By Ismena Meic

At the end of 2017, City Library of Zagreb celebrated her 110th anniversary.

On the occasion of the City Library of Zagreb’s 110th anniversary, the Open Doors Week is organized. The central ceremony was held on the very Day of the Zagreb City Libraries and founding of the City Library of Zagreb on Thursday the 7th of December 2017 at the Croatian National Theatre. At the same time this was a celebration of founding of two other important cultural institutions of the City of Zagreb – The Zagreb City Museum and State Archives in Zagreb.

The City Library of Zagreb was founded in 1907 and they are the oldest public libraries in Zagreb and among the first public libraries founded in Croatia with their long-standing tradition of serving the local community and offering the access to many valuable local, national and international sources of information as well as all sorts of librarian and cultural services to wide age groups of citizens.
From its beginnings the City Library of Zagreb is distinguished as a “free, public and modern library, founded and settled for all citizens of Zagreb” (from the Rules of Procedure dated 1908). It still operates according to the same theses.

As part of the anniversary we highlighted the need for a new building of The City Library of Zagreb.

More more information, watch this video: https://youtu.be/Odb4m1aRiCc 

Hong Kong’s public libraries operator opened the City’s first self-service book station on 5 Dec 2017. Readers can now borrow from 300 books from the vending machine-style station located at Sai Wan Ho. Two more stations will be launched in the second half of 2018 in other parts of City.

The addition came as the rise of e-books has caused interest in Hong Kong’s public libraries to wane. The self-service station provides an extra channel for readers such as working professionals to borrow books outside normal working hours. Readers can also pick up books they have requested from public libraries.

More information: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2122973/self-service-library-stations-provide-books-demand-hong

By Raymond Santiago

In an effort to assist U.S. Public Libraries in providing quality health information to patron, a partnership between the Public Library Association and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine has been has been announced. Bobbi Newman, Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist, NNLM’s Greater Midwest Region, filed the following report.

Whether they’re searching the Internet, watching television, or browsing social media, Americans are bombarded with information related to their health, but the messages they’re receiving may not be understandable, reliable, or even credible. Faced with confusing medical terminology, conflicting reports, and a constantly changing healthcare system, people are looking to their local public libraries for guidance. That’s why the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) is partnering with the Public Library Association (PLA): to help libraries meet the challenges of keeping up with evidence-based health resources and producing successful health programming.
Announcing Promoting Healthy Communities.

PLA and NNLM are thrilled to announce Promoting Healthy Communities, a new nationwide initiative that will increase public library workers’ health knowledge and skills related to reliable health information resources, as well as support programs related to health and wellness. Throughout the nine-month initiative, PLA and NNLM will:

• Assess health information needs among public librarians in order to improve existing educational opportunities and develop new ones designed to meet the unique needs of public libraries.
• Share free resources, information about successful library programs, and professional development opportunities by holding training programs and webinars, publishing articles and podcasts.
• Unveil a new website (coming in early 2018) for public librarians that gives them easy access to training, tools and resources for consumer health information, health literacy programming and more.

More information at www.nnlm.gov/public-libraries

By Lo Claesson

Generation Code
Oct 17th – 18th at the European Parliament, Brussels

In October I represented together with Jenny Nilsson and Ulrika Domellöf Mattson the Swedish Library Association at the event Generation Code at the European Parliament in Brussels. The event was a part of the EU Code Week.

EU Code Week, launched in 2013, is a grass-roots movement that celebrates creating with code. The idea is to show children, adults and the elderly how you bring ideas to life with code, to demystify these skills and bring motivated people together to learn.

The event had three parts:

1. The exhibition
The Generation Code exhibition was designed to demonstrate to EU policy makers what libraries are already doing to offer citizens an outlet to develop their digital skills, and show how libraries can play a crucial role in the future provided the receiving enough funding and policy support. By empowering individuals, Europe’s 65,000 public libraries build stronger communities and change lives. In the afternoon, there were also a Kids session at the exhibition.

2. Meet & Greet speed dating session
Library representatives met with MEPs at the exhibition. In beforehand each country’s library associations had invited “their” MEPs for a brief meeting. You could take the opportunity to advocate and discuss library matters that were especially important for your country’s libraries while you were also visiting the exhibition. We talked about the Swedish library association’s positions concerning the EU Commission’s proposal for copyright directive.

3. Debate:
A debate also took place in the parliament: Is contributing to building digital skills part of the modern libraries core role? There is a MEP Library Lovers Group that brings together Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from across the EU and from both sides of the political spectrum who are passionate about libraries. Eva Maydel, Bulgaria, member of this group started the discussions.
The event was arranged by Public Libraries 2020. PL2020 brings together library organisations and advocates from across the EU to raise awareness of the value of public libraries as partners for social and economic development under the Europe 2020 strategy. PL2020 promotes how libraries are contributing to European policy objectives in three main areas: social inclusion, digital inclusion, and lifelong learning.

This event provided a good opportunity for library representatives from EU countries to meet and talk with their MEPs in an environment that presented what a modern library could be.

Sources:
http://www.publiclibraries2020.eu/content/home
http://codeweek.eu/
Photos: Swedish Library Association http://www.biblioteksforeningen.se/

EIFL is delighted to announce that the new EIFL Public Library Innovation Award – for public library services that improve lives – is now open for applications. We would be grateful if you could please share this call through your networks – we want to reach as many libraries as possible.

For more about the award – http://bit.ly/2gfCyhx

The award is open to all public and community libraries in developing and transition countries that use digital technology (ICT) to improve lives in their communities by addressing any of the following issues, which are included in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Economic wellbeing and employment
Farming and sustainable agriculture
Health and hygiene
Digital inclusion
Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls
Education for all
Climate change and other issues affecting the environment
The prize includes US$1,500 and wide publicity through EIFL’s global communication channels and networks.

The deadline for submitting applications is 11 January 2018.

Applications will be accepted in English, French, Russian and Spanish.