Programme

6 APril 2025, Sunday

 

Library Visits for early arrivals

 

12.00 - 18.00 Library visits to Ulbroka and Ogre library

 

April 2025, Monday

 

Internal Meetings (Pre-Conference)

(National Library of Latvia, Mūkusalas street 3, Riga)

09:00
Registration Desk Open (We have coffee for you!)
10:00 - 12:00
- EBLIDA Executive Committee Meeting & Photo Session
- NAPLE Board Meeting
- NAPLE e-book Working Group
[Conference Centre – underground level -1]
12:00 - 13:00
Lunch - in the library canteen Klīversala
(Lunch coupons will be provided at registration to internal meeting participants and council members who arrive early.)
13:00 - 14:30
EBLIDA Annual Council Meeting - Reserved for EBLIDA Members
[Events premises 11th Floor]
All attendees are required to collect a library visit card from the ground floor near the Client Centre. This card is necessary to access the library area, as it allows you to pass through the security gates and carry your bags with you.
14:30 - 15:00
Photo Session with Council Members
[Atrium - 1st Floor]
15:00 - 17:00
Library visit at the National Library of Latvia and exhibition “Rights to a Library” (in the framework of the 500th anniversary of first book in Latvian)
[Meeting point: Atrium - 1st Floor]
19:00 - 21:00
Council Dinner (For EBLIDA Council Members only)
[The Council Dinner is generously and fully sponsored by FëBLux]
Restaurant Neiburgs (Jauniela 25/ 29, Rīga) 

8 April 2025, Tuesday

EBLIDA Conference
Power and resilience: Books and reading in the age of AI

[Ziedonis Hall - Ground Floor]

8:30 – 9:00
Registration Desk Open (We have coffee for you!)
[9:00 – 11:15]
[Morning Session  – Moderated by Erna Winters, EBLIDA President]
9:00 – 9:45
Welcome

Signe Grūbe, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia
Inga Bērziņa, Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia
Dagnija Baltiņa, Director of the National Library of Latvia
Erna Winters, EBLIDA President
9:45 – 10:15
Keynote

Will AI replace libraries and librarians?
Kaspars Kauliņš (Tilde Business Development Director and AI language technology evangelist, Latvia)
10:15 – 10:45
Keynote

Publishing in the AI-era and collaboration with libraries
Jeppe Mørch (Saga Publishing, Denmark)
10:45 - 11:15
Coffee break / networking
[Conference Centre – underground level -1]
[11:15 - 16:00]
[Mid-Morning/Afternoon Session  – Moderated by Andrew Cranfield, EBLIDA Director]
11:15 – 12:15
New directions, shared futures: inside IFLA & EBLIDA’s new strategies
Both IFLA and EBLIDA have recently adopted new strategies for their respective organizations. In this interactive session we will discuss the thinking behind the two strategies, what they say about the library communities they serve and what challenges lie ahead.

Meet Erna Winters (EBLIDA President) and Kirsten Boelt (IFLA Governing Board) for a lively discussion moderated by Andrew Cranfield (EBLIDA Director)
12:15 – 12:30
WebJunction: powering strong libraries for vibrant communities
Andrew Harbison (Director, WebJunction, OCLC)
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch - in the library canteen Klīversala (buffet)
13:30 – 14:30
Thematic Parallel Sessions
[Conference Centre – underground level -1]

I. Advocating for libraries in today's political landscape: Challenges and opportunities for Library Associations

Building Inclusive Communities – One Library at a Time
Claudia Serbanuta (President, Communities of the Future Association, Romania)

Controversy and censorship in public library
Wendy Wauters (Collection manager, Antwerp Libraries, Belgium)

Moderator: Jessica Jacobs (EBLIDA Executive Committee Member, Flemish Association for Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres, VVBAD, Belgium)

II. The state of reading and reading promotion campaigns today

Sentobib.eu study: “Users’ perception of libraries – results from the largest user study ever"
Francis De Bonnaire (Sentobib, Belgium)

Reading promotion and functional literacy: Why a library should always be close
Valentina Stoeva (EURead Co-chair, Bulgaria)

Moderator: Zélia Parreira (EBLIDA Vice-President, Public Library of Évora / Interdisciplinary Centre for History, Culture and Societies, University of Evora) Portugal

III. On technology & collaborations

The transition of publishing and written culture in the digital age
Dr. Panagiotis Kapos (Vice President, Hellenic Foundation for Book and Culture, Greece)

A National Library, Language Models and resilience
Svein Arne Brygfjeld, (National Library of Norway, Norway)

Moderator: Helene Heger Voldner, EBLIDA Executive Committee Member, (Norwegian Library Association, Norway)

14:30 – 15:00
Coffee/tea/refreshments
[Conference Centre – underground level -1]
15:00 – 16:00
Lightning Talks
[Ziedonis Hall - Ground Floor]

Hear from 12 dynamic speakers as they explore the evolving role of libraries - from advocacy and AI to media literacy, societal challenges, and inclusion.

Setting the stage - Libraries in a changing world

1. The new role of libraries and librarians: The library as an institution supporting education, life-long learning and innovation in the 21st century
Judit Gerencsér (President, Association of Hungarian Librarians, Hungary)

2. Libraries & politics: How can we make policymakers listen
Holger Krimmer (Deutscher Bibliotheksverband e.V. (dbv), Germany)

The digital shift - AI and libraries

3. From media literacy to AI literacy: The evolving role of libraries
Ilona Žilienė (National Library of Lithuania, Lithuania)

4. Libraries & AI: Allies, not opponents
Tito Kliska (Zagreb City Libraries, Croatia)

5. The CatAI-Quest: Generating descriptive metadata using AI
Gwenny Vlaemynck (Cultuurconnect, Belgium)

6. AI in the book publishing market. BIP course at the University of Warsaw
Katarzyna Jarzyńska and Renata Rokicka (University of Warsaw, Poland)

Libraries & society - Addressing key challenges

7. Fake News: spot it before you spread it!
Márcia Castro (Biblioteca Municipal de Vizela, Portugal)

8. Shared Reading and AI
Mia Karvonen (President, Finland's Swedish Library Association, Finland) and Anneli-Haapaharju (Vice-President, Finland's Swedish Library Association, Finland)

9. What and how do people read today and how can we use these data?
Maija Treile (Head, Research and Interpretation Centre, National Library of Latvia, Latvia)

Libraries as agents of inclusion & resilience

10. Library Bridges: Fostering inclusion for people with a migrant background
Claire Helluin (Libraries without Borders France, and Project Coordinator of LiBri, representing a consortium of organizations (BSF France, BSF Italy, ACV, EBLIDA, KISC, FRSI))

11. Ukrainian Library Leadership in Time of Uncertainty and Challenges
Serbin Oleg and Oksana Bruy (Yaroslav Mudriy National Library of Ukraine, Ukraine)

12. LibrarIN. Value co-creation and social innovation for a new generation of European Libraries
Marieke Willems (Senior Research Associate and Project Manager, The Lisbon Council, Belgium)

16:00 – 17:00
Networking sessions & coffee
[Conference Centre – underground level -1]
17:00 – 17:30
Wrap-up & Conclusions
Moderated by Erna Winters, EBLIDA President
[Ziedonis Hall - Ground Floor]
19:30 - 22:00
Conference Dinner - Latvian Railway History Museum
(in front of the National library of Latvia) Riga, Uzvaras bulvāris 2A, LV-1048.

9 April 2025, Wednesday

Strategic Sessions and Library Visits

This session is open to all attendees! Everyone is welcome to join.

[Registration desk opens at 9:00 - 8th Floor]

All attendees are required to collect a library visit card from the ground floor near the Client Centre. This card is necessary to access the library area, as it allows you to pass through the security gates and carry your bags with you.

[Reading room - 8th Floor]

09:15 - 10:30
Strategic Events with NAPLE and OMC Project
Libraries on the European agenda; building bridges with advocacy and strategic opportunities

Ilona Kish (Director, Public Libraries 2030, Brussels, Belgium) Stuart Hamilton (Head of Libraries Development, Local Government Management Agency, Dublin, Ireland) Klaas Gommers (Netherlands Public Library Association, The Hague, Netherlands)
10:30 - 11:00
Coffee break
11:00 - 12:30
Strategic Events with NAPLE and OMC Project continues
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch - in the library canteen Klīversala
(the coupons will be distributed by registration)
13:30 - 15:00
Charting new paths: collaborative strategies for library capacity building with the European Library Associations Network project, ELAN
Zélia Parreira (EBLIDA Vice-President and Chair of the ELAN Steering Committee) and Inês M. Ferreira (EBLIDA Project Manager)
[Reading room - 8th Floor]
13:30 - 16:00
NAPLE General Assembly (for NAPLE Members only)
[Conference Centre underground level -1 Room A]
15:30 - 18:00
Library of the University of Latvia and campus visit (Optional)
[Meeting point at 15:15 Atrium - 1st Floor]

 

10 April 2025

 

Internal Meeting

09:30 - 12:30
EBLIDA Executive Committee Meeting
[Reading room - 8th Floor]
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