Moldova marks World Book Day, Librarian's Day

Chisinau, 23 April /MOLDPRES/ – The National Library (BNM), jointly with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (MECC), today marked the World Day of the Book and Copyright and Librarian Day. It was organised a press briefing on it, where it was made a retrospective of bibliographic year 2017.

The event was attended by State Secretary for Culture, Andrei Chistol, who conveyed a congratulatory message to all librarians in Moldova on their professional day. "Being a librarian means knowledge, perseverance, culture, patience, kindness, critical spirit, creativity, intellectual curiosity and rigour. The library professional is not a simple employee who spreads the book or the information in printed form, he is a cultural and educational agent, he is cultured at his place of work, he guides us on road of book and reading," said the official.

Within it, Secretary of State gave a message of thanks to all librarians for entire activity, noting that the 21st century library must become an attractive space for public, increase its visibility, and adopt a practical, receptive attitude to the new and flexible things.

"The public libraries in Moldova have become dynamic community centres, providing users with a variety of modern services and opportunities to engage in interactive activities by providing access to advanced technologies and support from trained librarians. We are glad that today we can talk about 1,300 modern library services, over eight million USD dollars invested in equipment, 1,070 refurbished libraries and 13 robotics clubs, which gives communities an improved platform for development and exchange experience," said Andrei Chistol.

The BNM Director, Elena Pintilei, pointed out achievements of BNM in 2017 regarding provision of modern services for users, including: organising and carrying out 220 cultural and scientific activities, editing 31 publications, signing of five cooperation agreements, 61 travels in territory, opening of Continuous Professional Training Centre and Socio – Cultural Marketing and Communication Service. "Year 2017 was an anniversary year for us – BNM marked the 185th anniversary," added Elena Pintilei.

During the event, Secretary of State Andrei Chistol awarded Honorary Diplomas of MECC to some collaborators of BNM for outstanding results in activity. The diplomas received: Elena Pintilei, Aliona Tostogan, Mariana Cocieru and Lilia Rosioru.

On 20 July 2017, the Parliament of Moldova adopted the Law on Libraries, aiming to strengthen the role of library in modern society by developing it as a public service as to ensure access to reading and develop interest in information, learning, research, cultural activities, as well as by increasing the capacity of library to involve in knowledge transfer and in free formation of opinions.

The Librarian's Day has been celebrated on 23 April in Moldova, commencing 2001.

(Reporter N. Roibu, editor A. Raileanu)