In our ‘Professionals in Focus’ series, we speak to our Councillors about their roles, working lives and plans for their time on the Members Council. This month Dafydd Tudur, Head of Access and Public Programmes at The National Library of Wales, discusses the importance of understanding users, change at the Library and getting involved in Europeana initiatives.
Running from September 2017-February 2019, the Rise of Literacy in Europe Generic Service project explored the use of written text in European culture from the 6th to the 20th century to tell the story of literacy in Europe. To celebrate the project’s successful completion, Renata Šolar from the National and University Library of Slovenia - which coordinated the project - discusses its achievements and why it was so important for her institution to be involved.
We spoke to Dr Anette Hagan, Rare Books Curator (for early printed collections to 1700) from the National Library of Scotland about what makes libraries still relevant in a contemporary society, their value for the community, and why literacy is still important today.
Libraries have been cultural hubs for centuries, but with the shift toward digital publishing, the conversation has shifted to their relevance, or assertions of their waning relevance, in a digital age. However, according to Elen Haf Jones from the National Library of Wales, while the library has evolved, it holds its place as a ‘valued cultural institution that serves as the memory of a nation’.
Rise of Literacy project explored the history of the written text in Europe and aimed to showcase related cultural treasures on the Europeana collections website.
