News

Chemnitz-Ústí nad Labem City Sisterhood Library Partnership

A simple meeting in Leipzig has grown and expanded into a cross-border network of projects and friendship

Corinna Meinel of the Chemnitz City Library and Ani Petrak of the Ústí Regional Library quickly drew other likeminded colleagues into the party – Julia Trillhof, Katrin Kropf, Jana Fiedlerová, and Denisa Szaffnerová – and the games began!

Where there are shared spaces and shared stories, humans are compelled to share these stories with each other, and this is the case here, with us. Throughout the former Sudetenlands, while we are now different countries speaking different languages, who do not always see things the same way, there is much we share. We all love the recipes from our mothers‘ and grandmothers‘ kitchens, the woods and hills and rocks and meadows of our homeland, the exciting adventures and heartwarming stories that our writers share with us.

In the regions of Saxony and Ústí nad Labem, we are proud of our home, our identity, and what has brought us to where we are today. When we are proud of something, we want to display it and share it with our neighbors. The Partnership in Dialogue collaboration between Chemnitz and Ústí has allowed us to do just that.

In just a year, we have had two in-person library strategic planning meetings, in which we were able to inspire each other with our library spaces and staff, as well as share plans and visions for shared projects. The first successful project was an exchange of two library employees. In October 2023, two librarians from Chemnitz came to Ústí to help with foreign language programming in different library departments, and to get to know the library better. A couple of months later, in January 2024, two librarians from Ústí had the same privilege in Chemnitz, leaving inspired by programming and use of spaces to attract diverse readership. In the meantime, there was another exciting project going on behind the scenes – preparations for a literature Exchange about our shared region.

On February 9th, the team from Chemnitz came to Ústí in order for us to Exchange the books which we had curated for each other. The books will be marked with a special logo for our cooperation, and a roll-up banner at each library will feature highlights of the partner library, to be on permanent display with the books.

What’s next for these books and the friendships they have formed? Keep following us to find out – we don’t want to spoil the surprise!

Ani Petrak, Ústí Regional Library

You can see also posts on Instagram of Chemnitz Bibliotek and on Facebook of Ústí Regional Library


Call for Papers – BiblioCon 2024 Hamburg

Call for Papers | “open.local.global.”

From 04. – 06.06.2024, the 112.BiblioCon will take place in Hamburg under the motto „open.local.global.“.
The organisers are the Berufsverband Information Bibliothek e.V. (BIB) and the VDB – Verein Deutscher Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare e.V.

More informations: https://2024.bibliocon.de/lecturers/call-for-papers-2/?lang=en#

Dates
The submission of abstracts is possible from 01.09. to 30.11.2023.
The authors will be notified by end of February 2024.

Contact
For any further question please fell free to contact Mrs. Wioletta Syplie of K.I.T. Group at abstract@biblion.de.


BiblioCon Hannover – Call for Posters and #Freiraum23

From 23 to 26 May 2023, the 111. BiblioCon will take place in Hanover. As in previous years, there will again be the opportunity to present specialist contributions in the form of posters.

The call for posters (until end of March) https://bibliothekartag2023.de/timetable/call-for-poster/?lang=en and a slot in the #Freiraum23 https://bibliothekartag2023.de/timetable/call-for-freiraum23/?lang=en (first come first serve) are open now.

Hope to see You in Hannover!


“Meeting friendly and dedicated colleagues” – visit from German Library Association in Czech Libraries

Interview with Lisa Rohwedder from the German Library Association. She works in Communication Department and during November 2022 she spent 5 days in the Czech Republic, exploring Czech libraries and library network. By the end of that time, we met in Prague for an interview about her experience.


What was your motivation to come here? How did you decide to go to the Czech Republic?

I am working as an editor for the web page bibliotheksportal.de, which provides information on German libraries and for librarians in Germany. Since Germany and the Czech Republic are partner countries since May 2022, I thought it would be interesting to write something about Czech libraries for this web page. I hope this can help to promote the exchange between the library landscapes of Germany and Czech Republic and maybe make German librarians curious to come here and discover Czech libraries. And of course, for me personally, it was a great opportunity to travel and meet people in the libraries and learn a lot about the country and its libraries.

You work in the communication department – you communicate about libraries, promote libraries… In general, what brings you to the library field? What do you like and enjoy about libraries?

I like about libraries that they are accessible to everyone. They have low boundaries. Everyone can just go there, even if they don’t have a membership card. You can still go to the room and be there and learn things. Or even just be there and relax. Maybe meet people. Maybe just sit and read a newspaper and you don’t have to buy anything. What I also like is that there are so many possibilities in the library world. So many activities that can be done and you can exchange thoughts and knowledge. Also, I think the library scene is very open, friendly, and sharing knowledge, that is very nice.

Visiting Masaryk’s Public Library in Vsetín, November 2022

What’s your impression from your stay here? You’re already here for a few days. What do you like? What is different from your point of view?

I see a lot of similarities, at least in the libraries I’ve seen here. They are dealing with the same topics, like sustainability, the question of how they can become more open, how they can be third spaces and reach out to the people and cooperate even better with communities and schools.

What is very special here is that the net of libraries is so dense. That’s a big difference to Germany. In the Czech Republic you have a library even in a small village, even if those libraries are not open all the time.

Visiting The North Bohemian Library, November 2022

Was there anything that surprised you?

Yes, I was in Vsetín, and I think it was quite a small town. It was really surprising how active they were and how many people came to the library. It’s really a broad range of activities they have, and they offer so much for both really small children, but also for seniors. And many people are working there as well. I don’t think you would have that in a town in Germany of the same size, so that’s really interesting to see.

Another surprise was yesterday when I went to DOK16 that was a really cool place, I think. I saw both children coming there with their parents, but also seniors. And it also seems like an open place for all kinds of people. There was a workshop with a lecturer going on there, showing how to cut spoons. I think half of the people who attended this workshop were women and I also think that is really good to see. In a room where they work with wood, which is maybe a traditionally male subject, this workshop seems to also attract women. So, it’s a really open place, which is nice.

Lisa Rohwedder in DOK16 (Municipal Library of Prague), November 2022

Is your stay here bringing you some ideas for cooperation? Do you see some opportunities, areas for cooperation?

I think there are a lot of opportunities for cooperation. For example, one subject is the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), which have been a focus for Czech libraries for the last two years and will continue to be relevant both here and in Germany. Also, the new focus topic for Czech libraries from 2023 on, media literacy, is really important for German libraries and also the German Library Association is working on a project on that.

And there are more topics where a cooperation could be fruitful, I think. For example, the question how libraries can acquire funding for special projects, how they can reach out to their communities and much more!

Is there anything else what you found out during your stay here, anything else you would like to share?

I learned a lot about the Czech library system which was very interesting. How it works with the regional libraries, that they provide information and support for the smaller ones.

Also, I found it great to meet so many very friendly and dedicated colleagues in the libraries and at the association SDRUK and I am very grateful they all took their time to show me around and tell me about their projects. Czech libraries are definitely worth a visit!

Thank you very much.

Interview by Kateřina Tumová


Call for Papers: 111. Deutsche Bibliothekartag

Výzva k zasílání příspěvků – Call for papers | „Vorwärts nach weit“

Od 23.05.2023 do 26.05.2023 se bude konat 111. Deutsche Bibliothekartag* v Hannoveru pod heslem „re von nah: vorwärts nach weit“. Pořadateli jsou Berufsverband Information Bibliothek e.V. (BIB) a VDB – Verein Deutscher Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare e.V. (Spolek německých knihovníků a knihovnic).

Témata
Příspěvky je možné zasílat od 1. 9. 2022 do 30. 11. 2022. Registrace je pak možná prostřednictvím webových stránek (https://bibliothekartag2023.de/timetable/call-for-papers/).

Organizátoři oslovují kolegyně a kolegy – odborníky z akademických a veřejných knihoven či informačních institucí a zástupce příslušných asociací, aby předkládali návrhy přednášek a panelových diskusí na následující témata:

Themenkreis 1: Den Arbeitsalltag gestalten
Themenkreis 2: Qualifikationen in Ausbildung und Beruf
Themenkreis 3: Bauen und Lernen, Architektur und Pädagogik
Themenkreis 4: Dienstleistungen und Community Building
Themenkreis 5: Daten und Publikationen
Themenkreis 6: Digitale und analoge Infrastrukturen

Téma 1: Utváření každodenního pracovního života
Téma 2: Kvalifikace ve vzdělávání a zaměstnání.
Téma 3: Budovy a učení, architektura a pedagogika
Téma 4: Služby a budování komunity
Téma 5: Data a publikace
Téma 6: Digitální a analogové infrastruktury

Obecné informace
Obecné informace o předkládání abstraktů
Příspěvky je možné zasílat pouze online; na jiné způsoby zasílání příspěvků nebude brán zřetel, stejně jako na neúplné příspěvky. Věnujte proto prosím zvláštní pozornost úplnosti (abstrakt, uvedení diskutujících nebo vedoucího diskuse, uvedení řečníka (řečníků), cílových skupin a požadovaného času/prostoru).
Návrhy na akce jsou požadovány ve formě abstraktu o maximální délce 2 000 znaků (včetně mezer). Název nesmí přesáhnout 125 znaků; organizátoři si rovněž vyhrazují právo na úpravu názvů. Uveďte prosím krátký životopis v rozsahu max. 300 znaků, nejlépe s odkazem na obsah předloženého abstraktu. Uveďte také předpokládané prostorové nároky a cílovou skupinu, pro kterou je akce určena.
Při hodnocení přihlášených příspěvků se řídíme následujícími kritérii:

  • Vědecká kvalita
  • Praktická relevance
  • Včasnost
  • Zveřejnění prezentací

Přihlášením svého příspěvku přednášející souhlasí s tím, že abstrakty přijatých prezentací budou do začátku 111. ročníku zpřístupněny na online publikačním serveru Bibliothekartag (BIB-OPUS, https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bib-info).

Online zveřejnění proběhne bezprostředně po skončení kongresu na Opusu nebo v o-bib. Podrobnosti budou přednášejícím sděleny s přijetím jejich prezentace.

Vybrané přednášky budou po skončení Bibliothekartagu rovněž publikovány buď v časopise VDB s otevřeným přístupem „o-bib“, nebo v BuB (online a/nebo v tištěné podobě). Přednášející, jejichž prezentace je určena k publikaci, budou příslušnou redakcí vyzváni, aby svůj rukopis předložili redakci krátce po skončení konference. Další podrobnosti budou řečníkům sděleny spolu s přijetím jejich prezentace.

Bude zkontrolována dlouhodobá archivace streamovaného obsahu.

Individuální prezentace
Aby byl dostatek času na diskusi, bude na jednotlivé prezentace vyhrazeno maximálně 15 minut řečnického času. Lze přihlásit pouze jednotlivé prezentace, nikoliv bloky prezentací. Pokud existuje souvislost mezi obsahem několika prezentací, uveďte ji při přihlašování do pole pro poznámky.
Vzhledem k omezenému času na vystoupení lze zohlednit maximálně dva řečníky na jednu prezentaci. Oba budou uvedeni v seznamu řečníků. Všechny ostatní autory a/nebo řečníky lze uvést pouze přímo v abstraktu.
Pokud je pro jednu nebo více prezentací navržen moderátor, uveďte jeho jméno. Řečníci mají vstup zdarma. Pokud přednáší více osob, bude tato výhoda poskytnuta pouze jedné osobě.
Přihlášené příspěvky posoudí čestní recenzenti a navrhnou je programovému výboru. Případní recenzenti se mohou obrátit na organizátory. Zasedání, jejichž kurátory jsou výhradně asociace, jsou zproštěna dalšího recenzování.

Prezentace společnosti a produktů
Společnosti jsou zvány, aby představily své výrobky v rámci firemní výstavy a prezentací a pohovořily zde se zákazníky. Rezervace firemních prezentací, výstavní plochy a sponzorských služeb se provádí prostřednictvím online rezervačního systému „Exhibition and Sponsoring Ordering System (ESOS™)“. Jako kontaktní osoba je vám na adrese ausstellung@bibliothekartag2023.de k dispozici paní Alexandra Krohn. Další informace a příslušné podmínky naleznete v Příručce pro vystavovatele a sponzory v části Firemní prezentace.
Prezentace s komerčním pozadím jsou vždy považovány za firemní prezentace.

Panelové diskuse
V rámci panelových diskusí má být diskutováno kontroverzní téma. Každý účastník prosazuje svou tezi, která je na začátku diskuse stručně představena. V průběhu diskuse se zapojuje publikum.
Panely s více než pěti účastníky a moderátorem se neplánují.
Na panelové diskuse je vyhrazeno 90 minut až dvě hodiny. V abstraktu uveďte (kontroverzní) teze, diskutující osoby a moderátora (moderátory) diskuse. Moderátor diskuse bude mít vstup zdarma.
Účastníci panelu, kteří nepocházejí z kontextu BID a přinášejí do diskuse pohled zvenčí, mohou být financováni prostřednictvím sdružení, případně s volnou jednodenní vstupenkou. Na tuto službu není nárok.

Praktické laboratoře
Plánujeme opět uspořádat Hands-On Labs. S výhradou neočekávaných omezení souvisejících s pandemií.

Hands-On Labs jsou akce pro menší skupiny, které se chtějí intenzivně a v praktických cvičeních zabývat určitým tématem, přijít do styku se softwarem apod. a sami se aktivně zapojit. Ve smyslu Open Space Learning by účastníci měli mít možnost získat přímé praktické zkušenosti (např. společná instalace vyhledávacího softwaru).
Praktická laboratoř trvá 90 nebo 120 minut.
Při podávání přihlášky uveďte moderátora, téma, cílovou skupinu a požadovaný čas a prostor a vysvětlete, jak bude umožněna aktivní účast účastníků.
Hands-On Labs, které vyžadují, aby se účastníci předem registrovali, je třeba v anotaci odpovídajícím způsobem označit a uvést příslušnou e-mailovou adresu, na kterou mají být registrace zaslány.
Speciální technické vybavení nemůže být poskytnuto, ale musí být organizováno předkladatelem. V místnosti je k dispozici projektor, demonstrační počítač, flipcharty, plátno a moderátorské psací potřeby. V digitální laboratoři je rovněž k dispozici připojení k síti LAN. Notebooky, tablety a/nebo mobilní telefony nebudou poskytnuty; na požadavek jejich přinesení je třeba případně upozornit v abstraktu.
Vedoucí praktické laboratoře obdrží volný vstup na kongres.

Poster
Plakáty je možné zasílat. K tomu bude v prosinci 2022 vyhlášena samostatná výzva.

#Freiraum23
Výzva na #Free Space bude vyhlášena v prosinci 2022, aby bylo možné adekvátně zohlednit aktuální vývoj. Volný prostor je k dispozici pro prezentace asociací, hostů a účastníků, nikoli však pro využití v komerčním kontextu.

Termíny a kontakt
Termíny
Přihlášky je možné podávat od 01.09. do 30.11.2022.
Autoři by měli být vyrozuměni do konce února 2023.

Předkládání posterů (po samostatné výzvě k předkládání posterů) bude možné od prosince 2022.

Předkládání příspěvků pro #Freiraum23 bude možné po samostatné výzvě od prosince 2022.

Kontakt:
Pro další informace kontaktujte paní Kelly Reitz ze společnosti K.I.T. Group na adrese abstract@bibliothekartag2023.de.

Informace naleznete na adrese https://bibliothekartag2023.de/timetable/call-for-papers/ (v němčině a angličtině)


Cooperation of Czech and German Libraries

Czech and German libraries have been cooperating, some for many years. The most frequent are exchanges of funds and internships.

PARTNERSHIP

Library cooperation is often based on city partnerships. The practice of twinning was established in Europe after the Second World War as a way of fostering cultural ties and contacts between people from different countries. Czech cities started to get involved after 1989. The development of town twinning is supported by the European Union, including financially.

Kolín City Library cooperates with the library in Kamenz, Saxony. Librarians visit each other and exchange experiences.

Olomouc Research Library (https://www.vkol.cz/olomouc-research-library) cooperates with the library in Nördlingen, mainly through internships. In 2018, the Olomouc librarians went to Germany for five days. The programme was divided into a historical section, which searched for preserved sources of the so-called Heimatlitertur, i.e. the printed material of the Society of Displaced German Residents from Olomouc, and a library section, which focused on organising events for schools and the public. The Nördlingeners are going to Olomouc this summer after a covid break. “The aim of the exchange is to deepen the cooperation between Czech and German librarians, to compare best practice in services, to organise various types of events for children, students, the public and citizens with specific needs, all with regard to the community role of libraries in today’s world,” explains Miroslava Dvorská, head of the German library of the Olomouc Research Library.

Prachatice Municipal Library has had close contacts with the library in Freyung since 2003. In 2014-2019, the libraries collaborated on a large-scale project called Heritage of Šumava (Böhmerwald), which aimed to capture in writing the tales of Pracheň and Šumava. They have also held a joint conference and a cross-border University of the Third Age. “We have organised a conference and a number of children’s events, published books, it’s really a lot. Our activities were slowed down only by Covid,” comments Hana Mrázová, director of the library in Prachatice.

The libraries of the Euroregion Nisa have been actively cooperating since 1998. The libraries in Česká Lípa, Jablonec, Turnov and Liberec are involved in the trilateral cooperation (Czech Republic, Saxony, Poland). The cooperation results in conferences, literary walks, art competitions for children. The theme of this year’s art competition is Krakonoš (Rübezahl).

Brno is a partner city of Leipzig in Saxony and the Moravian Library in Brno cooperates with the Leipzig City Library. The two libraries are similar in that they are both public and research libraries.

However, the Moravian Library also has close relations with the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden -SLUB). The libraries exchange experiences in digitising their collections and develop a common tool for making digitised documents accessible. In addition, they carry out staff internships and long-term cultural projects. Both institutions are scientific, so they are planning to cooperate in the field of research processing of collections and development of research infrastructure.

As part of the implementation of the project Cross-Border Cooperation of Regional Libraries Pilsen-Rezno (European Territorial Cooperation Objective 2014-2020), the Czech-Bavarian Library website was launched, where you can find linked catalogues of the Education and Research Library of Pilsen Region and Die Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg, searches of newspapers and newspaper supplements from both regions up to 1945 divided into thematic blocks together with digitised documents from the collections of both partners.

FUND EXCHANGES

The National Library of the Czech Republic has several partners in Germany for the international exchange of publications.

The Library of the MUNICIPAL MUSEUM OF ÚSTÍ NAD LABEM (DAS MUSEUM DER STADT AUSSIG) has six German partners for the exchange of publications from its collection.

The Library of the North Bohemian Museum Liberec has twenty-three exchange partners from all German states.

COOPERATION ON A MULTILATERAL PROJECT

The National Library of Medicine in Prague is collaborating with Humboldt University and other institutions to process the so-called Würtz Collection, a collection of graphic and plastic artworks on the subject of disability, originally collected by special educator Hans Würtz (in Berlin in the 1920s) and preserved in Czechoslovakia since the late 1930s.

Four university libraries (Technische Universität Chemnitz, Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Technical University of Liberec) and the Regional Research Library in Liberec are cooperating on major projects:

  • Czech-Saxon Library Network, Information without Borders. The aim of the project was to acquire and make available e-publications, mutual transfer of experience.
  • Learning Space – library information platform, exchange internships of staff and students, joint publications.

The Moravian Library and the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic are part of the pan-European library project EoDOpen, partners are also the German university libraries in Greifswald and Regensburg. The aim of the project is to digitise important 20th century works that are not yet free under copyright law.

PARTICIPATION IN THE GERMAN CULTURAL HACKATHON

A hackathon is actually a marathon in programming, the purpose of which is to bring programmers and related professions together to create a meaningful IT solution to a problem in a short period of time. In Germany, there has been a hackathon called Coding da Vinci since 2014, which focuses on IT solutions and the use of big data in cultural institutions. In the eight years of the project’s existence, 140 digital applications (mobile apps, websites, augmented reality, etc.) have been created.

Among the Czech libraries, the Education and Research Library of Pilsen Region has collaborated with Coding da Vinci so far (it succeeded with a dataset of regional personalities for a possible Who? when? Where? in the Pilsen Region) and the Moravian Library in Brno.

CONNECTING THE LIBRARY TO LOCAL GERMAN INITIATIVES

The Library of the House of National Minorities in Prague cooperates with German minority associations and the editorial office of the LandesEcho magazine.

ACCESS TO SUMAVA LITERATURE

The project is aimed at making Sumava literature more accessible.

Rooster Cross Project – ‘s Hohnakreiz”

“Sumava Echoes – Des Waldes Widerhall”

https://www.kohoutikriz.org/

Die Studie https://www.kohoutikriz.org/studie.html?lang=DE


3. Congress Day


2. Congress Day


1. Congress Day

Zdravíme z Lipska, z prvního dne BID kongresu!

Greetings from Leipzig, the first day of the BID Congress!

Herzliche Grüße aus Leipzig, vom ersten Tag des BID-Kongresses!


Where is the Library Next Door?

Libraries are an integral part of the life of towns and cities, whether they are public, special, academic or museum libraries.

The Czech Republic (and its librarians and librarians) prides itself on having the densest library network in the world, due to the 1st Library Law from 1919, which made it “mandatory to establish a library in every municipality and a minority library where there was a non-national population.” The Act was intended to make education and information available to the widest possible sections of the population. And could anything has served better than libraries?

That’s why there are libraries in almost every village and town, perhaps everyone remembers the library they went to in their childhood years because it was easily accessible, it was within easy reach, just around the corner, behind this door.

But in the context of the partner country project, we can also see this idea metaphorically, because countries that are neighbours, that share borders and history, that share an interest in library development will work together in partnership. A library from next door, a library from Bohemia, a library from Germany.

So, the library next door is here. It is a presentation of Czech librarianship in Germany within the framework of the activities of the partnership project.


We’re going to Leipzig

Leipzig hosts the largest German library congress (https://www.bid-kongress-leipzig.de/) at the end of May and the beginning of June.

Czech librarianship was given the opportunity to present itself at this event. The programme includes Czech speakers and we have our own “trade fair stand”, where we have tried to squeeze the most interesting things from Czech libraries into 50m2 of space; we are presenting educational and community activities, as well as projects for the preservation and presentation of precious collections, as well as library architecture and design.

Visitors will have the opportunity to sit down and talk with other guests at the stand, play a unique game from Půda Build Your Library, slap on a badge with a nice Czech word, flash a polaroid and then leave the photo for others to enjoy or take away as a souvenir.

Among the materials, it is definitely worth mentioning the trade fair newspaper, which we prepared and what we could not fit in our booth, we wrote in it. The quiz, which, if filled in correctly, will receive a postcard from us. From the title alone, it’s obvious that it will be a funny moment that took place between a librarian and a reader.

We hope that the German colleagues will like our Library Next Door, that they will have fun and that we will gain new contacts and experiences in a pleasant atmosphere.