approached. The record for the publication that was published in 2024 was deleted. It was published by the same publisher, the printer Makarije, and in its place the data about the book 'Homeless Houses' was entered," said Lompar.

When Komnenić stated that this gimmickry is becoming so confusing, and that he thinks all of this supports the thesis that those who designed all of this have confused themselves, Lompar said "absolutely".

Komnenić asked Lompar whether she believed that the name of the National Library ''Đurđe Crnojević'' had been misused and whether she recognized the elements of criminal liability, since it suggested that it was a forgery. Lompar also said "absolutely".

When asked whether they would report this and to whom, Lompar said that it was their obligation, as a cultural institution funded by the state, to report it to the competent authority.

"To report to the Ministry of Culture a violation of the law on publishing activities, which expressly prohibits such things, copying CIPs, copying from one publication to another, changing the CIP compared to the one assigned by the library, and so on. And that is our obligation, and the Ministry is the body that has its own instruments to move things forward," said Lompar.

She said that as someone who has worked for decades at the National Library "Đurđe Crnojević" and for whom it is a calling in life, she thinks this is the first time that someone has misused the name of the institution in this way and referred to something, even in the media, that is absolutely not true.

When asked if she understood what the jury used to decide on the award of the Thirteenth of July Award was based on, Lompar said, "well, honestly, it's not."

"I don't understand, because to this day we don't know if that book was even published. We are not convinced that it was. I saw that Mr. Koprivica (Dragan Koprivica, one of the jury members) showed the book on a show, but we still don't have access to the imprint and the cover page," said Lompar.

Komnenić said that it was important for Koprivica to show his imprint during the show.

"Well, it would be good to finally dispel all these doubts, which have certainly called into question the validity of this year's award," said Lompar.

Koprivica brought to the show Načisto the book "Homeless Houses" by Bećir Vuković, in which the CIP (catalog record in the publication), publisher, ISBN number and COBISS do not match the one presented to the jury members.