Summing-up event on marking progress of Novateca National Programme held in Moldovan capital

Chisinau, 27 November /MOLDPRES/ - A summing-up event on marking the progress of the Novateca National Programme was held at the Moldexpo National Exhibitions Centre today.  

The action brought together more than 300 beneficiaries and partners of the programme, who highlighted the results of its implementation and the impact got due to the process of modernization of public libraries, giving all participants possibility to interact, communicate and explore new opportunities for developing libraries.

Workshops and parallel sessions on four topic-related fields (leaderism, impact, professional development and Information Technologies and innovation) took place here as well. During the events, beneficiaries unveiled their progress recorded within the aforementioned project.  

In his speech, the director of the Novateca programme, Evan Tracz, said that, starting from 2011, IREX had been implementing the Novateca programme in Moldova, financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Education, Culture and Research Ministry. In 2012, the Culture, Information Technologies and Social Protection Ministries established a partnership with the Novateca programme, in order to modernize and transform the public libraries of Moldova into community centres, focused on meeting the needs of learning, leisure and communication of the institution’s members.  

According to Evan Tracz, in the last six years, 1,082 public libraries from all Moldovan districts and municipalities have joined the Novateca network, being equipped with over 4,000 computers and 400 tablets and providing free access to Internet to more than one million citizens. Also, over 1,600 librarians have been trained in the use of information technologies, advocacy and promotion, who provide more than 1,380 modern services of library in the fields of digital inclusion, financial education, foreign languages, programming and coding, employment, promotion of a sound lifestyle, public electronic services, media education and empowering women.   

Attending the event, General State Secretary at the Education, Culture and Research Ministry Igor Sarov highly appreciated the results of the Novateca Programme, stressing that it was one of the most successful projects implemented in Moldova. According to the official, the law on libraries was worked out with the help of the aforementioned programme, described by European experts as one of the best in Europe.      

For his part, Head of the USAID Mission in Moldova Karen Hilliard said that librarians had become leaders of the community thanks to the Novateca programme.

Novateca is a programme implemented by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) in Moldova, with the financial support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in cooperation with USAID and the Education, Culture and Research Ministry, the goal of which is to facilitate the transformation of libraries from Moldova into rousing community institutions. Citizens enjoy free access to modern technologies and innovating services of library, specific to the new information needs, with the urge of trained librarians and with the support of community partners.