Project duration 2020.07.07 – 2024.04.30 (24 months)

Project presentation

The project aims to create an innovative reading promotion tool for students of 5-8 grades (10-15 years old) – a reading related virtual game. The content of the game  will be linked to three book collections shared among the network of public libraries of Panevėžys, Kaunas and Klaipėda regions. While playing this game, students will look for answers and advice in the target literature and thus decide the moves of the game’s hero. The game and the accompanying literature will help children and young people to solve the problems of social relations with the environment, to develop reading habits, and to instill strong values. The virtual game will be downloaded as a free mobile app, and the literature related to the game tasks will be available on special themed shelves in regional libraries and other denoted locations.

The development of the game will involve foreign partners, representatives of the cultural, artistic, scientific and creative industries, as well as youth volunteers. In order to create conditions for the participation of the target group in cultural education activities during the project, expert educators in the libraries will prepare a set of educational-cultural activities related to this project. These educational activities will present reading books as an interesting activity that encourages imagination and creativity, helps to evaluate one’s own and other people’s actions, understand feelings, and more. The game will continue even after the project ends, book collections will be updated and new reading challenges prepared.

Activities planned during the project

1. The research aimed at identifying the reading skills and social relations of the target group.
2. The research aimed at determining the extent to which the availability of cultural activities has increased for children and youth living in municipal districts or rural elderships.
3. Development of book collections for the target group with direct (participating county libraries and the Norwegian Institute of Science and Culture) and indirect (IBIS members, representatives of translators and publishers) partners.
4. Development of a reading challenge game linked to book collections with project partners, youth volunteers, and representatives of the creative industries.
5. Installation of special places for book collections in libraries following the concept prepared by the artists.
6. Presentation of the developed product (game), organized simultaneously in 34 libraries forming the network of public libraries of Panevėžys, Kaunas and Klaipėda regions: 1 regional, 28 municipal level, 5 local level (municipal districts / rural elderships).
7. Educational classes for students of 5-8 grade and older 5, times a month, in 39 public libraries; a total of 1755 sessions.
8. The Reading Challenge Game Participants Award events will be held simultaneously in all the 39 libraries where 117 participants who win the game will be awarded.

Project result

The main activities of the project – the organization of reading challenge game and educational activities – in the network of public libraries of Panevėžys, Kaunas and Klaipėda will develop the accessibility of cultural education activities for students of 5–8 grades (10–15 years old) and increase reading motivation. The book collections linked to the reading challenge will enable the target group of the project to choose the latest publications that best suit their needs. An extensive network of public libraries will ensure that the project activities are accessible to a very large target audience. The Reading Challenge game will aim to attract 880 unique target group participants. Educational activities organized in libraries at the regional and local level will aim to attract 12,285 participants in the target group. The project activities will aim to involve 30% of the target group living in municipal districts or rural elderships, but studying in schools located in the nearest municipal centers. The system for sharing book collections created during this project is an innovative solution for the distribution and availability of books, which in the future can be improved and applied in all regions of Lithuania.

Responsible person in Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library is Raimonda Gvozdienė, Project Manager of the Regional Libraries Strategic Development Department, e-mail: raimonda.gvozdiene@pavb.lt , tel. +370 669 50 674

The project is funded by

Project duration 2021 03 01–2027 12 31

Project presentation

The aim of the project is to strengthen the andragogical and managerial competencies of Panevėžys region public library specialists, preparing and implementing adult education programs, and to improve the quality of non-formal education.

Activities planned during the project

Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library, as the consortium coordinator, will submit applications to the Education Exchange Support Fund for funding mobility visits to advanced European public libraries and other organizations providing adult education. Funding for mobility visits will be granted by the accreditation of the Erasmus+ program. Project partners (members of the consortium) – 12 municipal public libraries of Panevėžys region.

Twelve specialists of Panevėžys region libraries working in the field of adult education and adult educators from Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library will take part in the mobility activities. All libraries of the region will be involved in joint project activities, the professional development of adult educators will be carried out in a targeted manner, and unified goals of adult education in the region will be pursued. Three mobility programs are planned for one year, each of which will be attended by 10-15 adult education specialists selected through a competition. One area of interest will be selected each year, in which the competences of adult education professionals will be improved by raising their qualifications in advanced adult education organizations abroad.

Expected result of the project

After each mobility, participating librarians will develop training / educational programs and test them with target groups in their libraries. Based on the experience of foreign libraries, librarians-adult educators in Panevėžys region will learn to properly prepare training programs for remote environment.

A coherent strategy for adult education in Panevėžys region will be developed and implemented. By networking, adult educators in the region will enhance their professional skills, share experiences, and collaborate in the development of adult education / training programs.

The public libraries in the region will attract more adult visitors who are not currently users of library services. The experience gained during the mobility programs as well as learning the needs of the current or potential library users will allow adult educators to develop programs that realistically meet the expectations of those who could profit from adult education and training programs.

Responsible person in Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library is Virginija Švedienė, senior librarian of the Readers’ Service Department, e-mail virginija.svediene@pavb.lt, tel. 8,610,667 60.

The project is funded by

Project duration: 2019–2021

Project presentation

The aim of the project is to provide an opportunity for Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library staff responsible for organizing and developing educational activities/ trainings for adults to improve their qualifications in advanced European public libraries or training centers and as a result to offer a wider range of adult education services in their library.

Activities planned during the project

In June of 2020 six employees of Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library will attend courses at The Village Storytelling Training Center in Scotland. In 2021 four librarians will participate in a job shadowing visit to the Huesca Public Library in Spain. Training and job shadowing visits will provide project participants with the opportunity to deepen their professional skills and gain new theoretical and practical knowledge. It will also give an opportunity to see various live educational trainings and projects, organized by foreign colleagues, as well as help create new training programs for their communities.

Expected result of the project

The staff of Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library will prepare and implement new educational programs for adults or update existing ones with new methods.

Using the gathered information, new projects for adult education will be initiated and implemented in Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library. Innovative ideas will be shared with the specialists of public libraries of Panevėžys region and the professional community of Lithuanian librarians.

Responsible person in Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library is

Laima Butkūnienė, project coordinator of the Regional Libraries Strategic Development Department, e-mail: laima.butkuniene@pavb.lt, tel. (8 45) 50 20 38

The project is funded by

Project duration: 19 09 2020 – 30 06 2022

Project presentation

The project aims to develop contemporary storytelling art in Lithuania and, with the help of partners from Sweden and Norway, to create a model for the application of storytelling art and method to Lithuanian libraries, to test and develop it as a new educational service for users of all ages and social groups.

Activities planned during the project

The librarians of the North-Eastern region of Lithuania will adopt the experience of the innovative method by participating in the training sessions, accompanied by testing in focus groups, reflection events and preparing a project presentation for the audiences in Lithuania and the Nordic countries.

Expected result of the project

– In 2020 a six-hour introductory storytelling training session “Oral storytelling. Story, Storyteller and Listener ” for public library professionals. Lecturer – educator, project manager Rose-Marie Lindfors from the Nordic Storytelling Center (Sweden). The two-day training was attended by 215 participants. The lecturer introduced the participants to the methods of oral storytelling and shared her most successful methods of storytelling in libraries. The participants of the training practically learned to apply storytelling methods without using books, using only imagination, learned to present silent books, etc.

– In 2021 a five-day (40 hours) training for the development of educational storytelling programs for Panevėžys region libraries specialists was organized. The training was led by a lecturer Rose-Marie Lindfors from the Nordic Storytelling Center (Sweden) and a professional storyteller, artist Tiril Bryn (Norway). The curriculum was based on the development of storyteller ‘s competency model developed by the Federation for European Storytelling (FEST). During the training, the 8 competencies of storytellers were developed for 40 specialists of Panevėžys and Utena county public libraries. Specialists of Panevėžys and Utena county libraries, with the help of professional storytellers, created 5 unique educational programs for different library audiences. The sets of educational tools for the storytelling programs were prepared by the artist Neringa Minkevičienė. The educations developed by librarians during the training are methodically described in Eduteka (a digital space containing tools and methodologies for educational activities with children).

– On the 24–27 of February, 2022 a joint presentation of educational programs created by librarians of Panevėžys region took place at Vilnius Book Fair. Librarians-educators from Molėtai, Panevėžys city, Anykščiai, Pasvalys, Biržai and Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė public libraries in total held 41 educational sessions, involving 441 participants.

– By the 30 of June, 2022 library specialists will held 40 narrative educational sessions in total for different audiences in Panevėžys and Utena County Libraries using sets of educational tools.

– On the 16–17 of May, 2022 the experience gained during the Project, will be presented at the Nordic Storytelling Center (Skellefteå, Sweden).

– On the 31 of May, 2022 an international closing conference will be organized in Panevėžys to share experience with the country’s librarians. CONFERENCE PROGRAME

Responsible person in Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library

Laima Butkūnienė, project coordinator of the Regional Libraries Strategic Development Department, e-mail: laima.butkuniene@pavb.lt, tel. (8 45) 50 20 38.

The project is funded by

Duration of the project: 2020 06 01–2021 06 30

Project presentation

The aim of the project is to acquaint children, youth and educational specialists with classical and contemporary Nordic and Baltic children’s literature, to promote reading habits in an innovative way, to increase the visibility of Nordic literature in Lithuania, by attracting large audiences to Panevėžys. In cooperation with partners, special programs will be developed for the target groups: creative workshops for children, their parents and young people, trainings for teachers, specialists of memory institutions.

Activities planned during the project

Three Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Panevėžys only) will hold an exhibition created by the famous Icelandic writer and illustrator Kristín Ragna Gunnarsdóttir. Idea: The exhibition is designed so that each guest could actively participate in the adventures offered at different sections. Visitors “travel” with special passports, which are stamped at each new location. The main element of the interactive exhibition is a large Viking ship, which allow up to 25 children to sit on it and listen to Nordic and Baltic literature readings or read the books individually. The main audience of the exhibition is children from 3 to 12 years old. Exhibition includes various activities: drawing, storytelling, writing poetry, solving literary quizzes,  participating in creative lessons with artists, writers, illustrators and more.

Project result

New interactive service; over 8,000 children acquainted with contemporary and classical literature of the Nordic and Baltic countries in innovative ways; it is planned that about 500 specialists will visit the exhibition.

Responsible person in Panevėžys County

Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public is Toma Apnytė-Kirslienė, Head of the Department of Cultural Education of Children and Youth, e-mail toma.apynyte-kirsliene@pavb.lt, tel. (8 45) 43 56 77

The project is funded by Panevėžys city municipality and Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania

             

Project duration: 2020-2021

Project organiser: Berättarnätet Kronoberg – Sagobygden, Sweden

Project partners:

• The Hilmar Alexandersen Foundation (Stiftinga Hilmar Alexandersen) Norway
• Storytellers ’Association of Latvia Latvia
• Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library, Lithuania.

Project presentation

“The Storytelling Network of Kronoberg – The Land of Legends” is a project aiming to create a Nordic-Baltic Storytelling Network.

Project activities

In the fourth quarter of 2021 four working-experience sharing meetings are planned to be held in each of the participating countries:

• Riga, Jelgava, Rundale, Kuldiga (Latvia) on the topic “Storytelling in community work”;
• Panevėžys (Lithuania) on the topic “Narration in Education”;
• Steinkjer (Norway) on “The story of regional development, digital products”.

Project result

The Nordic-Baltic Storytelling Network will be set up by the cooperating institutions.

The project is funded by

Project duration: 2019–2021

Project organiser: Gradska Knjižnica Rijeka, Croatia

Project partners:

• Mestna Knjižnica Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library, Lithuania

Project presentation

ZELDA, Green and Sustainable Library, an Erasmus + project is a project of the City Library of Rijeka. The main goal of the project is to adopt the good practice of European public libraries in creating sustainable environment for a “green” library. Rijeka City Library is one of the main cultural institutions in Rijeka, which from 2018 to 2022 is part of the major transformation processes affecting not only the history of the library itself but also that of Rijeka as a whole.

Rijeka City Library envisions to become a modern, dynamic library, and its staff aims to incorporate good European library practices and new methods into the day-to-day running of their library. In order to create modern services that appeal to their users and become an ecological and sustainable library, Rijeka librarians will visit those European public libraries that create a sustainable environment for the green library and involve their visitors in education that encourages creative use of secondary raw materials. Following the good practice of European public libraries, Rijeka City Library staff will seek to implement these ideas in their library by developing innovative educational programs. Rijeka librarians will also share these ideas with their colleagues in Primorsko-Goranska County and librarians from all over Croatia.

In 2019 a job shadowing visit to Ljubljana City Library in Slovenia is planned, in 2021 – a virtual job shadowing visit to Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library (Lithuania).

The project is funded by