Tibetan books in the library of the Buddhist Printing House, Lhasa REVITALIZING AN ANCIENT HERITAGE Paper has been an integral part of Tibetan culture for 1200 years. Before the 1950's, papermaking was a thriving industry, and a common part of village life. Paper was made from local fibers. Students in the villages graduated from practicing writing on slate boards to writing on paper. A few of the towns made paper for sale to the larger monasteries where the printing industry was housed. The seasonal cycle of making paper provided a livelihood for a community. Archival, long lived paper was a matrix for their culture. Most printing was of Buddhist sutras, which were held in large monastic libraries. In the recent years of great turmoil, most of the monasteries were destroyed, taking the libraries and the papermaking industry with them. The craft of papermaking is one critically endangered htmlect of Tibetan culture. What was once a flourishing industry is now at risk of dying.