Jagodina Library at the Regional Conference in Macedonia

Jagodina Library at the Regional Conference in Macedonia

The Jagodina Library participated at the Regional Conference Public libraries encourage innovations in the community on 14 and 15 February 2013 in Radovis, Macedonia. Except from librarians, representatives of local governments and Macedonian Ministry of Culture attended the conference in order to encourage dialogue and networking between national and local policy makers and librarians.

Public Library Braka Miladinovci in Radovic, Macedonia hosted two-day Regional Conference about innovative services in public libraries and their contribution to social and economic development and improvement of [people’s lives at both local and international level. The Conference organizers were EIFL-PLIP: Public Library Innovation Program and Public Library Braka Miladinovci from Radovis.

On the first day a panel discussion about problems and future development of Macedonian librarianship was held. The discussion was encouraged by good practice examples of the libraries in the region. The projects of the Zavidovići Public Library (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Public Library Radislav Nikcevic, Jagodina (Serbia), the Public Library Braka Miladinovci (Macedonia) and Regional Public and University Library Goce Delchev-Stip (Macedonia) were presented. Also, EIFL-PLIP mission and vision of the development of libraries was presented by Ramune Petuchovaite, the PLIP (Public Library Innovation Program) manager for public libraries.

Except from the managers of national library institutions in Macedonia, other participants were Robert Angelovski, Head of Department for Cultural Heritage Protection in the Republic of Macedonia, mayor of the municipalities of Radovis and Konce, and representatives of the Ministry of Culture in charge of the development of librarianship in Macedonia. The Director of the Public Library in Jagodina, Vesna Crnkovic talked about new services in agricultural libraries.

 Inspired by the examples of regional libraries-innovators, the government and libraries representatives in Macedonia discussed the problems in Macedonian librarianship, methods of funding libraries and possible projects that would support the development of library activities in the Republic of Macedonia.

On the next day, there were around 30 participants from Macedonia and the region who presented their papers. At the session Public libraries address the needs of local communities, the director of the Jagodina Library presented the paper Project AgroLib Ja-fostering cooperation between the library and local community. The project of the Jagoidna Library has attracted a lot of attention in Macedonia, which is Serbia’s neighboring country, since agricultural and economic situation in these two countries is very similar and the Public Library Goce Delcev in Stip replicated the AgroLib Ja project and named it Support for Farmers.

According to Ivanka Sokolova, the organizer of the Conference and the manager of the project Creative minds create opportunities for employment: Support for the unemployed, the public libraries in Konce, Kavadarci and almost the whole of Eastern Macedonia, which has a vast agricultural territory, showed greatest interest in Serbian project.

The Conference was conducted in a great atmosphere with the conclusion that it encouraged a constructive dialog with authorities and regional cooperation of librarians. The need to organize such and similar conferences in the region, that would encourage cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experiences between librarians in the Balkans was expressed.