Public Libraries in their communities: a catalyst for

change

Monika SegbertRima Kupryte

Who we are

EIFL is an international not-for-profit organisation with a base in Europe and a global network of partners.

EIFL works in 47 countries in partnership with library consortia

EIFL - Licensing

EIFL Programmes

EIFL -OA: Open Access

EIFL-FOSS: free and open source

software

EIFL -PLIP: Public Library Innovation

Programme

EIFL- IP:copyright and

libraries

Core initiatives

Access to Knowledge for Education, Learning and Research

ensuring well-resourced libraries, modern ICT infrastructure and

skilled staff to provide essential support to students and

scholars.

Access to Knowledge for Sustainable Community Development

transforming lives through innovative services in public libraries.

The Challenge

Technology offers public libraries new opportunities to increase access to knowledge, helping to improve standards of living and transform lives.

Yet, in many countries where the need is greatest, public libraries are under-resourced.

Public libraries must develop innovative services and embrace technology in response to the needs of their communities.

EIFL-PLIP: Public Library Innovation Programme Improving lives and livelihoods through innovative public library services

Stimulate new public library services that are important to the community;

test the replicability of new services; and

encourage adoption of successful innovation by other public libraries through wide dissemination of the results of the projects.

EIFL-PLIP Objectives

Project proposals by or with a public library!

Open to 54 countries – EIFL and BMFG GL countries

What we asked for in the call for proposals:

Needs Assessment – the library had to go out to the community.

Innovative services – innovation in the local context.

Technology – the most appropriate!

Partnership – to bring skills and knowledge to the library.

The first PLIP Call for proposals, 2010

324 applications

49 countries

12 projects selected and under way since 1st May.

The first PLIP Call for proposals, 2010 - response

Teaming up libraries and health

services to improve community health

in Kisumu and Eldoret branch libraries.

Kenya National Library Service

New partnership between health workers and librarians;

New library users that never came before;

Services meet needs of the community and thus demonstrate library’s importance to the society;

eHealth programme is leveraging new funding for similar services in other branches or other subjects (eg agriculture).

Kenya National Library Service

Information and Communication Technologies to build

young leaders in the Tamale region.

ICT training for youth.

Training young trainers.

Aim to alleviate youth

unemployment.

Ghana Library Board

Encouraging pupils to go back to school. The public library is offering a computer game linked to the school curriculum.

Partnership between

school and library.

Take-up by truant

pupils.

Utena A. and M. Miskiniai Public Library, Lithuania

Creative space and computer

skills for school children

who spend hours each

week waiting for buses.

Project fits in and delivers on

town’s policy regarding youth

and informal education.

Zavidovići Public Library, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Using Open Source software

to engage children in

developing local

language reading materials.

Supports literacy as well as

computer literacy.

Lubutu Library Project, Zambia

Mobile phones, the Internet, radio, social networking:

making the most of many technologies to bring information to remote farming communities.

The library uses a mobile computer laboratory to bring training to the farming community.

Panguipulli Public Library, Chile

Developing agriculture and

building an online market

for local farm products.

Library portal AgroLib for

information for and by farmers.

Project fits into the policies of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agency for small and medium households to support rural communities.

Public Library Jagodina, Serbia

Computer skills and job application training bring new hope to the unemployed.

Older people have asked for training.

library.

Trainees found jobs!

Public Library Radoviš, Macedonia

Digitising talking books

to create a national

network of libraries

for the blind.

Bringing content to

disadvantaged groups across the country.

Ulaanbaatar City Public Library, Mongolia

Bringing computers to

local artists and craftspeople to

generate ideas

and build online markets.

This community is starting to embrace technology with the help of their public library!

Saula Public Library, Nepal

Building the Mayan Digital Library

“U Kúuchil Na’at”

Using technology to keep the

Mayan culture and language alive.

Mayans show growing confidence in their own

language.

Public Libraries Coordination, State of Yucutan, Mexico

Using oral history to break the silence about Cambodia's painful past.

conduct oral history interviews and create a digital archive of the

community’s history

Very active participation by the community - this has never been done before.

The Lveate Centrestone Public Library, Cambodia

We can already see that introducing technologies has an impact on

staff, space, outreach, interaction with the community, services, but

this is early days. We are measuring the impact of the projects;

Perceptions are changing! Visibility of the library is changing! We

will see if there will be changes to funding;

Partnerships can work to the library’s advantage – and in fact the

community itself becomes a partner and advocates for the library;

Technology enables new services and this makes the library more

attractive.

Some of the things we are seeing after 6 months

All developing and transition countries are eligible

EIFL-PLIP: Public Library Innovation Programme Grant dates

Grant ProgrammeCall for Concept Papers April 2011

Deadline May 2011Grants Awarded September 2011

Innovations awardsCall for Applications January 2012

Deadline February 2012Awards Presented April 2012

Study to be undertaken in six countries:

Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe.

We will study the perceptions of various stake-holders actually or

potentially involved with public libraries.

Target groups: Decision makers / funders, officials at national / regional

/ local level, librarians, media, users / non-users.

Reports according to countries and target groups due in April 2011.

Study of the perceptions of public libraries.

Thank you for listening.

www.eifl.net