The Erasmus+ visit became the new beginning of a partnership with Slovenia
Pasvalys Marius Katiliškis Public Library (Lithuania) is implementing the first mobility project in the field of non-formal adult education funded by the Erasmus+ program: project "Inclusion of Information Technologies. International experience adapted to modern needs of society", 2023-1-LT01-KA122-ADU-000133556, intended for public library employees. The main goal of the project is to adopt the experience of the libraries of EU countries in organizing informal digital education for adults and increasing digital inclusion.
The first project activity was training in Croatia, this was followed by a job shadowing visit in Belgium, in the Gent City Library "De Krook". The last activity of this Erasmus+ project was a job shadowing visit in the Ljubljana City Oton Župančič Public Library in Slovenia.
During the visit we learned a lot about our Erasmus+ project topic – non formal adult education and digitalisation. On top of that, we found out, that in Liubliana, media and information literacy is not the only literacy activity organized in the library. Reading, health, financial and even family planning literacy activities are also very popular here. This visit as well became important for the cultural partnership of the two countries. During the visit, the bilateral cooperation agreement between the Association of Municipal Public Libraries of Lithuania and the Association of Public Libraries of Slovenia was renewed, and signed by the Association President in Lithuania Danguolė Abazoriuvienė and the Association President in Slovenia Matej Stergaršek. We hope, this will further strengthen the cooperation between the libraries of both countries.
The job shadowing took place on the 19th – 24th of May, 2024. It started with a visit in Ljubljana City library, named after famous Slovene poet Oton Župančič. It was very interesting to hear about the library system in Slovenia, library network in Ljubljana, about their activities, ongoing projects, international collaborations, and future plans. Lithuanian librarians learned that the City Library is actually not a Central Library for Ljubljana city. It is only the largest among them. Nevertheless, the library conducts both professional competency development training for Slovene library staff and skill-building activities for library visitors. Digital literacy activities for library visitors are carried out by organizing training, courses and lectures, individual mentorship or by using e-learning platforms, such as “Zoom”, “Moodle” or “Youtube”. In addition, the library also implements a number of projects, provides other non-formal adult education or consultation activities, e.g. provides information when looking for a job, preparing a CV, etc.
The library gives a lot of attention towards socially vulnerable groups. As a result, library organises healthy lifestyle and disease prevention activities, wellness classes for seniors, special lectures and talks about mental health and social tolerance fostering activities, and children reading sessions with therapy dogs. These activities are part of various projects done by the library. Another type of services provided throughout the Ljubljana City region, in order to bring library closer to people, are mobile services and Bibliobus. It visits 47 stops.
The participants of the visit were impressed by the Šentvid library, which in 2019 was awarded the IFLA "Green Library" award. It is a library with a long tradition, immensely loved by its community. When the time came for library renovation, it was decided to give it a new important mission - to spread knowledge and information about environmental protection and sustainability. All the events of the library are connected with the preservation of the environment and a harmonious life surrounded by nature. There are various events, meetings, "Eco weeks” that are organised in the library. Library takes a great care to include as many people from different backgrounds as possible, as a result, new collaborations and successful projects have been accomplished.
Lithuanian librarians were excited by the collection of miniature books, which the participants of the visit had the opportunity to see in the "Slovanska" library. It is part of the Ljubljana City Library and acts as The Centre of Local History Studies and Special Collection of the Humanities. Library has a vast collection of materials not only in Slovene, but also in other Slavonic languages. During the job shadowing visit, the librarians of Pasvalys not only visited the library, but also learned about national digitalized history and culture portal "kamra.si". It was really interesting for participants from Lithuania, especially because in Pasvalys there is a similar portal “pasvalia.lt”. It was wonderful opportunity for librarians to discuss these two similar yet different data basis with colleagues in Slovenia. The information stored on both portals is part of the Europeana collections of European cultural heritage.
The National Library of Slovenia and the University Library of Ljubljana are one and the same institution that performs the functions of both libraries. Consultations and trainings are organized here for visitors on how to use the library collections and databases of the national and university libraries, how to use the information resources of this dual library while studying or doing research work. The librarians of the Pasvalys region were greatly impressed by the digitization projects of incunabula, historical books, and other printed materials: how books are digitized, how preparatory work is performed, what books cannot be digitized anymore and many things more.
The Erasmus+ project opened the door to Europe, it’s culture and cultural institutions. It is an activity that broadens horizons, creates partnerships, helps institutions and organizations to get to know each other, grow, develop new things together, share experiences, create, and ensure the progress of the common cultural society.
The participants of the Erasmus+ visit shared the knowledge, experiences and observations gained during the work observation visit In Slovenia with their colleagues in Pasvalys, during the Joint Methodology Day on the 26th of June.
