INELI Balkans in Sofia

In Sofia, 25-29 November 2016 a second meeting of librarians, participants in the project INELI Balkans was held. The meeting was organized by Greek organization Future Library in cooperation with Bulgarian Library and Information Association and Global Libraries Bulgaria foundation.

During the four-day meeting in Sofia, innovators discussed leadership skills needed for innovations, networking, creativity, changes, cooperation and flexibility. The plans are to create an online platform in different languages, so all interested librarians in the Balkans could be educated in order to build a network of modern libraries in this region. Also, the plan is to start a network of innovative librarians in Europe. 

Organizations such as INELI Balkans show that libraries have a great future, but it is necessary to change them in accordance with the development of human civilization and needs of a contemporary user.

During the last year, librarians-innovators were actively involved in online learning which included innovations, risk management, changes and project management. 

INELI Balkans (International Network of Emerging Library Innovators in Balkan region) is a three-year project by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the activities are carried out by Future Library from Greece. The project is focused on education of librarians-innovators in order to build a sustainable network of public libraries in the Balkans.

Innovators from 11 countries were present at the conference: Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania.

The representatives of Serbia who participated in INELI Balkans were: Jasmina Ninkov, ambasador and innovator; Marjan Marinković, The Belgrade City Library; Daniela Skoković, The Požega Public Library; Beba Stanković, the Požarevac Public Library and Vesna Crnković, the Jagodina Public Library.

Advocacy and Lobbying for Libraries

A four-day workshop „Advocacy, Raising Awareness and Communication for Libraries“, was held  in the National Library of Serbia from 3-6 October 2016. EIFL provided a high-quality seminar for 20 Serbian librarians. They were able to learn the most important lobbying segments and techniques through theoretical and practical exercises from a top expert in this field, Kaspars Ruklis. The Jagodina Public Library had its representative – Ivana Pešić, who works in the Supervision department.

During the first three days, the librarians were creating projects that could be implemented in libraries. Also, they were developing a strategy to promote and present their projects; how to lobby stakeholders; how to advocate for libraries and communicate with stakehodlers and partners.

On the last day of the workshop, the projects that were supported by EIFL were presented. One of the top 10 is the AgroLib project. Besides awarded projects, those which were created during the workshops were also presented.

Bekeeping Fair Held in Jagodina

In the famous touristic complex Potok in Jagodina the first Beekeeping Fair was held on 10^th September 2016. It was organized by the Beekeeping Association of Serbia, the Beekeeping Association Pomoravlje and the Jagodina Public Library project AgroLib.

After the welcoming ceremony for the guests, there was a cultural and artistic program and handing out letters of appreciation to Sasa Miletic, the president of the Beekeeping Association Pomoravlje; Slavica Dimitrijevic, the secretary of the Association; Boban Misic, the vice-president of the Association; the President of the Jagodina City Assembly Dragan Markovic Palma and the Jagodina Mayor Ratko Stevanovic. The Deputy Mayor Snezana Vukasinovic received the letters of appreciations on behalf of Mr. Markovic and Mr. Stevanovic. She held a speech and declared the Fair open.

The Cultural artistic society Kablovi performed a dance and the Fair began.

The exhibition of bee products, beekeeping equipment, beekeeping literature and the sale of plants that were the friends of bees, was held during the whole day. Satisfied visitors at the Fair had the opportunity to taste or buy various bee products.

Stip Librarians in a Study Visit to Jagodina

Jagodina Public Library hosted colleagues from the National and University Library Goce Delcev from Stip- Milena Ristova Mihajlovska, Vilma Jovanova and Sonja Maneva, as well as their local government representatives who also visited Jagodina.

At the Mayor's reception, the guests form Macedonia, the Mayor Ratko Stevanovic was handed a letter of intent by Dragan Ristov, the representative of the Stip municipality. They talked about a possible twinning cooperation between the two municipalities. Our guests were particularly interested in the social program that Jagodina is well-known for.

After the Mayor's reception, the guests visited the Bagrdan and Glogovac village libraries where the village librarians spoke about the AgroLib project implementation, practical advice how to reach vulnerable groups such as farmers. The Stip library received a grant by EIFL to replicate the AgroLib project. The guests were able to talk to the library visitors and Agrolib marketplace users about the activities and services that the village libraries provide in order to meet the needs of rural residents. Also, the  Stip librarians enjoyed sightseeing that Jagodina is famous for.

At 18 in the Jagodina Public Library, the promotion of the edition 135 volumes of Macedonian Literature. This capital project by Macedonian Ministry of Culture was presented by the Stip librarians- Milena Ristova Mihajlovska, Vilma Jovanova and Sonja Maneva. They talked about poetic and prose works in Macedonian contemporary literature. The director Milena Ristova Mihajlovska talked about Macedonian literacy from 9-18th century. Vilma Jovanova and Sonja Maneva recited verses by most famous Macedonian poets. Students from the Gymnasium in Jagodina who came to the promotion with their teacher Predrag Aleksic and local writers showed the greatest interest in this event.

Library Practice

Internet Club Ljig, libraries, archives and museums sector realized a professional-field-instructive trip for six selected libraries that belong to the network BIBLIOTEKE NAŠEG OKRUŽENJA.

The directors of libraries of Požarevac, Jagodina, Kruševac, Kikinda, Valjevo and Osečina were introduced to the topic – Transition of LIBRARIES and examples of bookmobile service in EU ( Croatia – Slovenia) in practice. The examples were those whose achievements could be an inspiration for improvement of libraries in their own communities.

The first step was a tour of the county BOOKMOBILE of GKVK  which marked 10 years of work) in the Slavonian village of Cerna. The library director of Vinkovci, Emilija Pezer held a lecture in the bookmobile. After the official part, possibilities for the realization of collaboration in the future IPA projects CRO-SRB until 2020 were discussed.

The next visit was to Kranj City Library. The colleagues were greeted by the director Breda Karun, whose name was associated with good thorough cooperation in librarianship in Slovenia, region, Europe and other continents, and her associates. During the four-hour conversation, numerous examples of good practice were exchanged, and new insight into latest technologies and methods related to library activities was gained.

On the third day, the hosts were Ljubljana City Library and Aleš Klemen, municipality coordinator, with his colleagues. They presented the library system of both Ljubljana and Slovenia to the guests. Top-notch presentations and selected examples made this day very interesting. Individual conversations were the opportunity for the guests to introduce specificity of their libraries.

Two bookmobiles (one under repair), bibliocycle, self-return machines… were just a part of the impression. The other, stronger, was futuristic, refurbished old department stores transformed into modern libraries tailor-made to both users and librarians.

What made the organizer happy was the exchange of experiences and impressions. Even more better were the ideas how to adapt something in their own communities.

Text by: Mirko Marković

Educational Program: Promotion of Cultural Expressions of Nišavski, Pirotski and Toplički Districts

At the invitation of Mrs. Hristina Mikić, director of the Foundation Creative Economy Group, Vesna Crnković, the Jagodina Public Library director, participated in the educational program for the development of the capacities of local governments and non-governmental sector in the field of protection and promotion of cultural expressions of Nišavski, Pirotski and Toplički districts. She presented a paper „Village libraries used for increasing entrepreneurial capacity, the example of the project Agricultural Libraries.“

In April, the Creative Economy Group organized Second School of Creative Economy: Local development and creative industries. The participants were 15 representatives of local governments from municipalities in Nišavski, Pirotski and Toplički districts. The School was held in Event centar Perla, 18-20 April, and the focus was on innovative role of culture and creative industries for local development.

The School of Creative Economy is a unique program for education of leaders in the field of creative economy. This year, the program is dedicated to the local development and creative economy. There are 25 leading national and international lecturers in the field of planning the development of creative economy who shared their experiences with the participants. The initiative is carried out under the patronage of UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity and the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.

The participants showed great interest in achieving cooperation with the project Agricultural Libraries.

Agricultural Lecture in Glogovac

The Jagodina Public Library and the Agricultural Advisory Service of Serbia in Jagodina hosted an agricultural lecture in the Glogovac village library on 18 March 2016. The topics were: Significance of agrochemical analysis of soil and lowering soil acidity“ and „Potato and pepper protection“.

The lecturers were the Agricultural Advisory Service advisors-Milanka Miladinović and Ružica Đukić. These topics were useful for the residents of Glogovac and nearby villages. The advisors have collected the data on soil fertility and the type of agriculture in this area and prepared lectures based on their research.

They talked about lowering soil acidity, and free land fertility control. Also, they talked about the potato and pepper protection during the growing season.

After the lecture, the present farmers discussed with the advisors the most agriculture-related concerns and exchanged business cards that they got from the Library as successful producers and users of Agricultural Libraries services.