Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna w Krakowie

description of organisation

The Regional Public Library in Krakow is a self-government cultural institution employing over 180 people, financed by the Malopolska Region. We are visited by more than 500,000 people every year.
The library is and wants to be open to the world and people, providing access to knowledge, culture and information with particular emphasis on the heritage of the region. It is a place to meet, strengthen social ties, shape civil society and freely exchange thoughts and opinions.

The institution's mission is to provide high quality library services - meeting the changing informational, educational and cultural needs of its users - while maintaining social sensitivity and the principles of equality, fostering cultural diversity and social participation, and a love of reading.
Among nearly half a million books and resources located in 16 thematic lending libraries and reading rooms, readers will find not only fiction and magazines, but also films, vinyl records, CD or DVD, audio books, books in Braille, social documents, sheet music, maps, board and video games. They can also borrow e-book readers and get access to electronic publications (on site and online). The library has a collection of books in foreign languages, publications for learning and improving knowledge of foreign languages as well as Polish language for foreigners.

The library facilitates the development of reading passions and provides professional software for processing photographs, music and films, graphic tablets and digital pianos. Readers have 600 reading places and 90 computer stations at their disposal.
The library means more than just books: more than 100 exhibitions are held every year; more than 10 workshops, meetings and lessons on various topics (aimed at the youngest readers, young people and seniors) take place every day. The library also cooperates with many organisations on various levels.
The Regional Public Library in Krakow is situated in the very centre of the city, at 1 Rajska Street, in a location well connected to all parts of the city.
The building and its surrounding is entered in the register of monuments of the City of Krakow as a cultural asset: former Barracks of Francis Joseph I in Krakow. The building is adapted to the needs of the disabled.

Staff
Approximately 180 people work at the Regional Public Library in Krakow. 78% are women and 22% are men, 81% of employees have higher education. The staff is supported in its activities by interns, trainees and volunteers from Poland and abroad (about 20-40 people per year) + 4 ESC volunteers per year (since 2012).

The public library is a place for everyone - an egalitarian, non-exclusive space. What is important - using its resources is free of charge. It is a neutral space for leisure activities, which strengthens the sense of belonging to the environment and social bonding, and is important for the local environment. It fulfils, in individual and group dimensions, the following needs: physical, consumable, social, cultural and emotional. The Regional Public Library in Krakow supports the community in the processes of education and spending leisure time of children and youth, lifelong learning and self-education, normalisation of living environment for people with disabilities, multicultural and intergenerational integration, cultural animation of the local environment shaping and protecting of regional identity, public debate on issues affecting the local community.

Library staff are strongly attached to their communities and design activities based on their needs, which are regularly researched (surveys, interviews, conversations, analysis of questions and demands coming to the library through various communication channels). The specific character of the library profession, as well as the changing needs and growing demands of users determine the need for constant learning and acquiring new skills. The Regional Public Library in Krakow analyses statistical data, conducts research and evaluates its activities on an ongoing basis. Suggestions and proposals made by users are - as far as possible - implemented in order to improve the offer and meet their expectations. National and European projects on culture in its broadest sense are carried out.

Meetings run by volunteers for different age groups and levels of experience undoubtedly enrich the library's offer and contribute to strengthening social ties, shaping civil society and free exchange of ideas and opinions, which we care so much about. The groups are 10-15 people and meet weekly for 4 months, allowing people to get to know each other and build relationships. For lectures/presentations there can be up to 100 participants. Although the library works with volunteers from different countries, the implementation of a relatively long project like the ESC guarantees continuity and regularity of activities and a wide range of encounters with culture and languages, which is not possible with regular volunteer work.

Volunteering project