Before the dissolution of the Yugoslav SFR, Sarajevo, as the capital, was an important center of cultural activity. Numerous historic sites have been damaged from the war, including the National Library. In Banja Luka, there is an important university and public library founded in 1936, and holding 226,000 volumes with an impressive collection of Eastern manuscripts. The University of Sarajevo also housed an impressive library, but it was badly damaged during the civil war. The National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina has a library with 162,000 volumes.
Prior to the 1992 war, Sarajevo was a major cultural center in the Balkans. It still hosts nearly a dozen museums, including the Museum of the Old Orthodox Church, the Museum of Young Bosnia, the State Museum, and the Museum of the City of Sarajevo, as well as Bosnia's National Museum. In the provinces are the Museum of the National Struggle for Liberation in Jajce and the Museum of Hercegovina in Mostar.
The new constitution signed in Dayton, Ohio, on 21 November 1995, provides for freedom of speech and the press. However, the extreme ethnic segregation in various regions is reported to put the media in each area under considerable regional restrictions. The development of independent media is beginning to be implemented, through the sponsorship of private organizations, cultural societies, and political parties, along with Western aid organizations.