Library as meeting place (ideas of participatory cultural policy) - PDF document

Andrea Zlatar Violi ć Professor at the Department of Comparative Literature Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Zagreb Library as meeting place (ideas of participatory cultural policy) Ladies and gentlemen, It is an honor and privilege to address you at the beginning of this conference on the role of libraries in city spaces, interpersonal communication and free access to information, especially access to cultural and scientific heritage. Gradual accumulation of all social functions in the cities has already reached its boiling point in the period of Modernism: during that condensed era the cities have become art production centers. According to Manuel Castells’s study on global communication changes it is precisely the contemporary city that has become an example of compressing time and space into new relationships of network society which abolish traditionally inherited relationships of continuity and succession. I would like to begin with a portray of Zagreb as a cultural center, as it is seen by the citizens and the visitors. Nowadays if we observe Zagreb’s cultural map we recognize some fundamental fixed places which have been present for over a century – places like the National Theatre, the Academy of Science and Art, cultural institutions such as museums, music halls, public libraries. On the Zagreb’s electronic map created a couple of years ago by multimedia artist Dalibor Martinis the city is represented through the net of parallel lines. Martinis founded his description on an old Zagreb tram map with still visible lines (number 11, number 2, number 14). Each of the lines offers one possibility to recognize Zagreb. The first line takes us through cultural heritage, the second through cultural monuments, the third through theatres. To that list we should add the widespread net of public libraries united in the institutional framework of Zagreb City Libraries. Their distinguishing quality is, I recon, their ability to represent real places and at the same time historical heritage and contemporary book culture in its virtual i.e. digital 1

form. The attractiveness of the city lies in its complete diversity: from places marked with individual memories to places of collective memories to dark spots of unknown neighborhoods and streets both horrifying and alluring. The same goes for the libraries: for many library customers library is the first point of contact with the cultural product whether it is a picture-book, a small exhibition, a recital or a short performance. In that sense the importance of city libraries lies in their ability to form a strong net over the city map and enable citizens in their local communities to establish contact with the city as a whole. Just like in the commonly used saying if you put your finger into the sea you are connected to the whole world. The word finger is not randomly selected but deliberately chosen in the context of technological innovations and awareness of digital era: when you press a button on your keyboard you enter the world. And the keyboard is not necessarily – as it is often shown in commercials – at the top of a mountain but rather in the districts of large cities where cultural products are rarely or hardly available. Zagreb has a population of over 800.000 people. More than a hundred public cultural institutions (state-owned or city-owned) and a couple of thousand independent and amateur cultural and artistic associations exist in the city. Considering these facts the key question is which model could be applied to the area of cultural policy in the capital of Croatia. The other equally important question is to what extent are the protagonists of the cultural scene aware of their position and if they are ready to participate in transforming the existing system of cultural production. City libraries build a net of public spaces and because of that spatial expansion they differ widely form other protagonists on the cultural scene. Extended library net directly affects the availability of information and cultural contents the citizens have at their disposal and therefore has a stronger impact on the citizens than a number of theatres or museums. In early 2002 we took part in Participatory Cultural Policy Project incited by the grant rewarded by European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam. The leading idea of the project was the possibility of creating participatory cultural policy – a model of forging a cultural policy based on participation of all protagonists in the area of cultural activity (cultural administration, institutions, independent culture, media as a go-between, citizens) with the aim of establishing a dialogue or more precisely a discussion on Zagreb’s cultural policy. In that sense I would like to elaborate on the role of library as a specific public space which develops its communication potentials on the premises of citizens’ participation in forming cultural and informational space. Unlike classic cultural institutions whose purpose is providing a service (musical or theatrical performance, exhibition, cinema show) libraries are public institutions which provide traditional services such as lending books or using the reading room but they also enable citizens to take part in a wide range of activities (panel discussions, workshops etc.). The specific quality and potential of library spaces is reflected in their ability to adapt to different target groups (children, young adults, senior citizens, customers with special needs, language-minority customers). Another very important quality the libraries possess on the national level and on the local level is their spatial expansiveness on the cultural map. 2

The City Library of Zagreb and the Božidar Adžija Library constitute, considering their collections and scopes as public and scientific libraries, the core of Zagreb City Libraries network. Besides these two main libraries there are 12 branch libraries with a net of 26 smaller branches on 40 locations. There is also Bookmobile Service provided by two bookmobiles that stand on 74 stations in the City of Zagreb and in the County. The City Library of Zagreb functions as the central library for all public and school libraries in the City of Zagreb, Zagreb County and Krapina-Zagorje County, and, at the same time, is one of the greatest cultural institutions in the city. By collecting, processing and depositing various materials the Library provides more than 2 million books, AV collection and wide choice of music and electronic publications. According to Library vision statement the aim of the Library is to provide free access to all information, wide range of knowledge, world and national cultural heritage and various forms of pastime activities which would be basis for lifelong learning, independent thinking and cultural development of individuals and social groups. “ 1 Zagreb City Libraries have a professionally organized information service available on-line as well. Libraries organize book launches, numerous panel discussions and other programmes for customers of all ages. The intersectional links between culture, information technologies and education are typical of libraries. The intersectional interrelatedness is basis for producing new creative energy: information industries, new technologies and creative industries are already recognized as champions of new creative class which is considered to be the key step in the development of contemporary European societies. Creative industries, the result of combining artistic production with cultural industries, serve as a generator for the development of contemporary societies as a whole – and creativity is used as its propellant. A long history between institutions and creativity bears witness to the constant need for change since creative energy constantly transforms the existing frames. The traditional service user, the client, has also been transformed. The user has become a citizen and a consumer at the same time and is trying to fulfill his/her basic rights in the cultural domain – these rights include the freedom of choice in the public sphere and the comfort or the principle of fulfilling one’s needs in the private sphere. As a result the borders between traditionally divided cultural and private life are getting less visible: this is especially notable in new forms of (Hartley, 31) cultural consumption in the area of fashion, travelling, design and lifestyles. Eventually, there is education as a vitally important element of creative industries. University centers are not only desirable destinations but key points in educating new generations of creative individuals – creative consumers whose habits reflect the fact that borders between the public and the private, between work and leisure are not fixed as we used to believe. Cultural production and consumption are bridging the gap. The pivotal idea of our age is the result of connecting information and creation. Libraries could profit from the advancement of new technologies (digital heritage and archiving, various search engines, availability from different places, connectedness – all the benefits that you as trained librarians and experts are more familiar with than I am), but creativity and communication are the prerequisite and not the consequence of the advancement. The paradigm of new type of public space 1 http://www.kgz.hr/info/onama.asp 3