Modern Services in Geo Milev District Library, Montana:

Good Practices, Challenges and Prospects

NOW WHAT?

• Year 2000 and society – KNOWLEDGE BASED SOCIETY

• March 2000 – the Lisbon meeting – EU member states find out that Europe’s economy gets increasingly digital and identify a new goal – BY 2010 THE EU SHOULD BUILD A COMPETITIVE AND KNOWLEDGE BASED SOCIETY

GOAL AND MISSION

• EBLIDA – THE INDIVIDUAL’S INDEPENDENCE in the acquisition of knowledge is crucial and libraries can play a fundamental role in the formulation of a strategy for continuing education development and self-improvement of individuals and society as a whole

3 pillars of information provision

• Access to information – global resources• Searching and finding information – librarians’

special skills• Quality of information – huge amount of

information – the librarian provides expert guidance in the identification of resources – effective and relevant use of world wide web opportunities

The Contemporary Image of Public Libraries

• The library as a learning place • The library as an intermediary

between users and information• The library and cultural heritage and

diversity • The library – a public defender

2007 - … “global chance”

The Glob@l Libraries – Bulgaria Program is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Culture and the United Nations Development Program. The program aims to facilitate the access to information, knowledge, communication, e-content and services for communities through the network of public libraries and, in five years’ time, enhance the degree of library use across the country and help Bulgarian citizens become part of the global information society.

Geo Milev District Library

• Package 1 – 24 workstations, 1 server, 1 color printer, 1 multifunctional device, 1 laptop, projector, router and switches

• Training facility • Computers for free access of users

We will continue to…

• Address groups and communities, their needs and information demands

• Transform the library from a book storage space into a living

organism with an agile and constantly developing identity

• Focus even stronger on the resources of local history, archives, genealogy

• Foster the library’s main mission of a crucial public space for communication and community development

THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACT AND PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES

• Art. 51. (1) Main library services include:• 1. usage of library collections in and outside the library;• 2. provision of verbal bibliographic and factographic information;• 3. access to own traditional and electronic databases and internet access for education,

social and research purposes.

• Art. 52. (1) Specialized library services include:• 1. provision of written bibliographic information;• 2. provision of retrospective bibliographic searches;• 3. provision of library documents from the country and abroad;• 4. access to external network resources and databases;• 5. copying of library documents;• 6. publication of issues.

THE NEW “GLOBAL” SERVICES –possible due to:

• ICT equipment;• Training in information computer technology;

“New Library Services” meetings;• New knowledge and skills acquired;• Enhanced readers’ needs; dynamics – reader’s

new image;• Librarians’ enhanced self-confidence and

feeling of mission.

GEO MILEV DISTRICT LIBRARY SERVICES

• Provision of basic bibliographic and factographic information • Internet access for education, social and research purposes • Access to electronic catalogues • Access to specialized annotated catalogues• Ready electronic bibliographies • Electronic access to databases of municipal councils • “Ask the Librarian” virtual reference service• SMS book return reminders• Email invitations to library initiatives • SMS invitations to library initiatives • Electronic census.

SERVICES…

Electronic access to local institutions, agencies, organizations, companies, etc.- Municipality - Health institutions – Regional Public Health Inspectorate - Schools, universities, colleges- Kindergartens - Job vacancies - Job vacancies abroad - Vocational education - Social services - Day centers for disabled people - Institutions for elderly people.

SERVICES….

Surveying and cartography services; local taxes and chargesMonuments of culture of local importance City celebrations, festivals and local attractions Tourist sites and itineraries Hotels, guest houses Churches Museums, galleries, archives, historical and societies of fellow countrymen Sports facilities and complexes NGOs, associations, civic initiatives Hotline for women victims of violence Hotline for children victims of violence Anti corruption hotline Lawyers, notaries Projects

SERVICES…• Electronic access to government and European institutions • State Gazette • National Assembly • Government, ministries • Government agencies • President • Ombudsman • European Union • European Commission • European programs and projects • National Statistics Institute • National Revenue Agency • Commercial Register • Commission for Protection against Discrimination • Union of Consumers

SERVICES…• Book borrowing from other Bulgarian and foreign libraries through electronic

request • Compilation and provision of written bibliographic information • Provision of retrospective bibliographic searches • Access to specialized resources and databases • Document filling assistance • Scanning and electronic provision of documents • Copying of documents • Design and preparation of advertisements, invitations• Recording and re-recording of music pieces • Preparation of multimedia presentations • Processing of digital pictures • Compilation of databases of schools, organizations, companies, etc.

Education services, courses, training

• Work with electronic catalogues • Work with databases • Email account registration • Filling in documents and forms • Independent preparation of bibliographic references • Information search in State Gazette • Work with Ciela products • Access to local, national and European legislation • Work abroad • Bank information search • Health and social insurance checks • Utility bills checks • Preparation of job applications (CVs, motivation letters, etc.)• Filling in forms, tax returns, etc.

School Goers

• Access to electronic collections • Lists of recommended reading as per

school curriculum • Direct access to education portals • Presentation of authors of children’s

books

Teenage Zone

• Direct access to education portals • Electronic collections for school final exams

and university entry exams preparation• Seminars and discussions on topics of current

interest • Projection of presentations, movies, etc. in

support of the school process

PROSPECTS

• GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS • GROUP OF PEOPLE AT RISK • “RESTLESS” GROUPS – YOUNG PEOPLE WHOSE

READING HABITS WE SHOULD ESTABLISH AND TO WHOM WE SHOULD CLARIFY THE ROLE OF MODERN PUBLIC LIBRARIES

HOW WILL WE RESPOND TO THE “NEW READER”?

• Young people want to access the whole library stock from a distance, from their PCs at home.• When reading a book, they want to have access to all auxiliary sources (reference books,

dictionaries, bibliographies, magazines and newspapers, card-indices and catalogues).• When in a reading situation, their interior should include all technical aids or “extensions” –

PCs or laptops, mobile phones, internet connection, flash memory devices, printers and copiers.

• They need food, drinks, music or silence.• Their reading bodies need furniture of suitable sizes, personalized temperature, lighting, air.• Their reading bodies need accessories – not only the so called book wardrobe, but also an

armchair or a chaise-longue, a pillow, a bed, a soft floor mat, a foot stand or just a book/ newspaper/atlas rack.

• Young people also practice non-reading actively – they alternate between half an hour of reading and half an hour of non-reading and in the pauses, they insist on watching or listening to something, having a walk or a work-out in the gym, communicating.

THE NEW READER • The reader perceives the documents accessible only in the library

(non-digitalized) as something obsolete and archaic.• The reader sees the library as something antique and elevated which

they observe but is it necessary in the modern world? Why do young people still think that the library is a quiet and elevated place where only complicated questions are answered and silence is imposed?

• Young readers also cultivate a negative attitude toward the fact that someone else tells them what to read; dissatisfaction with the fixed library open hours. They say they want the library open until 22.00 and on weekends.

• The changed reader has invented many ways of circumventing the “order in the system” by “stealing” the full texts through their mobile phones’ cameras.

Transformation... from a library to a community center

• Differences, integration, opportunity, participation • Universal access • Without limitations • For all • Modernization • Building a new image • Provision of a free package of services to visitors • Computers and internet access, online information, e-content of local

importance, training in computer and information literacy• Implementation of community based projects, space for work and

community events, solutions of the needs of specific target groups (children, unemployed, immigrants, etc.)

• Enjoyable physical environment

Leverage and Tools

• Integration • Interaction • The library and the local community • Cohesion and partnerships • Ethnic groups and integration • Volunteers

We will continue to…

• Address groups and communities, their needs and information demands

• Transform the library from a book storage space into a living

organism with an agile and constantly developing identity

• Focus even stronger on the resources of local history, archives, genealogy

• Foster the library’s main mission of a crucial public space for communication and community development