“Outside the Box” Romania’s Libraries in Transition

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IREX Biblionet

Global Libraries Initiative

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

http://www.biblionet.ro

Scott Andersen

Deputy Director

IREX Biblionet Romania

sandersen@irex.ro

Why Romania – Why Libraries?

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Romania as a country

3www.biblionet.ro

“Dime si son latinos!”

Per capita income: $7,542 (Second poorest country in the EU)

Percentage of workforce abroad roughly 20% (The Strawberry Generation)

Romania’s communist legacy

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Culture of distrust

Discouragement of innovation

Lack of community participation

Sterile public institutions

Romania’s library heritage (1)

Average age of collections in 2008: 43 years

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Romania’s library heritage (2)

Only 10% of the population visited a library in 2008

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Romania’s library heritage (3)

50 years of neglect and isolation from their international counterparts

Museum of high-end books and technical materials with little emphasis on serving community interests

No demographic to advocate for libraries leads to a cycle of supply and demand leads to difficulty of libraries getting funds for materials

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So how do you turn it around?

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New Services & New Partners

www.biblioteca.ro 9

New ServicesIt never hurts to have fun!

www.biblioteca.ro 10

IT for Pensioners & the Elderly

www.biblioteca.ro 11

Basic Financial Literacy

www.biblioteca.ro 12

E-Skills, blogging & Technology

www.biblioteca.ro 13

E-Medicine & First Aid

www.biblioteca.ro 14

E-Government Service Delivery

www.biblioteca.ro 15

Farming & Agriculture

www.biblioteca.ro 16

Jobs & Employment

www.biblioteca.ro 17

Foreign Language Training

www.biblioteca.ro 18

Cultural Heritage & Preservation

www.biblioteca.ro 19

www.biblioteca.ro 20

Human Interest - eFOTOgrafi@mea

www.biblioteca.ro 21

Human Interest – Mommy Loves You!

www.biblioteca.ro 22

Human Interest – Services for the Blind

www.biblioteca.ro 23

Human Interest – Digital Story Telling

Ask yourself some questions?

Instead of conclusions …

www.biblionet.ro 24

About IREX

IREX is an international nonprofit organization providing leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society development. Founded in 1968, IREX works in more than 100 countries with a staff of over 500 professionals worldwide. 25

Find more about Biblionet at:

Tack!

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