One of the two winners of the #DigitalBiblio Photo Challenge for Erasmus Days 2020 is the Jēkabpils City Library from Latvia.
The idea of Jēkabpils City Library was to expand the range of users of the library by providing books at home using a modern means of movement – electric scooter. Library users make a book reservation via electronic catalogue or by telephone and the librarian delivers it to the addressee as soon as possible. This service would be particularly convenient for seniors, people with restrictions to be socially active, including those with reduced mobility, as well as those who are in self-isolation or quarantine. Such a service would be economical and environmentally friendly.
One of the hoverboards provided by the Biblio project is on its way to Jēkabpils.
Jēkabpils is a city in southeastern Latvia roughly halfway between Riga and Daugavpils and spanning the Daugava River. It is one of the nine cities of republican importance of Latvia. It is the eighth largest city in Latvia with a population of c22,000 people (wiki).
The history of the Jēkabpils City Library dates back to 1921, when the Jēkabmiesta Educational Foundation was established. The library of the Foundation was established a few months later. In the 1930s, the Library of the Educational Foundation was the only public and free library in Jēkabpils. Having undergone several reorganizations and transformations, since 1962 the library has acquired the title of nowadays – Jēkabpils City Library.
Currently the library is located in two buildings – in the Old Town Square 3 there are the Department of Collection Development and the User Services Department, and in the Pasta Street 39 – Children’s Literature Department. The library has 14 employees.
A very topical issue for the library at the moment is a new and library-friendly building, where all the library services can be conveniently provided in one place for its users, which is 14.21% of all Jēkabpils residents.
The library’s collection consists of 60,566 different types of documents. There is a wide collection of local heritage materials and various services – use of computers and internet access, electronic information resources, inquiries and advice on both traditional and e-resource use, user training, as well as copying, scanning and printing. The Children’s Literature Department is actively working on the promotion of reading skills.
The library regularly organizes events for residents of Jēkabpils – meetings with writers, poets and local researchers, exhibitions, competitions, reading promotion activities, creative workshops and others.
Since 2014 Jēkabpils City Libraries have been part of the UNESCO Latvian National Commission network “Story Libraries“.
Currently, in cooperation with colleagues from Latvia and Lithuania, the library is implementing the project “Creation of a family-friendly library as a contribution to socio-economic development in Ludza county, Rokiški district and Jēkabpils city“, which is funded by Interreg V-A Latvian-Lithuanian cross-border cooperation program 2014-2020.
More information about the activities of Jēkabpils City Library can be found by following the library profiles on Facebook and Instagram and on the library’s website www.jpb.lv.
By KISC
Featured image by Aliis Sinisalu on Unsplash;
images in the post provided by Jēkabpils City Library
