Common efforts for added value
Zdenka Sviben
Zagreb City Libraries
Presentation of the tree joint programs / projects of public
libraries in Croatia:
• Croatian Books Month
• Ask a Librarian
• Portal of Public Libraries
organized or coordinated by Zagreb City Libraries
Croatian Books Month
• national manifestation
• every year from October,15th till November,15th
• Zagreb City Libraries have organized the manifestation
since 1995
• program committee: representatives of cultural institutions,
publishers, journalists, associations and librarians
• organization committee - Zagreb City Libraries staff
Objectives:
• developing awareness of the role of libraries, books
and reading
• increasing public awarness (citizens, media, local
authorities)
• joint planning
• learning from each other
• sharing ideas
• increasing the quality and quantity of programs in
public libraries
Structure of the manifestation:
• central programs
• local programs
Central programs
• opening and closing ceremonies,
• professional meetings,
• joint participation at the Interliber Book Fair (since 2002) –
exhibitions of libraries' publishing activities, workshops
• National quiz to encourage reading (since 1998),
• consolidating all the programs that occur during Croatian
Books Month in libraries,
• printing booklet, posters and bookmarks; distribution to
all public libraries
Organization and realization in cooperation with local partners.
The central program is financially supported by the Croatian
Ministry of Culture and local partners.
Local Programs
• Each library organizes its own events in accordance with
the central theme and programs of local interest.
These programs are financed primarily from libraries'
own resources, media, sponsors, publishers, etc.
Statistics
1995:
100 public libraries participated, 500 events (panels,
presentations of new publications, exhibitions of new titles,
marking the anniversary of important people, workshops,
animation and educational activities
1999:
160 public libraries, more than 1200 events
2009:
190 public libraries, more than 2500 various events
1995
Opening ceremony in Čakovec
with a round table on leisure time
of children and young people in
public libraries
Island Korčula - meeting with the
city authorities on the status of the
public library
Event in Požega celebrating
150th anniversary of the City library
Exhibition of new books and literary
meeting in Knin
1996
Opening of the renovated City Library
“Fran Galović” in Koprivnica
and celebrating the 150th anniversary
of librarianship there
Symposium Libraries in the 21 century
in the nearby town of Đurđevac
Closing ceremony in Split celebrating
the 1700th anniversary of the city
and promotion of a theoretical book of
our colleague Mira Mikačić
1997
Opening ceremony in Vukovar: attended
by three hundred librarians, publishers,
journalists…
Vukovar City Library got three thousand
books as gifts from Croatian publishers,
libraries and citizens, all editions after
year 1990
New public library was opened in Okučani
Literary meeting on the island of Hvar
Osijek: round table about networking
the public libraries
1998
Opening of the renovated space in
the City Library Franjo Marković in
Križevci
National quiz - Croatian Centre
for Children's Book in cooperation
with public and school libraries in
Croatia and in neighboring countries.
Children read selected titles, answer
questions, each library selects its winner,
each winner is accompanied by his/her
librarian to the final ceremony in Zagreb
where the winner of all winners is
announced.
In 2009 about 20.000 children
participated in the National quiz.
1999
The manifestation was opened in Pula
with a round table on the status
of the book in Croatia.
National quiz: Around the world
with a book
2000
Opening ceremonies were held in
several counties at the same time.
Central ceremony took place
in Rijeka celebrating the 150th
anniversary of the City library
with a round table Books and
Libraries in the dawn of the
third millennium - issues,
priorities, signs, solutions
The National quiz: Reading is an adventure
2001
Županja City Library celebrating its
140th anniversary
National quiz:
Growing up with a book
The closing event: round table
Books in media in Zagreb
2002
Opening of a new public library in
Klanjec.
In Petrinja we celebrated
160th anniversary of the City Library
National quiz Books building bridges
(UN Year of Cultural Heritage)
5th International Conference of Public
Libraries in Countries in Transition:
Impact of globalization and
informatization (with Goethe Institute)
Beginning of cooperation with the
Croatian Association of Publishers
and Interliber Book Fair
2003
New public libraries opened
in Krapina and Drenovci
National quiz Tell me who I am
Presence at the Book Fair
2004
In Ogulin we celebrated 130th
anniversary of Ivana Brlić Mažuranić
At the Book Fair: storytelling of her
stories, presentations of school
plays based on her stories, etc.
National quiz: Ivana Brlić Mažuranić
2005
Manifestation was devoted to
100th birthday of Dragutin Tadijanović,
famous Croatian poet. On his birthday,
in every public library in Croatia and in
many school libraries there were recitals
of his poetry.
New public library in Benkovac
National quiz: 200th anniversary
of Hans Cristian Andersen
Round table The availability of information
about books published in Croatia
2006
Celebration of the famous
scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla
National quiz: Tesla and his work
At the Book Fair lectures for children
and young people, workshops and
presentations by young inventors.
New public library in Velika Gorica.
Round table Accessibility in libraires
- library services and computer
equipment for blind, partially sighted
and deafblind people
2007
Opening of the new part of the City Library in
Karlovac and new public libraries in Ilok and
Babina Greda.
Celebrating Marija Jurić Zagorka, a
famous and most widely read Croatian writer
and the first female journalist in Croatia.
Book Fair: workshops for young
journalists conducted by professional journalists.
National quiz was devoted to Astrid Lindgren.
Central events - two conferences:
The role of public libraries in the Communication
strategy of the Croatian Government and
AV materials and heritage.
Celebration of the 100 anniversary of the
Zagreb City Library with an international
conference.
2008
Opening ceremony in Dubrovnik:
celebration of the 500th anniversary
of Marin Držić, a Croatian
Renaissance playwright
National quiz devoted to
Marin Držić
Book Fair: exhibitions, workshops,
performances
2009
National quiz: astronomy (Year of Astronomy)
Librarians visited the famous Croatian
observatory in Višnjan, Istria
Celebrating 100th anniversary of the
City Library in Pazin.
Book Fair: lectures on astronomy,
workshops etc.
Open discussion Cooperation between
Croatian library for visually impaired and
public libraries
October, 23th - throughout Croatia libraries
organized the event Let´s read under the stars
2010
UN declared Year of Biodiversity
Ask a Librarian - online reference service
of public libraries
Don’t google – Ask a Librarian
valuable initiative
knowledge
partnership
trust
a lot of good will
a little money
=
remarkable results
Objectives:
• access to a wide range of selected and organized information
• free of charge for all citizens
• service provided by librarians from county
libraries, experts in particular areas
• educating librarians in finding, selecting and providing
the use of electronic sources
• educating the public to use e-services
Facts and figures:
• initiative of two young librarians in May 2003
• group of 8 librarians from public libraries
• pilot project offered to directors of county libraries
• 3.000 € provided by the libraries to implement service
• coordination of the project was entrusted to the
Zagreb City Libraries
Service structure:
• question form with some additional information
(interview)
• communication via e-mail
• evaluation questionnaire
• database of selected and anotated sources from Internet
• searchable database of answered questions
Facts and figures (2):
• opened for public in February 2004
• joined by new librarians every year
• seminars for librarians every year
• individual education for librarians
• financial support from the Ministry of Culture and
the City of Zagreb (hosting, web master, education)
Statistics:
Answered questions 2004-2010:
Evaluation: 4500
26.500
Gender
25%
The average age: 26
75%
25% M
75 % F
Assistance is needed for
16%
47% seminars
28% professional work
16% something else
6% homework
3% hobby
3%
6%
47%
28%
Qualifications
3%
3%
9%
60% secondary school
25% university degree
9% primary school
3% incomplete primary
school
3% postgraduates
25%
60%
Membership in public libraries
54% nonmember
46% member
46%
54%
Evaluation (15%)
satisfaction with the response
2%
4%
22%
72%
satisfaction with the speed of response
7%
1%1%
91%
72% totally satisfied
22% partly satisfied
4% partly dissatisfied
2% dissatisfied
91% totally satisfied
7% partly satisfied
4% partly dissatisfied
1% dissatisfied
Will you use the service again
1%2%
22%
75% yes
22% probably
2% do not know
1% no
75%
How did you hear about the service
58% the Internet
33% from friends
7% in school
1% from media
33%
58%
2%
7%
Some comments:
The service seems to be like an older brother from whom you
can get always an answer. Good luck!
This service was created for me and I will be very boring
Although I am an expert in IT field and I know how to use search engines,
I failed to find any sources that you did…
I'm not satisfied because you did not find the origins of my family
I was looking for more information on nanotechnology
in Croatian…
Portal of the public libraries
• The Strategy for development of public libraries in the
Republic of Croatia (2005) proposed building a functional
network of public libraries
• A joint web portal of Croatian public libraries was among the
priorities
• 2006 the Section of public libraries of the Croatian Library
Association launched the initiative of creating the portal
for public libraries
• Support from the directors of county libraries and from
the Ministry of Culture
• Coordination of the project was entrusted to the
Zagreb City Libraries
2006
• the editorial board from different county libraries was formed,
• the content and structure of the portal was defined,
• design and other elements of visual identity
(colors, navigation, elements, etc.) were developed,
• the CMS was implemented.
2007
• the domain was obtained,
• hosting services secured,
• data collected,
• the individual web sites for libraries that did not have them
previously was made,
• the directory (adresses) suitable for printing in different formats
(HTML, XML, CSV-Excel) was created.
Since early 2008 the portal has been accessible online.
Criteria:
• quality and richness of content
Content:
• map of Croatia with cities and municipalities that have public
libraries,
• links to existing web sites of public libraries, organized by
regions
• the database of events
• documents related to the work of public libraries
• links to national and international professional meetings
• directory of public libraries
• examples of good practice
• joint projects, actions, events…
http://knjiznica.hr/home.php
The most important task:
• creation of an initial library web site for those
that did not have it
Content (the basic information)
• address,
• responsible person,
• working hours,
• link to the e-catalog,
• activities,
• photograph of the library building,
• data on space, collections etc.,
• general information about the history of the library, etc.
Part of the Portal is: Information about the European Union in public libraries
• continuously enriched with new content
• links to sources about the European Union: available online at the official
website of the EU and the Republic of Croatia, pages of information
intermediaries (the EU information centers), research institutions and
associations of civil society.
Public libraries in the Republic of Croatia were connected
even before these projects, but the national manifestation,
online service and the portal and the projects that are a part
of it contribute by providing insight on public libraries in
the Republic of Croatia, as well as serving the communities
in which libraries operate.