What better example than a team of librarians from city of Luhansk spread, against their will, in different cities, who are keeping the library alive, could throw on the table the idea that libraries are open for democracy because even in hard times, because there are people such as librarians who are dedicated to their job and they are responsible for their activities? In one of the Ukraine cities which was bombarded, the librarians had to be evacuated and they left the city, continuing their activities from different parts of Ukraine doing their job every day. 

The library in Luhansk was founded in 1897. As many other libraries in Ukraine, this library had an impressive collection and an attractive educational and cultural offer for its audience. But everything changed, also as for other libraries in Ukraine after 24th February 2022 when the Russian invaded Ukraine.  We can say that the Luhansk Regional Universal Scientific Library plunged into the same river twice. First, it happened in 2014 when the library was bombarded by the Russian army during the first war. It was the first time that the library lost a considerable part of its collection. After the war ended, librarians managed to get back on track and on board again the community in the library’s activities.  Only the second time – there are more splashes. The building was partially destroyed, and the wounds are more visible than the first time and librarians don’t know exactly the situation of their collections of books. The library held many special collections and old books about Ukrainian history and nobody knows exactly at this time if they are still part of the library’s treasure. Librarians are scattered across different parts of Ukraine. They stretched to the west, to the center, and a little to the south. Currently, we can talk about a traveling library project, because where there are people, there is work. And this work cannot be done if there wasn’t teamwork. Typical for an evacuation facility, eh?

After evacuation, the goal of this library is to develop a model of a library service organization that will be flexibly implemented by migrant librarians in different parts of Ukraine. So one thing is certain, all the librarians from Luhansk Universal Scientific Library are working from different parts of Ukraine and they are working online. In this sense, it seems reasonable to ask if this can be called anymore a library.

Looking over what Luhansk Universal Scientific Library is doing nowadays means more to reflect upon the way this library is responding to anticipation – since they are out of books, they are still called a library that is delivering services.  And this happened only because it was a team effort that managed to invent new things, to be active in their new formula to their community. It was needed to invent new things, we read a lot and we know that we will win.

During 2019-2021, the library from Luhansk implemented a project titled  PULSE (“Development of a course on strengthening local self-government in Ukraine”) for libraries and public organizations of united territorial communities of Ukraine from the IREX International Organization. During the year, 11 trainings were held for the communities of the cities of Rubizhne, Lysychansk, Siverskodonetsk, Starobilsk and the settlement communities of Bilovodsk, Shulgynsk, Troitsk, Krasnorichensk, Chmyrivsk. The main goal of the project was to convey the provisions of the decentralization reform in Ukraine, to provide consultations to citizens regarding changes in legislation, and to encourage residents of local communities to actively participate in self-government.

For children the library is developing even at the time being a Code program in Luhansk region with the aim of promoting IT technologies among children and adolescents aged 8-17 held 3 online events: a three-day children’s online Coach for Coaching School for future Code Club mentors, a two-day Scratch-battle on programming between mentors and their students and a three-day Hacker Rank Sessions programming skills training academy in the areas of HTML|CSS and Python. In total, 8 classes were held, 5 mentors were involved. 82 children from Luhansk region took part in the events. This project brought together volunteers from different areas, the library in the end generated a program dedicated to volunteering. 

Another important project of the library is called Peace in the Digital Age with the support of the Institute of International Cultural Relations (IFA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany. The project united participants from 10 regions of the country. During this time, 150 blogs were written. Attended 1 training. Organized and held 2 blog cafes. The main goal is to teach the basics of media literacy.

Before the war and evacuation, library activities focused on actions dedicated to young people in promoting the library as open and cultural space.  Quiet party in headphones as a tool for forming an inclusive library art space within the House of Europe infrastructural mini-grants and the All-Ukrainian promotion “Good Silent Party” with headphones was organized 4 times at row. The main goal of this project was to unite active youth in such places as libraries and involve them in the processes of formation of the Ukrainian cultural space. The library in Luhansk had also a residence project such as research Art-Residence “Aura of the City”. For the third year in a row LOUNB has been a partner in this project. In 2021, within the framework of the “Aura Mysta” residence, commissioned by the Federal Government of Germany, the “Blockpost” art therapy program worked in Starobilsk, the purpose of which was to increase the level of social activity and cohesion of the veteran community and IDPs (by holding joint events and organizing leisure activities), strengthening cooperation between veterans ATO/OOS, IDPs, public organizations and local self-government bodies of the community. In total, a total of 94 people took part in the program’s activities. The LOUNB team participated in the selection of residents’ applications for participation in the project and creative meetings with writers.

In 2021 the library signed a memorandum with the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, joining the Luhansk OUNB to the “Oral History” project. The goal of the Institute’s project is to preserve historically important facts of the present in the format of narrative interviews. The main topic of such interviews is the memories of the participants of the hostilities since 2014. Also, respondents may include immigrants, witnesses of the Revolution of Dignity and Freedom, witnesses of the Second World War, etc. All librarians of the region who are willing to join and have the technical ability wereinvited to work in this direction. The project objective was to collect more valuable historical materials in 2022. Before the war started there were 3 narrative interviews which have been recorded and sent to the Institute’s archive in video format.

In 2020 the library from Luhansk developed the project A woman’s voice has power. The initiator of the project was the public organization “Human Rights Foundation”, and it was implemented with the support of the IFA Institute of International Cultural Relations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany within the framework of the Program for the Restoration of Peace and Dialogue for Internally Displaced Women. The main goal of the project was to build a dialogue between internally displaced women and communities; increasing the professionalism of female leaders of local public organizations in online human rights protection and blogging. The library contribution to the project was the organization of gender training for communities in the region. 

As per international cooperation, the library started in 2018 a project with Lviv Regional Library for Children and libraries from Warsaw, Poland. The project name is We are Ukranians, me and you! and the main idea is to popularize Ukrainian literature and language among the Ukrainian diaspora in Poland. During the reporting year, librarians and philologists of LOUNB conducted a series of trainings on the culture of Ukrainian broadcasting “Linguistic delicacies“. Thanks to our methodical persistence, other libraries of the region (Kreminna, Novopskov) were also included in the project. During the Covid-19 crisis when all the activities were online, the library extended its activity to international level by generating the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Briefly from the activities of this project I mention 9 online meetings with American public figures, a presentation “Inclusion in Ukrainian libraries” (author Serhii Letuchiy) and a participation in the “Gold Star” program for international visitors-leaders: celebration of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act, organized specifically for Ukraine by the US State Department.

After 24th February, Luhansk was among the Ukrainian cities that suffered severely wounded, being bombarded and the library needed to be evacuated. It was a hard time for librarians, who needed to spread to other safe cities. What happened next, was cohesion between librarians from Luhansk Universal Scientific Library with a consistent goal: to keep the library alive. How they did it, it’s a good example of re-writing the role of an open library even when it is absent from the everyday life of the city. So the library was open and librarians continued to work, for everyone, online. A particular story I heard about a librarian who wanted to reach Lithuania, but, because it was mandatory to pass through Russia, he was detained for questioning for 8 days, after he was released, he managed to reach Lithuania and started to work with his colleagues from Luhansk, who were spread in different cities. But there were some cases when librarians from Luhansk didn’t want to leave their hometown or they have elderly parents and they want to stay with them. What they did was actually to continue some projects that allow them to work online, such as Code Club (mentioned above). 

So even from distance, the librarians from Luhansk are still a team and they provide their services to the community. And in a team, everyone has a role, so the librarians from Luhansk, after they were evacuated, split their roles and started to engage their community in the learning and educational activities. And it is all about competencies that librarians have in order to deliver further. And people are aware that nobody else than librarians can provide them with good learning because people trust librarians and librarians are responsible for their community. 

Get in touch with the Luhansk Universal Scientific Library

Webpage/ social media channel: https://library.lg.ua

This project is developed by Progress Foundation Romania, granted by E.U. and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and implemented in Armenia, Republic Of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine with the help of the regional partners: Lori Regional Library, Armenia; “Dimitrie Cantemir” Public Library from Ungheni, “IPS Antonie Plamadeala” Public Library from Hincesti & Library Association from Republic of Moldova; “G.T. Kirileanu” Neamt County Library & “Antim Ivireanul” Valcea County Library from Romania; Luhansk Regional Scientific Library, Lviv Public Library & Ukrainian Library Association, from Ukraine.

This article was written by PhD Alin Daniel Piroșcă.

Growing Active Citizens Hubs is granted by E.U. and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Black Sea Trust or its partners.

The challenges for the Ukrainian Library Association after 24th February 2022 were extraordinary. But sometimes challenges are rising opportunities and for the association, it was an occasion to show how libraries are taking the battlefield in their effort to open again the window of democracy. From combating fake news to keeping alive libraries even in difficult situations, what the Ukrainian Library Association did is a good example of how solidarity builds hope.

The Ukrainian Library Association (ULA) was founded in 1995 and is a non-governmentally professional association with individual membership. ULA represents approximately 57,000 librarians and more than 33,000 libraries across Ukraine. ULA members are employed in national, public, academic, school, and special libraries. The Association has more than 60 official partners, as well as sections and round tables to focus on specific aspects of librarianship and information science.

The Association strives to be the chief advocate for high standards in library and information services by protecting the right to read, educating librarians, and improving library services. ULA contributes to the guarantee of intellectual freedom and free access to information, promotes public awareness of libraries and librarians, and works to strengthen and develop the library profession and library and information science education.

ULA has collaborated on projects with a number of international government and non-government organizations, including the European Commission, European Cultural Foundation, Renaissance Foundation (Kyiv), Open Society Institute (in Budapest), British Council in Kyiv, Goethe Institute in Kyiv, U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board) and the others. ULA was a partner in implementing the Bibliomist Program, administered by IREX, a program of the Global Libraries initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The aim of the Bibliomist Program was to modernize the Ukrainian public library system by providing technology for Internet access in public libraries and training for librarians throughout Ukraine. A similar project happened in Romania in 2014, the name of the program was Biblionet. 

Open access to government information is a focus of ULA activities. It implements the project Government Information for Citizens in Libraries: Search, Access, and Consulting. ULA provides training for librarians and administers the network of libraries with government information access points. Under the EU Erasmus + program, ULA aims to provide Ukrainians greater access to European information in libraries.

The current point of interest of the ULA is the strengthening of Academic Integrity in Ukraine Project, advocacy, and news literacy. ULA joined IFLA in 1995 and in 2009, renewed its membership. In partnership with IFLA, the Bibliomist Program, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and leading Ukrainian libraries, ULA strengthened its capacity by educating librarians under the IFLA Building Strong Library Associations program. In partnership with the National Academy of Administrators in Culture and the Arts of Ukraine, ULA in 2000, established the Centre for Continuing Information and Library Science Education. The Center provides a variety of continuing education courses in library and information science and training sessions. Since 1995, ULA has organized hundreds of conferences, seminars, and workshops published more than 35 books and prepared about 20 electronic collections of the ULA conference materials.

After the war started, the association had a very important role in promoting, in a pragmatic way, the services of the libraries in cities that were under Russian attack. When I say pragmatically, I refer to a consistent way to announce to the inhabitants what libraries have bomb shelters. It was crucial at one point for people to know that libraries are that safe spaces for them.  Libraries are playing vital roles in supporting Ukraine’s war effort from giving families shelter during Russian bombing raids to making camouflage nets for the military and countering disinformation.

As a good example to their community of librarians in Ukraine, but also worldwide, the association was supposed to host an international event in March 2022. But, since the war started on 24th February, the association posted a notice that they will postpone the event. This confident tone empowered the librarians and the Ukrainians to look optimistic about the future and to trust their solidarity against the Russian invaders. Also, with was predictable to leave aside any cooperation with Russian libraries, in this sense ULA wrote to the International Federation of Library Associations, academic publishers, and other institutions, asking them to exclude the Russia Library Association from all activities, citing the need to stand in the face of aggression and embrace values based on truth and the sharing of information.

Another aspect that turn into a must for libraries in Ukraine was combating fake news and disinformation on the Russian invasion. It is a fact that even in peacetime, Ukraine’s libraries try to counteract the influence of disinformation, training people in media and information literacy. But this is war, and everything about life in Ukraine is now different. The association understood that country’s librarians are hard at work trying to keep their collections safe and making sure people can access books and other materials. So, it was a solidarity that came from the community. And the solidarity is built on trust and by this enlargement of the volunteers who participated in libraries to various activities (making camouflage nets, clothes, activities with children), the library proved a total responsibility to their communities. The association (ULA) had a big role in delivering positive messages worldwide, empowering the role of the librarians in Ukraine and creating a bridge with the international community of librarians. 

Get in touch with the Ukranian Library Association

Address: 83-85 Turghenevska St., Kyiv, Ukraine

Phone number: +380 443831432

Webpage/ social media channel: https://ula.org.ua/en/

This project is developed by Progress Foundation Romania, granted by E.U. and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and implemented in Armenia, Republic Of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine with the help of the regional partners: Lori Regional Library, Armenia; “Dimitrie Cantemir” Public Library from Ungheni, “IPS Antonie Plamadeala” Public Library from Hincesti & Library Association from Republic of Moldova; “G.T. Kirileanu” Neamt County Library & “Antim Ivireanul” Valcea County Library from Romania; Luhansk Regional Scientific Library, Lviv Public Library & Ukrainian Library Association, from Ukraine.

This article was written by PhD Alin Daniel Piroșcă.

Growing Active Citizens Hubs is granted by E.U. and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Black Sea Trust or its partners.

Libraries are beautiful and democratic by a common-sense definition. But when a library is hosted in a beautiful and elegant castle, there are so many things that can strengthen the dialogue with the community and so many opportunities for librarians to be close to the public and to let them be discovered, along with their beautiful castle, by the public. The library from Hincesti is a good example of how libraries can go out of the framework and spread the beauty of their work within each partnership and project.

The Rayonal Public Library IPS A Plamadeala from Hincesti, the Republic of Moldova is situated in a castle. Hincesti district is located in the center of the Republic of Moldova, in the region of cedars. The city of residence is Hincesti, which is located 36 km away from Chisinau, to the southwest, in the meadow of the Cogalnic River. The network of public libraries in the district includes 61 libraries, of which the main ones are the district public library „Î.P.S. Antonie Plămădeală ”, the Romanian Book Branch N.M. Spatarul , the district public library for children, and other 61 communal libraries. Out of 58 public libraries, only 10 are located in their own buildings, the other libraries are located in the Houses of Culture, City Halls and  Educational Institutions.

The Rayonal Public Library “IPS Antonie Plămădeală” is a social and cultural institution that is oriented towards new strategies and innovations. Founded in 1906, the library had several hundred volumes. Over the years, the library’s collections have grown both quantitatively and qualitatively, thus ensuring the thematic, linguistic, and typological variety in accordance with the interests and information needs of the beneficiaries. Today the library has a collection of about 83,121 thousand volumes, offering users more than 43,925 thousand volumes in the state language and 39,196 thousand in other languages. The library’s collections allow the service of about 7526 readers annually, and the number of publications consulted is about 67,368 evidence units.

So a very well-preserved and beautiful castle owned once by Manuc Bey is, since 2016 an open space for the community and one of the touristic attractions of Hincesti. The role of the library as a community gathering place was stressed repeatedly at focus group sessions. Whether discussing concerts, classes, and other events, book clubs and other social groups, or simply a forum where people could come and sit, talk, and read, quite a few people expressed their appreciation that libraries stand alone in many communities as a gathering place.

One of the a great event in the cultural life of the city was  the opening of a Romanian Book Library in August 2000, a pfoject implemented in collaboration with the “Nicolae Milescu Spătarul” County Library from Vaslui, Romania, which became an open window to the interior of our ancestral culture.

Promoting your local community is never an easy task, but is a skill that can be developed. And what better place to grow yourself and develop the opportunities of your community, than the library? And if that library is hosted by a beautiful castle as in Hancesti, The Raional Library “IPS A. Plămădeală” Hâncești started to create a space for community group meetings, in the library, where they could discover the local heritage and learn to promote their local tourism.

Public Libraries as Active Citizens Hubs’ partner – the Rayon Library from Hâncești, Moldova – started to gather a team of young volunteers, in order to create a space for promoting the local tourism. Focusing on the main tourist attractions of the area, this group had begun to create and share with the community various promotional materials, such as brochures and information panels. They also plan to develop an advertising spot “Tourist destinations in in Hâncești” and a QR code “Promotion of four tourist areas in the locality” to help people find out even more information about the tourist attractions nearby. The Raional Library “IPS A. Plămădeală” Hâncești plans to help the community discover the potential of their beautiful area, by organizing cultural activities and implementing a contest named “We discover the local tourist destinations”.

Librarians in Hincesti have become an important resource for the community, being part of the primary protection system for child victims or potential victims, learning how to identify and refer to the competent bodies (social assistance, police, city hall) for children at risk

During the 5 years of the project, the librarians helped the children to learn, through the game “On the way home”, how to protect themselves when they are left alone at home, at school, on the street, and in any other place. Due to the professional involvement of librarians, during this period many children who were at risk were identified.

As per international projects where the Raional Public Library IPS A. Plamadeala from Hincesti implemented it’s important to mention  The third space of the community, a project which involves the arrangement in the Romanian Book Branch in Hâncești municipality of a space – Nest of Democracy – which encourages the learning of civic behaviors, debating local issues and taking the initiative to solve them. The aim of the project is to develop a network of public libraries, to facilitate community participation in the practice of democracy through the formation of active citizenship, and the creation of spaces to protect and promote democratic values. The project provides a program for learning active citizenship, training and education of a group of volunteers, skills to participate in community life, to get involved and solve some problems, to change for the better some aspects of the community. 

In the current project where the library participated to create a support network, consisting of public libraries and NGOs, which will support the establishment of public spaces in libraries for learning and practicing active citizenship. The civic involvement of citizens in the community can lead to significant changes in the way society works. And finally, they can improve people’s quality of life. In order to become truly active citizens, the inhabitants of Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine need spaces in which to meet, where to discuss issues of general interest and a context in which to learn, exchange ideas, communicate and collaborate. And public libraries are the perfect host for this. 

At the time being, the librarians from Hincesti are interested in growing competencies in working with refugees from Ukraine and exploring new approaches on what types of activities they can develop both for children and adults. A focus that the library articulated since 2021 and is still on going, is on reintegration and resocialization of persons released on parole from the penitentiaries, who are in the records of the Hîncești Probation Office. Within this project, the library proved its capacity to extend the partnership and sustain a permanent dialogue with authorities. In fact, within the project Growing Active Citizens Hub, ion thir NGO fest organized in the space of the library, the main discussions were on partnerships as a sustainable mechanism of development in public libraries. So, everyone is invited to the castle, to the library from Hincesti, Republic of Moldova!

Get in touch with the Rayonal Public Library “IPS A. Plamadeala” Hancesti, Republic of Moldova

Address: 51 Mitropolitul Varlaam St, Hancesti, Republic of Moldova

Phone number: +069081155

Webpage/ Social Media channel: https://m.facebook.com/Biblioteca-Publica-Raionala

This project is developed by Progress Foundation Romania, granted by E.U. and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and implemented in Armenia, Republic Of Moldova, Romania and Ukraine with the help of the regional partners: Lori Regional Library, Armenia; “Dimitrie Cantemir” Public Library from Ungheni, “IPS Antonie Plamadeala” Public Library from Hincesti & Library Association from Republic of Moldova; “G.T. Kirileanu” Neamt County Library & “Antim Ivireanul” Valcea County Library from Romania; Luhansk Regional Scientific Library, Lviv Public Library & Ukrainian Library Association, from Ukraine.

This article was written by PhD Alin Daniel Piroșcă.

Growing Active Citizens Hubs is granted by E.U. and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Black Sea Trust or its partners.

Libraries are not only open to everyone, but they also have the right approach when it comes to difficult situations in accommodating their communities. The Dimitrie Cantemir District Library from Ungheni can be a good example when we have to project the idea of how librarians can raise awareness of their competencies and ability to adapt, adjust and fix a new situation. This article is about how this library from Ungheni manages to accommodate, from an emotional perspective, Ukrainian refugees and how librarians understood that their role is essential in actively participating to a new type of approach.

The Dimitrie Cantemir District Public Library from Ungheni, Republic of Moldova was founded in 1946. Since it initially starts as a small library in a house with 200 books, the library passed a lot of changes until in 2004 it received the status of District Public Library, which grants consultations to the 58 libraries in the district.

As a coordinator of libraries in district Ungheni, the Dimitrie Cantemir District Public Library has a good practice in organizing various types of activities in different thematic areas and also to be a responsive cultural and educational institution to community needs.  The concept of lifelong learning life was obvious and took shape among women at the library “Dimitrie Cantemir” namely in the pandemic period when the library team launched the “Women Can Succeed at Home” campaign, which purpose of supporting women negatively affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

The main areas of key competencies that have been developed in this campaign were social and civic competencies – organizing the round table The woman – the promoter of change in the community. Within these activities, the group of women participating in the activity, by analyzing a case study, identified the problems in the community, prioritized them, and proposed solutions. These women in turn trained other women, associating in initiative groups, which have tried to promote their ideas. Another competence stands for digital skills – organization IT workshop for women, which was capitalized on the IT skills that help us save time on services providing secure information. The participants got to know and explore the instruments to assess the level of security of the sites, they knew the rules of using the card for secure online payments. Knowledge of the https: // bancameaplatform.md / for opening a bank card, banking news, and other information disseminated during the workshop were beneficial for participating women. Also, the project focused on study skills according to the principle “Learning to learn” in a public discussion. An original approach was on new media, with an aim of creating an opportunity in personal and professional development. In the activity, participants became aware of how the media shapes the personality and how can a conscious citizen and curious to do a fact-check-in (checking the credibility/authenticity of the information published in the media), not to assist passively in community life, but for to change things in his country. Spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship it was another competence, during the project it was a workshop titled From hobby to business. We buy and sell securely online. In this activity, it was discussed and analyzed in detail how women’s hobbies can bring income and more women were encouraged to sell products safely in an online environment. Cultural awareness and expression artistic – public cafe Successful women, role models. As part of the activity, there were discussions on the topic of psychological well-being and self-respect and defined the concept of a successful woman.

Another important project the Dimitrie Cantemir District Library from Ungheni implemented was Libraries of democratic information and civic involvement spaces, financed by the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Republic of Moldova, implemented by the Baştina Frăsînești Public Association, within the grant program Local civil society development in Moldova in partnership with the Association for Politics External EPA.

Also, among the main projects implemented in 2021 we can consider  “Sustainable democracy through electoral education” – information and electoral education of young people in Ungheni district. Activity within the small grants program “Libraries – voter education points”, offered by CICDE, financially supported by UNDP Moldova and USAID Moldova. The second is the project “We write responsibly, we act for the community” – the development of community journalism and the creation of a consolidated media voice, by increasing the level of media education. Project funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, implemented by the “Baștina Frăsinești” Association. 

Many of the libraries’ projects are focusing on encouraging and promoting active citizenship among women in rural areas. Activity within the project “Moldova against all forms of discrimination” implemented by ERIM, and funded by the EU and co-financed by DRL for example, were awarded at national level for civic engagement.

But the usual structure of events was disturbed, as for other libraries, when the war started in Ukraine. The city of Ungheni was suddenly a safe space for lots of Ukrainians, for some just for a while, because they were in transit, and for others, at the time being is still a safe place and a secondary home. 

So, given that the municipality of Ungheni hosted Ukrainian refugees, the library “Dimitrie Cantemir”, created the necessary conditions to make available to Ukrainian refugee free access to the Internet and the press. This was the first step in assuming the role of an open window to democracy and freedom. The basic function of libraries is, in fact, informational. Both community members and refugees, whether they have applied for asylum or are on their way to other destinations, need to have access to information from credible sources, and librarians can help us find the right information and fight the false news. Refugees can come to the library, where they have access to the Internet, free WI-FI, and the press, from which they can get information, and know what is happening, as long as they are not in their country.

Secondary was the assistance and the services provided in order to feel welcome and to forget or just to leave aside the horrible trauma they have gone through.   For children, librarians prepared personalized spaces with board games, coloring books, but also artistic literature have been arranged (the books were in the Russian language since the library stock of books in Ukrainian is poor).  At the same time, it was and still is, a real challenge for librarians to provide refugees an emotional accommodation. This sensitive aspect needs to have a proper approach, while librarians are not specialized to assist persons on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). 

In conclusion, besides the usual adaptation to a new situation, librarians are the ones who discover, through the process of adaptation, new competencies in order to meet the needs of their new community.  

Get in touch with the Dimitrie Cantemir District Library, Ungheni, Republic of Moldova

Address: 39 Mihai Eminescu St., Ungheni, Republic of Moldova

Phone number: +37323620193

Webpage/ social media channel: https://bprungheni.wordpress.com/

Who doesn’t need democracy? Addressing this rhetorical question, it seems understandable that we are already adding our approach within the framework of democracy. Nevertheless, when we are discussing about libraries and democracy, we may be tempted to think that this is a false problem for libraries, because of the role that they hold as institutions and by definition of the expression of democracy. And just a step away is the tautology: democracies need libraries and libraries need democracy. This article is about how can a young institution such as the National Associations of Librarians from Republic of Moldova position itself as an open window to democracy through its activities and what mechanism is configured to strengthen its community of librarians.  

It is a fact that nowadays libraries are no longer seen as a repository of books, where people are coming there just for specialised documentation. Reading was escalated by dialogue, so at first sight, the library has positioned itself as a space available for people. But people are different and, as institutions and their librarians need to identify the audience, a new mechanism was needed. Since early 2000, European Union had several programs dedicated to audience development, but there were no indications on how an institution that is working with the public should do that. The calls for proposals and after that, the projects that fulfilled that framework, were in the end examples of good practices. Still, there is a sensitive aspect when it comes to the role of a public library defined as a hub for citizens.

The National Association of Librarians of the Republic of Moldova was founded in 1991 and registered and ready for action in 1992. So, right after the communist curtain dropped in the Soviet Union, librarians were already ready to take action within the democracy field. And, as  statute provisions, from the very beginning, the association set up its objectives, which we briefly point out as follows: democratisation and improvement of library management; coordinating the efforts of librarians and boosting their professional and creative potential; amplifying the social status and prestige of the librarian profession, appreciating the social significance of library activity, defending the rights of librarians, improving their material and social conditions; establishing relations between librarians from Moldova and abroad, ensuring their participation in similar international organizations. 

The window of democracy was already opened and added from the beginning a horizon of opportunities for such a fresh and new institution for librarians. What happened sooner than expected was a consolidated partnership and dialogue with international institutions. Each project the association developed through the years embraced the idea to promote the activity of a librarian and put the spotlight on the growing competencies and abilities of the librarians’ community. Throughout many of the projects the association developed, you can see a red wire in the idea of assuming the perspectives on the role of libraries as stewards of an informed citizenry and enablers of democratic participation. As per its role of being active within specific actions related to democracy and active citizenship, the association focused on bringing at the same table people from the community with authorities to discuss, adjust and fix sensitive and essential aspects. One of these aspects that needs a little space for discussion is equal opportunities. Perhaps for countries in Western Europe, this subject is no longer under the loop, but for the Republic of Moldova, it is on the agenda, while politics puts this matter aside.  The result, after developing some projects based on open dialogue, was an awareness of the concept itself, so people understood what equal opportunities means mean, but also their voices and observations were heard by authorities. Among other aspects and actions that members of the association put into practice, the role of this association becomes more and more dynamic year after year. Gathering together all those best practices, the association is now a repository of ideas and examples on how to respond to a subject and how to link authorities and community, adding value to the library space. In other words, libraries that are now coordinated by the association are advocating for a healthy and open community with few unresolved issues. 

But there is an aspect that we need to focus on, which is the subtle change of role of the librarians that happened during the transition to democracy. And this is valid for all the countries that switched from communism to democracy. This change of role came along with another word that strengthened the image of the library in front of the community- ‘project’. We see that this word is now used very often and enhances the idea of an activity, which could be complex or with a lower level of complexity. But, looking over the characteristics of the concept itself, each project is unique and original. So, librarians were all of a sudden in front of a new activity that was somehow outside the usual framework of their activity. They needed to develop projects for an audience they did not know so well because the audience is dynamic as projects are touching only sub-structures of that community. 

The Association of Librarians from the Republic of Moldova understood from the beginning the idea of adding value to the day-to-day services that a library is providing to its community but also merged the idea of a project on what that community really needs with an immediate action. The philosophy behind the actions that the association is developing is based on unresolved aspects that touch on a big community to identify the core of the needs for their constituency. Librarians have a decisive role in gathering information and opening the dialogue, but the association is focusing more on people and not on institutions. That’s why they need to grow their organization with the help and assistance from specialists first, and then from institutions. And it is not so hard to control the libraries, whilst the Republic of Moldova is not a big country, it has 2 big towns and 32 rayons, so 32 rayons and 2 public libraries.  

At the time being, the main priority of the association is to grow competencies among school librarians. In the next period, the association is planning to involve the librarians from schools in their projects, focusing on developing new competencies for them. Among the type of competencies enumerated are digital, communication and project management. 

IREX, a global development and education organization, implemented in Republic of Moldova the program called Novoteca. This was a real breakthrough for librarians because it was a turning point for their new role in the community. In Republic of Moldova, IREX focused on data-driven community development, library modernization and media literacy. Among the goals of the program is included the improvement of local services and increasing access to quality and reliable information. 

In their effort to sustain a permanent engagement in democratic life, the association is defined by the active participation of its members. For the actual president of the association, participation in democratic life means civic engagement. And to position the librarians and also the libraries in this action means to configure the role of the librarians as being an inspirational model for the community.  The idea of a librarian as an inspirational model to his community is based on a sensitive approach to the children and mainly to young people to develop critical thinking, as librarians will permanently wear their main hat, as a source of information and service for the community.

In the end, we conclude with the idea that libraries are for everyone, everywhere. They provide safe spaces for public dialogue. They disseminate the information so the public can participate in the processes of governance. Also, due to a social dynamic that occurs, libraries provide access to government information so that the public can monitor the work of its elected officials and benefit from the data collected and distributed by public policy makers. They serve as gathering places for the community to share interests and concerns. They provide opportunities for citizens to develop the skills needed to gain access to information of all kinds and, most importantly, to put the information to effective use.

Get in touch with the National Association of Librarians from Republic of Moldova

Address: 78A 31 August 1989 St, Chisinau

Phone number: +37322 221-475

Webpage/ social media channel: https://www.abrm.md/ 

A traditional library is always open to new opportunities to grow. But to identify the opportunity you need to be known by the community, diversify your services, and communicate and promote your activities. The G.T. Kirileanu of Neamt County successfully promote its services and consolidated a bridge with the community by actively listening to their needs.

The G.T. Kirileanu Library of Neamt County is situated in the city of Piatra Neamt, Neamt county. The institution is the continuation of some traditions of over 135 years of public reading in Piatra-Neamţ, coordinates the activity of all public libraries in county and serves – mainly – the information, study, reading, education and recreation interests of population in the county seat municipality. His collections comprise over 270,000 volumes (books, newspapers, magazines, scores, records, cassettes, CDs, DVDs), including the invaluable library of the illustrious scholar G. T. Kirileanu, donated to the city in 1956. This important donation includes about 30,000 publications between 1600-1950, with special documentary value and bibliophile, among the rarities being a few autograph books from Ion Creangă’s former library and the collection of the newspaper “Timpul” from the years when the editors were M. Eminescu, I. Slavici and I. L. Caragiale.

The building where the library is was built in the year 1972, in the same year when there was the celebration of the International Year of The Book. The investment was made by the Neamt County Council. Starting with the year 1974 it became the County Library and received the books from the library of G. t. Kirileanu. And on 13th March 1992, when we celebrated 120 years from the birth of G. T. Kirileanu the library became the County Library G. T. Kirileanu.

After 1991, the County Library was modernized and extended and now has a surface of about 2500 sm. The G.T. Kirileanu Library supervises the activity of the other libraries in the county and besides its role of providing books to the people, it also works hard on preserving and continuing the work of G.T. Kirileanu.

Cultural education can be achieved in partnership with pre-university education institutions, through specific programs adapted to the age and intellectual particularities of the groups.  Librarians from Neamţ County Library have tried implementing some new methods of promoting library services for citizens. Among them, it may be mentioned working with high-school volunteers and using local TV networks in order to establish a closer connection between the library and the local community.

First of all, the County Library contributes to the improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of Neamţ County through free and non-discriminatory access to collections, services, specialized databases, and cultural offers but also to the formation of study, research, reading and documentation skills. Let us not forget the role of socialization and recreation, so it can be said that the library is an open space of communication. Everything is built around the interest for the citizen, because we will try to find appropriate solutions to the information and documentation needs of the public, professional training, and personal development. We aim to make the library a leader of the community, a living organism, in a continuous movement, transformation and adaptation both to the information market and to the expectations of users, being in a full balance with the information society.

In 2020 the library launched a project on the thematic shelf about housing. The project engaged the community and promoted the role of the library as an available and active partner with the community, The purpose of this shelf of books which is functioning as an information point is to emphasize that housing is a topic of thought for all, to make the public aware of the idea that together, through volunteering and other forms of civic participation, we must find solutions for a sustainable future of housing and convey the clear message that every human being on earth has the right to a decent life.

The thematic shelf will remain available to readers over the next few years, and library users will be invited to discover the shelf and get involved in finding creative ideas and solutions in future events. Moreover, the library’s volunteer team will have the mission to make the information point known in the community, to come up with ideas for activities, to attract new users to the library and use the resources made available in various contexts. This project was part of the Build Solid Ground project and was developed in partnership with Pro Vobis – National Resource Center for Volunteering.

Other important projects dedicated to children and young people were “Piatra-Neamţ reads”, which promoted books and reading in the community, and “The third space of active citizenship (made by Progress Foundation) through which it was created and modernized a nest of democracy in the Information Center Community.

Looking over this traditional library which owns one of the important deposits of documents and old books (Kirileanu fond), we can conclude by quoting what the current manager of the library stated at one point that an informed man is a strong man. The library is a step towards knowledge, towards personal development. and it belongs to the community. Try to discover it, come with us and for sure we will be stronger together.

Get in touch with the G.T. Kirileanu Neamt County Library

Address: 15A Republicii St.Pitra Namt, Neamt, Romania

Phone number: +40233210379

Webpage/ Social Media channel: http://www.bibgtkneamt.ro/

How can a public library reach out to its community and how can that mechanism become sustainable? Answering to this question, we have already added a debate on the particularity of how a public library is able to design something that can be named sustainable for its audience. In fact, sustainability here is just a part of the whole painting which must be seen by the community as a whole. That is why the process to retrieve the mechanism of sustainable actions that the County Library “Antim Ivireanul” Vâlcea is reverse: it needed a space dedicated to the community and then to add activities aimed to strengthen the relations between library and community.

The County Library “Antim Ivireanul” Vâlcea is a public institution located in Valcea County, Romania in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia. It is also part of the wider Wallachia region and its capital city is Râmnicu Vâlcea. The library Antim Ivireanu is located in Ramnicu Valcea city. The library has a reading room named Marian Creanga with 100 seats and a Children’s Book Loan Section, with a reading hall of 25 seats and other sections for public relations, legal depository and administrative.  

By its mission and vision, the library is connected to cultural needs and technological trends, emphasizing the collection and valorization of information and the promotion of development opportunities available at European level. The main objective of BJAIV is to respond to the interests of information, study, education, reading and recreation of users. BJAIV contributes to the capitalization of the local and national cultural heritage, as well as to the promotion of Romanian culture by organizing events and seminars, meetings with personalities from the country and abroad, book launches, making documentaries about the life and activity of writers, and creating cultural content. -educational, analyzes and syntheses based on the collections held. In addition to current activities, document lending, the County Library “Antim Ivireanul” Vâlcea coordinates local and international projects, organizes events involving personalities from the country and abroad, conducts personal and professional development courses for community members. The library permanently develops collaborative partnerships both with organizations from the country and from Europe. The County Library “Antim Ivireanul” Vâlcea has, in addition to the headquarters, three branches and is a methodical guidance center of the network of public libraries in Vâlcea County, a network of 86 communal and city libraries.

Defining its objective, the library from Valcea county Consolidation of the status of community and cultural-educational center of library, both by diversifying services, products and programs offered to the community, as well as through permanent development and accessibility of info-documentary resources. Also, upon its main purpose to position itself as an active hub for community, the library is creating the premises for redefining the concept library as a specific center for education and lifelong learning – similar structure to popular universities with which the library could create partnerships. And due to the present challenges of digitalization, the library is increasing the visibility in the digital environment by emphasizing its dual role as a content manager and facilitator of access to information.

Summarizing all the above, we can say that the County Library “Antim Ivireanul” Vâlcea is an institution with a strategic role in the development of the local community. On the one hand, because it ensures equal free and non-discriminatory access to information and documents necessary for information, lifelong learning and personality development of users, and, on the other hand, because through the diversification and permanent accessibility of info-documentary resources, through projects and cultural events, the library has been redefined as a community space connected to the cultural and educational needs of citizens, which ensures lifelong learning and also fulfills the role of social link. An educated community is a strong community, and here comes the strategic role of the library in supporting, in the medium and long term, quality education, so that citizens are informed, actively involved and responsibly decide their future and that of the community.

Since 2016, the library has had the “Third space of active citizenship”, an initiative Progress Foundation.  “Third space of active citizenship” it was designed as a space that can be used free of charge, with prior appointment, by local NGOs. The space offers nowadays free internet access and other facilities (projection screen, video projector), useful for debates, exchanges of ideas, meetings on topics of great interest to the community. This space is situated at the intersection of what a public library can stand for its community and how to generate that bridge that links the community with a public library. 

The library has also carried out a series of activities/projects that encourage the learning and practice of active citizenship by consolidating, for example, the public library and civil society. A project called Women as a vector of European information had the objective of an interactive meeting on the importance of the role played by women in society. The library is position very good within participation to democracy and had for several years a project called If you do not vote, do not complain, which consists in an information session on the parliamentary elections.

A strong collaboration with local NGOs is visible in the practices of various courses dedicated to NGOs on how to write projects to obtain funds from the EU or other funding bodies, collecting and donating food for the needy. Every year, with the help of volunteers, the library is organizing charitable events to promote solidarity between generations and tolerance towards those with financial problems.

A pragmatic approach to the community can also be understood through networking events organized frequently by a group of mothers concerned with the mission and role of women in today’s society and by the event Parents’ school, which aims to talk about health and social contribution in workshops organized by a group of parents. Youth on Move Association – it is a project of workshops within the framework of  Erasmus + projects, workshops with volunteers from EVS (European Voluntary Service), the library involves these volunteers in various actions and events organized by the institution.

Cooperation with various foundations such as World Vision Romania Foundation, had the purpose to grow the competencies of the librarians through different workshops and educational activities for personal development, vocational counselor, etc. Also, the Friends of Vâlcea Hospital Association organized the week of breast-feeding, a series of debates, and presentations in order to raise awareness about the importance of breastfeeding for the child’s health. Other associations such as  Pro-Waldorf Association organized a creative workshop entitled “The musical story”, held by teachers and actors, Vâlcea Red Cross – workshops on how to provide first aid, and Down Association Vâlcea organized in the library special events dedicated to children with Down syndrome.

Growing Active Citizens HUBs, organized and implemented by Progress Foundation it is on board within library activities. The project’s objective is to develop a complete system to facilitate community participation in the practice of democracy by training active citizens, creating spaces to protect and promote democratic values and by conducting integrity audits for local public administrations. Being the heart of its community, library Antim Ivireanu assumed, by its mission, an objective of creating a support network, consisting of public libraries and NGOs, which will support the provision of public spaces in libraries for learning and practicing active citizenship, where community members can meet, discuss issues of general interest and equally to learn, to exchange ideas, to communicate and to collaborate, brought inside the community the idea of a library open for dialogue. 

If we look over the library’s schedule of activities within past years, we see that there is a focus on strengthening the approach between the community and the library as a space. While other projects of the Antin Ivireanu County Valcea Library are putting a spotlight on building a relation between the readers and the book, still there is a preoccupation on consolidating the role of an active citizenship. 

Get in touch with the County Library “Antim Ivireanul” Vâlcea

Address: 26 Carol I St., Ramnicu Valcea, Valcea, Romania

Phone number: +400250739221

Webpage/ Social Media channel: https://www.bjai.ro/