Summary of news on the Sister Libraries Programme

We have reached 24 sisterships!! Congratulations to all the libraries participating in the programme. This time the sister libraries are the Korčula City Library  from Croatia and the Kaunas County Public Library  from Lithuania and both have established sistershipd with our most active library in the programme, the Municipal Public Library of Piekary Slaskie  in Poland. We also have news from this library and its 7 sisters!

There is also a new library from Lithuania participating in the programme, the Povilas Višinskis Šiauliai County Public Library. With this new incorportation, the programme now has 62 European public libraries participating.

We have also added some news on our presence in the last IFLA Conference in Helsinki, and a brochure you can use to encourage libraries to participate in the programme. Do not miss it!

NAPLE Sister Libraries

Portugal in Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation Survey

Portugal is one of the 18 EU countries which are participating in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative: Cross European Survey to Measure Usersʹ perceptions of the Benefits of Information and Communication Technologies in Public Libraries.

This survey is intended to collect information that will help to undersatand the role public libraries play in contributing to the EUʹ policy objectives, particularly concerning the European Union 2020 Strategy, the Digital Agenda, and the Multiannual Financial Framework.

Margarida Oleiro
Head of Libraries Department
General Directorate for Books and Libraries
Portugal

Spain: Happy Libraries Day!

Today, 24th October, it is Libraries Day in Spain. The Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports sponsors this initiative of the the Spanish Association of Friends of Children and Young Adults Books, which started back in 1997.

This year the celebration will we held in Alcalá de Henares. The author and an illustrator selected this year to make the promotional poster are Jose María Gutiérrez de la Torre and Juan Ramón Alonso Díaz-Toledo.

Libraries Day Poster 2012

Award for libraries promoting social inclusion

Innovative libraries: don’t miss this opportunity!

EIFL’s Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) is offering a new award  for library services using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to contribute to social inclusion in the community.

The award, which includes a prize of US$1,500, is open to public and community libraries in developing and transition countries. The deadline for submitting applications is November 30, so start preparing your application now!

EIFL-PLIP is accepting applications in English, French, Russian and Spanish.

This is the third award in EIFL-PLIP’s series of four Innovation Awards for library services that improve lives. The aim of the awards is to share stories about the impact of innovative library services and to inspire other libraries to start similar services.

To find out more about this award and for application details visit http://www.eifl.net/eifl-plip-innovation-awards

New web site of the Czech Central Library Board

Check out the contents of Czech Central Library Board (Ústřední knihovnická rada) new website,

For example:

* The Concept for the development of libraries in the Czech Republic for
2011-2015

* Standpoints and documents of the Central Library Board

* Minutes

All documents are in Czech

Eva Bartunkova
Department Head of Information Centre for Librarianship
Czech Republic

Volunteers in Libraries. Column from The Czech Librarianship Portal

The Czech Librarianship Portal (National Library) started a new column focused on volunteers in libraries. The topic is widely discussed by the Czech librarians. It is a part of the Library Development Framework in years 2011-2015. The column brings information about legislation, terminology, list of libraries that can share their experiences in cooperation with volunteers and recommendation of the Ministry of Culture concerning volunteers in libraries.

Materials are in Czech.

http://knihovnam.nkp.cz/sekce.php3?page=02_Odb/dobrovolnici.htm&PHPSESSID=b765701a20b73b38dd18350ae18817c5

Eva Bartunkova
Department Head of Information Centre for Librarianship
Czech Republic