As October begins, so does #LibrariesWeek! As we navigated through the recent public health crisis, have you ever thought about how public libraries navigated through the present crisis? If so, then join us in the upcoming EUROLIS 2020 Online Seminar titled ‘How Can Libraries Play a Positive Role in a Crisis?’ 

Founded in 2008, Eurolis is an association of librarians and information professionals from France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Spain and the Chartered Institute of Libraries and Information Professionals (CILIP) in the UK. Every year, we organise a seminar on a topic relevant to librarians, teachers and information professionals in the UK with an expert speaker from participating countries. This year the Polish Embassy and the Polish Cultural Institue in cooperation with EUROLIS invites you to our online seminar titled ‘How can Libraries play a positive role in the crisis? featuring among others, Isobel Hunter, Chief Executive of Libraries Connected and a great advocate for public libraries. We will also be joined by Anna Gruszecka, Director of the Raczyński Library in Poznań. Educated as a historian at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Anna Gruszecka worked many years as a radio broadcast journalist before assuming her role as Director of the Raczyński Library. First found by Count Edward Raczyński in 1821, the Raczyńśki Library in Poznań is Poland’s oldest public library in continuous operation, making knowledge accessible to ‘all without discrimination, so that everyone may avail of its services’. The library holds many precious artefacts including the works of eminent Polish writers such as Henryk Sienkiewicz and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski. Anna Gruszecka will discuss many projects the Raczyński Library organised during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Her talk is titled ‘Exploring New Spaces through Shared Reading’. To register and learn more about this year’s program, please visit the EUROLIS website.