It is Wednesday, and you know what? It is time for our weekly interview!
In the next following weeks, we will get to know other trainees from all around Europe, make sure to follow us! #DigitalBiblio
Trainee from Vecpiebalga Library – Dzidra Ješkina
- Why did you decide to take part in the BIBLIO course?
Answer: From time to time a human need new challenge. The motivation to apply for the BIBLIO Specialization course was the desire to up-skilling and to share the acquired knowledge with colleagues and library users.
- What change do you want to make in your library?
Answer: I intend to develop a marketing strategy, improve the library`s public image and create a unified visual identity for social accounts, thus creating a positive image of the library`s work and environment in the library. The idea of my project is closely related to the need for improvement and more modern communication tools that directly help to advertise the library and the library services. I really hope that because of my project, the library will become more visible, information dissemination will be improved, as well as a dialogue between the library and its users will improve. As a result, the communication between the library and the users will acquire a new quality – it will be more flexible, following the changes and promptly reacting to them.
- Tell us more about the work-based learning – how does it work, what do you expect from it, how do you work with your mentor?
Answer: It is a new learning experience that forces a rethinking of the usual learning process. At first, it was not easy to get into the rhythm when there is a lesson and a knowledge test with a practical task every week. The positive thing is that project-based learning, or implementing your own project, refreshes everyday life and provides new skills and knowledge. It is also an opportunity to look more broadly at the librarian`s work and responsibilities. I have a very good cooperation with mentor. Krista Annija Holtere from Central Library of Cēsis is very professional as a mentor. She herself is active in the field of public relations and knows the marketing strategy of social networks well. We meet both face-to-face and remotely using various communication tools such as WhatsApp and MS Teams. The mentor with her advice and encouragement helps me to clarify and find out unclear questions and move towards to the goal of the project.
- What is, in your view, the future role of libraries?
Answer: Henry Ward Beecher has said that a library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life. I have added this statement to my library`s Facebook profile information because it is very simply and, at the same time, very accurately describes the essence of a 21st century library. In my opinion, the library will always have an educational, cultural, social or community gathering place and information acquisition function. I think that role of information acquisition will increase in the future. This is related to the possibilities of information technologies, digitization process and the need for spaces and specialists who also help to navigate through possibilities of technologies. If public libraries will be able to respond to changes in society, provide high-quality services to users of different groups of society, libraries will be able to maintain their importance and society`s need for them.
- If you have to explain to people in one sentence why they should come to the library and what they will find there, what would you say?
Answer: The library is a multifunctional center where everyone can get information, new knowledge, skill, and positive impressions, as well as socialize, and the added value of all this is a knowledgeable and professional librarian.
