Biblionet – Global Libraries Romania

Program Overview

Program Overview

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Download Global Libraries Romania Planning Grant Information Sheet

Bibliomist - Global Libraries Ukraine

Biblionet Newsletter (PDF Download)
July 2010

More Program News

Program Partners

ANBPR
The National Association of Public Libraries and Librarians (ANBPR) was founded in 1990 to provide professional direction for libraries and the library profession in Romania. The ANBPR has over 3,000 individual members and library chapters in nearly all of Romania’s counties. The ANBPR has taken the lead in representing Romanian librarians’ interests on a national level, conducting training in new areas, publishing professional development materials and advocating for changes in national policy.

Libraries in Romania
There are currently nearly 3,000 public libraries in Romania serving a population of more than 22 million, though fewer than 10% currently have public access to Internet and computers.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—Global Libraries
The foundation’s Global Libraries initiative is working to open the world of knowledge, information, and opportunity to many more people. Part of the Global Development Program, Global Libraries works with select countries that demonstrate a need and a readiness to help public libraries provide free access to computers and the Internet, and training on how to make full use of these tools. The initiative is helping transform public libraries into vital resources that can help improve the lives of millions of people.

Biblionet is a five-year program that aims to help Romanian libraries better serve their communities through a country-wide system of public internet access in libraries. Through a partnership between IREX, the National Association of Public Libraries and Librarians (ANBPR), local and national governments, and libraries through the country, Biblionet will foster the development of a modern public library system in Romania, as a step towards improving the socio-economic conditions of its citizens.

KEY ISSUE AND OBJECTIVE

BIBLIONET aims to provide increased access to information for Romanians by helping libraries better serve their communities through training of librarians and new technology. The program will:

Facilitate improved access to information for citizens by equipping libraries with appropriate technology.
Train librarians to provide updated services to library visitors.
Strengthen libraries’ voice at the national and local levels by increasing the capacity of the National Association of Public Libraries and Librarians (ANBPR).
Foster government support for the recognition of the essential role of libraries in a modern society.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

To achieve this goal, Biblionet will concentrate on four core program components:

Facilitating access to information
Establish a network of library public access computer (PAC) facilities. Biblionet will support libraries that prioritize public access to information and demonstrate a commitment to sharing the costs of providing new public computing and internet facilities. By equipping more than 1,500 libraries across Romania with new computers through a competitive application process, Biblionet will facilitate free access to information for citizens throughout Romania.

Preparing public librarians
Provide library service training for librarians. Biblionet partners will design training materials and create training facilities to help librarians adapt new services and foster innovation in the public library system. Training will help librarians become experts in adapting new technologies to communities’ needs.

Establish an IT training infrastructure for Romanian librarians. By establishing up to 41 county library training centers, Biblionet will offer the Romanian public library system a training infrastructure and corresponding courses in technology skills that will help librarians provide improved computer and internet guidance to library patrons.

Promoting the value of libraries
Partner with the National Association of Public Libraries and Librarians (ANBPR). Biblionet will strengthen the ANBPR, helping the professional association build sustainable administrative structures that can respond to the new and changing needs of modern libraries and provide valuable services to librarians throughout the country into the future.

Assist librarians in developing and organizing locally-relevant content that serves all library users. Through a needs assessment, IREX and its partners have identified specific information needs in the areas of education, labor markets, healthcare, economic and rural development, and culture that are not currently being sufficiently addressed. Biblionet will bring together stakeholders in government and local institutions to organize content so that it meets these previously unmet needs of citizens.

Fostering government support
Engage with government to adapt policies. To match the investment of new resources into libraries, Biblionet partners will work to promote the increased relevance and importance of libraries to today’s Romanian society and the need for a commitment of resources to match libraries’ new role.

CONTACT

For more information about Biblionet – Global Libraries Romania, please email gl@irex.org.