21st November, 10am – 4:30pm, Europe House

Save the Date!

Libraries are evolving in step with contemporary societies and their challenges. No longer confined to rows of shelves, today’s libraries are dynamic, multifunctional spaces where inclusivity, accessibility, and the sharing of knowledge are central to their mission.

To promote openness, diversity, and equity is to create spaces that welcome all, reflect a plurality of voices and cultures and actively remove barriers to access. Modern libraries are places of encounter and exchange, supporting communities with opportunities to learn, connect, and create.

This year’s Eurolis Seminar will highlight how libraries across Europe are responding to the challenges ahead—by hosting engaging events, creative in-person workshops, and initiatives that foster digital literacy and social inclusion. Together, we will explore how libraries can continue to serve as open gateways to equity, across and beyond the shelves.

This year’s Seminar is an in-person event at Europe House in London (32 Smith Square,
London, SW1P 3EU) on Friday 21st of November 2025, from 10.00 am to 4.30 pm. The
event will be conducted in English.

Free attendance, but booking is required. To reserve your spot, click on the following link:

EUROLIS SEMINAR 2025 Tickets, Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite

This project is co-organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in the United Kingdom and EUROLIS, an association of librarians and information professionals from Austria, Greece, Italy, France, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK from the European Cultural Institutes based in London.

Founded in 2002, Eurolis believes that libraries and information services are vital for
building an educated and open society, based on the idea of a free Europe that flourishes through its diversity and tolerance of other cultures. This collaborative project is created by trust and cooperation between its members, emphasising that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Find out more about EUROLIS here: Save the Date – Seminar 2025 | EUROLIS

PROGRAMME AND SPEAKERS

(A full programme with details of speakers’ topics will be made available soon)

09.30 Arrival and check-in

10.00 Welcome by the European Parliament Liaison Office in the United
Kingdom and by EUROLIS

10.10 Introduction of Chairperson, Emily Jewell, Head of Culture and
Libraries at Vision Redbridge, Culture and Leisure

10.15 UK – Colette Townend, Librarian, Lambeth Libraries and Archives
Followed by Q&A

10.45 POLAND – Hanna Dettlaff-Kuznicka, Slavonic and East European
Curator at the British Library
Followed by Q&A

11.15 Interval for tea & coffee

11.30 FRANCE – Adélaïde Boulanger, Head of the Reading and Disability
Department at the Bpi
Followed by Q&A

12.00 GREECE – Angela Yannicopoulou, Professor of Children’s Literature
at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Followed by Q&A

12.30 Lunch

13.30 ITALY – Beatrice Pallotta Fornaroli, Librarian in Reggio Emilia,
specialised in Children’s Literature
Followed by Q&A

14.00 SPAIN – Felicidad Campal, Co-director of Biblogtecarios and Board
Member of SEDIC – Sociedad Española de Documentación e información
Científica
Followed by Q&A

14.30 AUSTRIA – Boris Miedl, Deputy Director of the Graz Public Library
and Head of the Teaching Library
Followed by Q&A

15.00 PORTUGAL – Bruno Duarte Eiras, Deputy Director-General for
Books, Archives and Libraries
Followed by Q&A

15.30 Interval for tea & coffee

16.00 Plenary Session with all speakers led by the Chairperson
Followed by Q&A

16.30 Summary, thanks and closing