Campaign
On its 36th Assembly in Pula, 26 October 2008 Croatian Library Association (CLA) adopted the Strategy for Library Advocacy that focuses mainly on:
- The values of library profession
- Free access to information and intellectual freedom
- Lifelong learning.
- Along with the Strategy adopted, the campaign entitled I have the right to know, I have the right to a library was launched at the end of 2010. The role of the campaign is to promote public awareness of the need to work out the financial strategy and adequately finance libraries in every town and district, establishing library services in every school, university, scientific, and cultural institution as well as social-care, health-care, and penal institutions, with the aim to ensure that every child, young adult, employed and unemployed citizen, and retired person has the possibility to use high-quality library services in an easily accessible and user-friendly way.
The aim of the campaign is to:
- Promote the importance of founding the libraries
- Present the state and tendencies in financing public, school, academic, and special libraries in the last several years and point out the biggest problems in financing
- Point out the need to pass the national strategy for library development in Croatia
- Advocate passing a new law on libraries and library activities
- Propose free library membership for children and youth under 18
- Take into account the role of the libraries in building the framework for national information policy.
The campaign will be promoted through activities on national, regional an local levels in accordance with the needs of the communities. The campaign was launched on Croatian Library Day, celebrated on Interliber (11th November 2010), and later on Pula Book Fair (7th December 2010).
Croatian Library Association (CLA) will organize:
- Regional workshop on advocating, with special reference to library associations and their role in establishing and developing libraries, both on national and international levels, organized in cooperation with IFLA's Management of Library Associations Section (MLAS)
- Workshops Partnership in building libraries and library services, intended for the representatives of the local government who, according to the Library Act, had the obligation to establish independent libraries, and those who had the obligation to establish libraies within their institutions
- Round table Position of the Academic Library, 12th days of the academic and special libraries, with the aim to work out the starting point for the strategy of development of academic libraries.
- Expected long-term results of the campaign are:
- Passing National strategy of library development before 2015
- Opening new libraries
- Recognition of libraries as central places of lifelong learning for local community members
- Increased public support (founding of friends of the library clubs, etc.)
- Increased number of active members in library associations.
In the education for the society of knowledge libraries have one of the crucial roles. Strategic guidelines of the Croatian society are information literacy, lifelong education, giving equal opportunities to all age groups and to persons with disabilities, and they can be adequately fulfilled by the libraries which have highly qualified employees and well-stocked collections.
The exchange of good practices and establishing the good regional connections, together with the lifelong education of potential activists and advocates will provide better conditions for the future development of Croatian librarianship.