Article published on the website oranoua.ro
On Thursday 15 September, during the Strada de C’Arte Festival, a debate was held on the launch of a Day of Libraries in Education, moderated by Prof. Dr Mireille Rădoi, Director General of the Central University Library (B.C.U.) “Carol I” and Secretary of the National Library Commission. The discussions were attended by conf. PhD Valentin Șerdan-OrgaDirector General of the B.C.U. “Lucian Blaga” in Cluj-Napoca; conf. PhD Ioan Milică, Director General of B.C.U. “Mihai Eminescu” Iasi; Doina Banciu, prof. univ. dr. eng. and vice-president of the Academy of Romanian Scientists (AOSR); Nicoleta Pistol, director of the library of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest. Also participating online were Prof. Agnes Erich, President of the National Library Commission and Director of the “I.H. Rădulescu” County Library in Targoviste; Dragoș Neagu, Director of the Braila County Library and member of the National Library Commission.
In her opening speech, Mireille Rădoi, in the context of the proposal to set up a day dedicated to libraries in education, stressed the idea that this type of libraries must come out of the insularity of their efforts and coordinate, especially as there are no resources to solve problems on their own.
Compared to public libraries, university and school libraries have a different specificity and profile and therefore the establishment of such a day was agreed by all participants and it was suggested that it could be marked after the start of the academic year to organise events in all schools, colleges and universities in the country. Even if the funds allocated are not sufficient to reach the level of university libraries in Western Europe, the USA or Japan, the joint projects that these libraries have set out to initiate are of real importance, and are also a way of sometimes compensating for financial shortfalls. The establishment of an office at the Ministry of Education to deal exclusively with the problems of university libraries has emerged as an urgent necessity. By establishing a Day of Libraries in Education, an alliance will be built to raise some of the fundamental issues of these libraries with decision-makers. It was also brought up that the university librarian needs a certain training, he should not only be a librarian, especially since his future mission will be to support the existence of cultural centres in these institutions.
Last but not least, it was stressed that there is a need for qualified staff with a certain intellectual and social profile, and therefore for funds for training, while at the same time keeping pace with new technologies.
“Following the exploratory discussion on the establishment of a librarians’ day in the education system, we will submit a material to the Ministry to support this initiative. Libraries can play an important role at all stages of the educational process: for students, school and high school libraries, which have the largest catchment area in the territory and are the backbone of the educational library system, together with university libraries, which provide both support for documentation and scientific databases, as well as friendly spaces for study and cultural events, absolutely necessary for those in higher education,” said Mireille Rădoi, in conclusion.