Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library pays great attention to non-formal adult education. Adults who are looking for engaging activities in the library, can find a wide range of them here – borrow books, read periodicals, attend digital, media and information literacy training, participate in leisure clubs, and attend cultural events.
The knitting club participated in the international day of public knitting
As for seniors, they are one of the largest groups of visitors participating in library activities. A large group is united by the Seniors’ “Šiltos akimirkos” (Eng. „Warm Moments“) club, which meets once a month, and its individual groups meet additionally according to their schedule (music group – once a week, local history group – once a month). The activities of the senior club take place in various forms – educational lectures are held on the topics of healthy lifestyle, cultural knowledge, creative workshops and educational lessons are organized, where the participants not only gain new knowledge, but also learn to make or create something. Club outings are often held, when famous historical places and cultural objects are visited, and other clubs are met. Members of the senior club participate in storytelling and bibliotherapy educational activities.
The library not only helps active senior citizens get together under its roof, but also periodically visits the Senior Group nursing home. Library volunteers (some of them also seniors) are involved in this activity. The library organizes educational sessions, concerts, readings, book presentations for the nursing home residents, as well as hands over books personally donated by library employees.
Seniors also actively participate in the activities of other library clubs. Those who like reading, attend the meetings of the Bitė Book Club or the Detective Stories Fans‘ Club, and those who want to improve their spoken English skills take part in the English conversation club “Let’s Talk” or the Language Cafe. Women who like to knit, attend the activities of “Visos geros” knitting club.
This information was prepared for the Bitė library together with its partner – the Chrzanow library in Poland – in the course of a communication campaign aimed at publicizing specific activities of the library.
Photos by Gintaras Lukoševičius
