The Urban Agenda for the EU was launched in May 2016 and represents a new multi-level working method promoting cooperation between Member States, cities, the European Commission, and other stakeholders in order to stimulate growth, liveability and innovation in the cities of Europe and to identify and successfully tackle social challenges
Within the Urban Agenda, the Partnership “Culture and Cultural Heritage” is formed by –amongst others- the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA), the German Library Association, the Finnish Library Association and the Central and Regional Library in Berlin. They are implementing an action to strengthen public libraries at European level.
Public libraries, often referred to as third places, are lighthouses for education, exchange, inspiration and citizen engagement in European cities. However, they are rather invisible on the European agenda. The aim of the survey is to obtain an overview of funding structures of public libraries in Europe and to observe if and how EU funds are already being used by public libraries to implement innovations and projects that are not covered by regular funding.
It would be great if as many public libraries as possible from as many EU member states as possible could answer the survey. The submission is open until 25 October 2021 to any public library from a European city with more than 90,000 inhabitants.
In order to obtain a broad database from which meaningful findings can subsequently be derived, we would like to ask for your support
We invite you to respond to the survey and encourage participation within your network so that funding conditions for public libraries can be analyzed and improved!
14 October, 2021 at 4:00 pm
The Aianteios Public Library of Atalanti, to which all citizens of the local community have access, is called upon to play, as a major cultural organization, an important role in organizing the access to knowledge and in shaping a social model that can meet the social challenge of technological development. As a socially responsible library responding to its communication goals, it is necessary to build a two-way relationship with the target audience, respecting the environment of the local community in which it operates.
An integral part of its communication policy is to attract sponsors, as libraries have now experienced alternative funding, due to the fact that the maintenance of facilities or the creation and maintenance of some services is not possible with the regular funding of the institution to which they belong ( Ministries, Local Government, etc.).
In the past, it was subsidized alternatively, due to its participation from 2012 to 2019 in the network of Greek libraries, as a center of learning, creativity and interaction, promoting literacy, creativity and innovation and supporting the power of collaboration. Funders are the Future Library, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Public Benefit Foundation for Social and Cultural Work (KIKPE). The multiple benefits for libraries are both material and intangible.
The Aianteios Public Library of Atalanti has not participated in European funding programs until 2021.