Implementing the library’s Erasmus+ project in the field of adult education “International Qualifications for Innovative Library Ideas 3”, Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library‘s specialists had two trips abroad: a job shadowing visit in Spain and a storytelling training in Scotland.
A visit to Spain
October 21-23 the team of Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library visited the public libraries of the Aragon region of Spain.
During their stay the librarians visited the Zaragoza Public Library, the largest in the Aragon region, as well as the Cubit Youth Library in the former sugar factory, La Puebla de Alfén, a small but interesting community library, and a unique library located in the palace of Aljaferia, the oldest documents of which date back to the 11th century.
For our specialists the visit to the libraries of the Aragona region was an excellent internship and a source of inspiration, giving new ideas to apply in their own work. During their visits to Spanish public libraries, our librarians gained valuable professional experience, as evidenced by the Europass Mobility documents. This experience will be shared with colleagues from Panevėžys region public libraries in the near future.
It is especially gratifying that the cooperation between Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library and the Zaragoza Public Library of the Aragon Region does not end with this job shadowing visit. Libraries expect that the application for the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships project submitted by Zaragoza Public Library and Panevėžys County Public Library as a partner will be positively assessed and that the allocated funding will allow the joint implementation of the planned activities. The aim of the project is to modernize and facilitate remote access to library resources, attract new users, introduce new products and services, increase the volume of products and services provided, and diversify the number of events organized.
A visit to Scotland
November 22-26 a group of Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library specialists took part in the storytelling training at the Village Storytelling Center in Glasgow, Scotland.
On the first day of the training the library staff participating in the training met with Helen Mill, the head of the Storytelling Center, who told about the history of the Center, relations with the local community and activities.
Daiva Ivanauskaitė, a narrator living and working in Scotland, presented the application of the storytelling method when working with older people. It was like a beautiful gift for librarians from Lithuania, because this training session was held in their native language.
During the training, library specialists got acquainted with various storytelling methods applied in working with different target groups (young people, families with infants and young children, elder people etc). The multisensory storytelling method, which is used when working with people with various disabilities, was also introduced.
In each training session the participants were presented with specific ways of working with certain target groups as well as given practical exercises. The librarians learned different storytelling methods that they will be able to incorporate into the activities of the library.
“International Qualification for Innovative Library Ideas 3“ project is funded by the Education Exchange Support Fund