Yesterday, everyone who believed that all the Moldovan public libraries are cold, dark spaces with old furniture and outdated books were proven wrong. Yesterday, one of the most prominent public libraries in the country - the Telenesti Public Library - opened its doors to the public, during a Library Open Day event, to showcase its modern services and approach, garnered through support of the Novateca program and other partners.
In a warm, colorful and friendly space the library guests: US Ambassador James D. Pettit, Deputy Minister of Culture Igor Sarov, Vice President of the Telenesti Raion Council Ecaterina Furculita, Novateca Program Director Evan Tracz, Director of IREX Europe Michael de Villiers, representatives of USAID, Peace Corps, and the Swedish Embassy had the opportunity to tour the library and witness library activities.
At the library, the guests attended English language and yoga sessions, organized by Peace Corps volunteers Ellen Swan and Lynn Frances, as well as listened to a theatre performance conducted by a group of kindergarten children who come regularly to the library.
Strolling through the library hall, the Ambassador and guests saw a gallery of photos of the library’s most fruitful projects organized over the years with the support of various national and international partners. They listened to the songs of a local pensioner club who enjoy weekly activities at the library Also, they watched a group of adolescents who were using Novateca installed library computers to develop short videos about their community.
"It is a real pleasure for me to attend this informative tour of all services provided by the library in Telenesti and the most important projects in which it is engaged. After visiting the library, I clearly understand that the Telenesti Raion library is not just a building which houses books and computers, but rather a public center that inspires the development of its users and supports the development of the whole community of Telenesti," mentioned the US Ambassador, James D. Pettit.
The open day also included a festive moment - the inauguration of the Library’s media corner. The corner, created recently at the public library through the “Strengthening Independent Media and Media Literacy in Moldova” project was implemented by IREX Europe. This new feature will give its visitors continuous information about the key elements of media literacy, as it contains printed and online resources about national and international press, which interested visitors can access at any time.
The Vice Minister of Culture, Igor Șarov said that he is extremely impressed by the achievements of Telenesti Raion Public Library, which largely is due to the Library Director, Maria Furdui, her team, the local government, and external donors.
Lastly, at the closing of the event, sixteen librarians received certificates of excellence for their participation and successful completion of the media literacy sessions, which were organized at the library. Similarly, the library awarded diplomas to the supportive community partners, which contributed to the diversification of library services.
The Telenesti Public Library is a leader in the Novateca Network of public libraries (more than 600 libraries participate currently) and has been part of the program since 2012. In 2014, the library became a Raion Training Center—offering training in IT and other services to surrounding village librarians, as well as the public—and set up an independent department to ensure professional development of 50 Telenesti Raion and village librarians. Furthermore, in 2016, the library applied and was selected to become one of the six Novateca regional centers for librarian professional excellence.
The library received 10 new computers and peripheral devices to further build capacity from Novateca. In addition, 26 village libraries in the raion were accepted into the program thus, receiving computers peripheral equipment, and training for librarians. The total amount of Novateca’s investment in the library is over $100,000 in equipment alone.
The Strengthening Independent Media and Media Literacy program, administered by IREX Europe in partnership with Novateca/IREX Moldova, works with libraries to create centers for local populations to support the promotion of improved media literacy. In the last 18 months, more than 300 people have attended media literacy trainings implemented by trained librarians, and by the end of the year Moldovan citizens will be able to use media corners in at least 10 public libraries around the country.