Common efforts for added value  

Zdenka SvibenZagreb 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 Čakovecwith a round table on leisure time of children and young people in public libraries

Island Korčula - meeting with thecity authorities on the status of thepublic library

Event in Požega celebrating 150th anniversary of the City library

Exhibition of new books and literarymeeting 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.

1999The 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, afamous 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 anniversaryof 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 2010UN declared Year of Biodiversity

Ask a Librarian - online reference service of public libraries

valuable initiative knowledge partnershiptrust a lot of good will a little money

= remarkable results

Don’t google – Ask a Librarian

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)

Gender

25%

75%

Assistance is needed for

3%

47%

28%

6%

16%

25% M75 % F

47% seminars28% professional work16% something else 6% homework 3% hobby

Statistics:Answered questions 2004-2010: 26.500Evaluation: 4500

The average age: 26

Qualifications

3% 9%

60%

25%

3%

Membership in public libraries

46%

54%

60% secondary school25% university degree 9% primary school 3% incomplete primary school 3% postgraduates

54% nonmember46% member

satisfaction with the response

72%

22%

2% 4%

Evaluation (15%)

satisfaction with the speed of response

91%

7% 1%1%

72% totally satisfied22% partly satisfied 4% partly dissatisfied 2% dissatisfied

91% totally satisfied 7% partly satisfied 4% partly dissatisfied 1% dissatisfied

Will you use the service again

75%

22%

1%2%

How did you hear about the service

58%

7%2%

33%

75% yes22% probably 2% do not know 1% no

58% the Internet33% from friends 7% in school 1% from media

Some comments:

The service seems to be like an older brother from whom you can get always an answer. Good luck!

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 was looking for more information on nanotechnology in Croatian…

This service was created for me and I will be very boring

I'm not satisfied because you did not find the origins of my family

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.