On October 24, 2012 Novateca announced the regional public libraries selected to take part in the program’s pilot network of Moldovan libraries, as well as the location of six regional training centers that will enable librarians to offer citizens free internet access, work more closely with their communities, and offer new services.

The announcement was made during a press conference organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the latest supporter of library modernization and innovation in Moldova - the largest telecommunications operator in Moldova, Moldtelecom.

“We are very excited to launch this network today! On behalf of the IREX Novateca program, I want to congratulate all these raions, who were selected for the pilot network of more than sixty libraries that will receive equipment and extensive training over the next year. We hope that working with this diverse network of participating raions and libraries will help us learn about the current library system in Moldova and will enable us to propose a larger, national grant to our funder that would offer support to many hundreds of libraries throughout the country” mentioned Evan Tracz, director of Novateca.

The pilot network of Moldovan libraries will include Regional Training Centers in raion public libraries in Soroca, Ungheni, Orhei, Leova, Ceadîr-Lunga, Căușeni and Public Libraries Service Hubs in Drochia, Telenești, Călărași, Hîncești, Cahul and Taraclia. Five to eight village libraries within each selected raion will subsequently be chosen to also participate and will be announced by the end of the year, bringing the total number of libraries in the Novateca pilot network to around 60.

Present at the event the Minister of Culture, Mr. Boris Focșa said: This program will play a big role in the modernization of the Moldovan libraries. We need better libraries in every community. We need community centers in every village. Once our libraries will be modernized and will provide more services, they will be more frequented by the population.”

Thirty-five regional libraries and 284 village libraries applied for inclusion in the pilot network, each demonstrating commitments from local administrations eager to bring change to libraries and communities. The selection process was difficult, given all of the excellent applications and interest. The regions and training centers were selected with the generous assistance of an independent selection committee composed of local and international experts, stakeholders and project leaders, following verification visits to applicant libraries.

Calarasi raion public library director Galina Gafita whose library was selected for the pilot network mentioned: “A library should not offer only books. The library must become a center of culture, knowledge and information. We are propud to be selected for the pilot network and will do our best to transform our library according to our beneficiaries’ needs“.

After the completion of the selection process in November, Novateca will begin providing training courses for the Regional Training Center staff as well as delivering computer and networking equipment. By the end of 2013, participating Moldovan public libraries will be equipped with nearly 300 computers, as well as software and peripheral equipment, enabling the libraries to offer a full range of IT services to community members. By the completion of the pilot phase, more than 350,000 Moldovans will have gained free public access to the internet.

To better support the modernization of public libraries in the country, Novateca developed a partnership with the national telecommunications operator Moldtelecom. This is the first partnership agreement of its kind in Moldova, and represents a major step toward enabling libraries to diminish the technological gap they face by providing them with a reduced internet subscription rate. It also demonstrates Moldtelecom’s support for library development and public access to information, and ensures that all libraries in Moldova will be able to take advantage of high-quality internet services at a special low price.

The representatives of all selected raions will be invited to an orientation conference at the end of November to familiarize them with the program philosophy, working methodologies, aspirations and objectives that we will achieve together.

Could not load widget with the id 14.