The final seminar “Modern library in the modern society” was held in Kaliningrad on 26 – 27.01.2012. The seminar organized within the Library component of Municipal project.

26 librarians from Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad region, Denmark (Tårnby), Iceland (Reykjavik, Akureyri), Norway (Bærum) and Finland (Helsinki) met together to discuss and evaluate the results of the project in 2011. A special attention was payed to the study visits to Nordic libraries which were organized in April and November last year.

 
Project participants in new renovated library #4
Photo by Tatyana Tupota

Experience in practice

Now there are two so-called test-drive areas where the knowledge and experience gained during the project can be applied and tested – Kaliningrad city library №4 and Kaliningrad region children's library named after A.P.Gaidar which are under renovation during 2011-2012. The main changes have effected nearly all library spheres - space, services and collection. Now they have become more customer oriented - open, comfortable and flexible.

Book storage or modern culture center?

The participants of the seminar also discussed one of the main nowadays questions for the librarians of different countries - the role of the library in the modern society and its future. What is the identity of the library today – a book storage, an information center, a culture house or a space for the access to electronic data-bases? The participants agreed that the modern library should be a kind of mixture of all these forms. Now Nordic countries especially focus on developing the “hybrid library model”. It is a modern library which is used as a multi-functional space not only for classical library activities - reading and working – but also for other alternatives - exhibitions, culture events, computer classes, meetings, innovative experiments, creative workshops and many other initiatives.

Library is a multi-functional space not only for classical library activities - reading and working – but also for other alternatives - exhibitions, culture events, computer classes, meetings, innovative experiments, creative workshops and many other initiatives.

Library online

The participants also discussed the importance for the library to be visible in the social-media. Libraries should develop new ways of communication with patrons via Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and etc. Libraries should keep pace with changes of their interests and habits and use different digital reference services. Nordic libraries have a successful experience in this field. In 2011 the first library groups in social-media were made by Kaliningrad central city library named after A.P.Chekhov and Gusev city library in Facebook and Вконтакте (http://www.facebook.com/groups/sil.zgb/ , http://vkontakte.ru/club29358672  , http://vkontakte.ru/club21929054 ). At the beginning 2012 there were 324 members in all 3 groups.

Tags: culture, libraries