From local innovation towards systemic change and a global voice of a profession: lessons from Eastern Europe

Submission Type

Paper Abstract Submission

Symposium Selection

International influences

Keywords

public librarianship, library history, innovative services, international librarianship, Eastern Europe

Abstract

East of the Berlin Wall, during the decades of the Communist regimes, public libraries were structured and developed in a systematic way by a strong political will. The will controlled the information in society and molded librarianship in ways that were anti-democratic at their core [3,5]. In the democratic regimes following 1990 in the Black Sea region, decentralisation and other public policies abandoned public libraries to find professional but also financial solutions on their own [1]. Innovative local solutions and approaches that librarians used saved the profession and continue to contribute to this day to new services in the region. The question that remains is to what degree are these efforts able to produce the systemic change required to reshape librarianship to truly support democratic values [2].

This paper will provide a short overview of the historical context that influenced the public librarianship development in the region. The description will cover the constraints of Communist library systems, the democratic challenges of the 1990s and 2000s but also the influence that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries program had on library services in the last decades in the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. The focus will be on the innovative approaches developed by public libraries in the region during and after the Global Libraries program [4]. These approaches helped address the communities’ needs and the effort to modernize the system of public libraries in these countries.

This article will inquire about ways in which the innovative services of public libraries are effecting change in national systems of public libraries.The exploratory study approach allows for a parallel analysis of the library services from three countries, but also for a layer of interpretation from the perspective of the international professional community of support. Librarians in the region have been connected over the years within international professional networks (like IFLA, EBLIDA, INELI Balkans, Occupy Library Innovators Hubs), thus synchronizing with the global voice of the profession. This is especially important when that professional voice stands for democratic values and freedom.

The experience of librarians from Eastern Europe can help us better understand the degree to which a professional global voice can fully cover the reality of public librarianship in countries not adhering to democratic values and to identify specific ways in which the international professional networks can empower struggling local librarians.

  1. Anghelescu, H. (Ed.). (2014). Libraries in a Postcommunist World: A Quarter of a Century of Development in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia: Part 1&2. Library Trends, 63(2&4).

  2. Gifford, P. (1993). The Libraries of Eastern Europe: Information and Democracy. Representations, (42), 100-106.

  3. Knutson, E. (2008). Libraries, community and change in post -Soviet Russia: The case of the Bryansk regional public library system. PhD Thesis. University of Illinois

  4. Nicholson, K. (2017). Innovation in public libraries: Learning from international library practice.

  5. Șerbănuță, C. (2017). Public librarianship in communist Romania - creating a profession to serve the socialist propaganda cause. Library Trends, 65(4).

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From local innovation towards systemic change and a global voice of a profession: lessons from Eastern Europe

East of the Berlin Wall, during the decades of the Communist regimes, public libraries were structured and developed in a systematic way by a strong political will. The will controlled the information in society and molded librarianship in ways that were anti-democratic at their core [3,5]. In the democratic regimes following 1990 in the Black Sea region, decentralisation and other public policies abandoned public libraries to find professional but also financial solutions on their own [1]. Innovative local solutions and approaches that librarians used saved the profession and continue to contribute to this day to new services in the region. The question that remains is to what degree are these efforts able to produce the systemic change required to reshape librarianship to truly support democratic values [2].

This paper will provide a short overview of the historical context that influenced the public librarianship development in the region. The description will cover the constraints of Communist library systems, the democratic challenges of the 1990s and 2000s but also the influence that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries program had on library services in the last decades in the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. The focus will be on the innovative approaches developed by public libraries in the region during and after the Global Libraries program [4]. These approaches helped address the communities’ needs and the effort to modernize the system of public libraries in these countries.

This article will inquire about ways in which the innovative services of public libraries are effecting change in national systems of public libraries.The exploratory study approach allows for a parallel analysis of the library services from three countries, but also for a layer of interpretation from the perspective of the international professional community of support. Librarians in the region have been connected over the years within international professional networks (like IFLA, EBLIDA, INELI Balkans, Occupy Library Innovators Hubs), thus synchronizing with the global voice of the profession. This is especially important when that professional voice stands for democratic values and freedom.

The experience of librarians from Eastern Europe can help us better understand the degree to which a professional global voice can fully cover the reality of public librarianship in countries not adhering to democratic values and to identify specific ways in which the international professional networks can empower struggling local librarians.

  1. Anghelescu, H. (Ed.). (2014). Libraries in a Postcommunist World: A Quarter of a Century of Development in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia: Part 1&2. Library Trends, 63(2&4).

  2. Gifford, P. (1993). The Libraries of Eastern Europe: Information and Democracy. Representations, (42), 100-106.

  3. Knutson, E. (2008). Libraries, community and change in post -Soviet Russia: The case of the Bryansk regional public library system. PhD Thesis. University of Illinois

  4. Nicholson, K. (2017). Innovation in public libraries: Learning from international library practice.

  5. Șerbănuță, C. (2017). Public librarianship in communist Romania - creating a profession to serve the socialist propaganda cause. Library Trends, 65(4).