250 people, representatives of several dozen libraries all over Poland, including many from Kraków and Małopolska region but also from abroad, participated in an international conference "Library at a Turning Point" on Friday 19 January. The event was organised in the ICE Kraków Convention Centre by Kraków Library together with Kraków Municipality.
The conference provided an opportunity to exchange experience and integrate librarians. The meeting was divided into three panels: the first one, Tradition and challenges of modern times, was devoted to the part libraries play at the time of digitalisation, while serving its traditional purposes. In the second panel, Reader-friendly library, speakers discussed readers' needs and expectations. The last panel, Culture-nurturing role of libraries. Standards vs. expectations, was devoted to the cultural and educational role of libraries, their publishing activity and role in promoting culture of their cities and regions as well as international cooperation.
The current situation of Polish libraries and their functioning was presented by representatives of the National Library, Jagiellonian Library, Regional Public Library in Kraków and Regional Pedagogical Library, whereas librarians and officals from Bratislava, Edinburgh, Kyiv, Lviv, Nuremberg, Olomouc, Opatija, Strasbourg and Vilnius provided inspiring examples of library activity in their cities.