Library as meeting place (ideas of participatory cultural policy) - - PDF document

1 Andrea Zlatar Violić Professor at the Department of Comparative Literature Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences University of Zagreb

Library as meeting place

(ideas of participatory cultural policy)

Ladies and gentlemen, It is an honor and privilege to address you at the beginning of this conference on the role

• f libraries in city spaces, interpersonal communication and free access to information,

especially access to cultural and scientific heritage. Gradual accumulation of all social functions in the cities has already reached its boiling point in the period of Modernism: during that condensed era the cities have become art production centers. According to Manuel Castells’s study on global communication changes it is precisely the contemporary city that has become an example of compressing time and space into new relationships of network society which abolish traditionally inherited relationships of continuity and succession. I would like to begin with a portray of Zagreb as a cultural center, as it is seen by the citizens and the visitors. Nowadays if we observe Zagreb’s cultural map we recognize some fundamental fixed places which have been present for over a century – places like the National Theatre, the Academy of Science and Art, cultural institutions such as museums, music halls, public libraries. On the Zagreb’s electronic map created a couple

• f years ago by multimedia artist Dalibor Martinis the city is represented through the net
• f parallel lines. Martinis founded his description on an old Zagreb tram map with still

visible lines (number 11, number 2, number 14). Each of the lines offers one possibility to recognize Zagreb. The first line takes us through cultural heritage, the second through cultural monuments, the third through theatres. To that list we should add the widespread net of public libraries united in the institutional framework of Zagreb City Libraries. Their distinguishing quality is, I recon, their ability to represent real places and at the same time historical heritage and contemporary book culture in its virtual i.e. digital

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• form. The attractiveness of the city lies in its complete diversity: from places marked

with individual memories to places of collective memories to dark spots of unknown neighborhoods and streets both horrifying and alluring. The same goes for the libraries: for many library customers library is the first point of contact with the cultural product whether it is a picture-book, a small exhibition, a recital or a short performance. In that sense the importance of city libraries lies in their ability to form a strong net over the city map and enable citizens in their local communities to establish contact with the city as a

• whole. Just like in the commonly used saying if you put your finger into the sea you are

connected to the whole world. The word finger is not randomly selected but deliberately chosen in the context of technological innovations and awareness of digital era: when you press a button on your keyboard you enter the world. And the keyboard is not necessarily – as it is often shown in commercials – at the top of a mountain but rather in the districts

• f large cities where cultural products are rarely or hardly available.

Zagreb has a population of over 800.000 people. More than a hundred public cultural institutions (state-owned or city-owned) and a couple of thousand independent and amateur cultural and artistic associations exist in the city. Considering these facts the key question is which model could be applied to the area of cultural policy in the capital of

• Croatia. The other equally important question is to what extent are the protagonists of the

cultural scene aware of their position and if they are ready to participate in transforming the existing system of cultural production. City libraries build a net of public spaces and because of that spatial expansion they differ widely form other protagonists on the cultural scene. Extended library net directly affects the availability of information and cultural contents the citizens have at their disposal and therefore has a stronger impact on the citizens than a number of theatres or museums. In early 2002 we took part in Participatory Cultural Policy Project incited by the grant rewarded by European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam. The leading idea of the project was the possibility of creating participatory cultural policy – a model of forging a cultural policy based on participation of all protagonists in the area of cultural activity (cultural administration, institutions, independent culture, media as a go-between, citizens) with the aim of establishing a dialogue or more precisely a discussion on Zagreb’s cultural policy. In that sense I would like to elaborate on the role of library as a specific public space which develops its communication potentials on the premises of citizens’ participation in forming cultural and informational space. Unlike classic cultural institutions whose purpose is providing a service (musical or theatrical performance, exhibition, cinema show) libraries are public institutions which provide traditional services such as lending books or using the reading room but they also enable citizens to take part in a wide range

• f activities (panel discussions, workshops etc.). The specific quality and potential of

library spaces is reflected in their ability to adapt to different target groups (children, young adults, senior citizens, customers with special needs, language-minority customers). Another very important quality the libraries possess on the national level and

• n the local level is their spatial expansiveness on the cultural map.

3 The City Library of Zagreb and the Božidar Adžija Library constitute, considering their collections and scopes as public and scientific libraries, the core of Zagreb City Libraries

• network. Besides these two main libraries there are 12 branch libraries with a net of 26

smaller branches on 40 locations. There is also Bookmobile Service provided by two bookmobiles that stand on 74 stations in the City of Zagreb and in the County. The City Library of Zagreb functions as the central library for all public and school libraries in the City of Zagreb, Zagreb County and Krapina-Zagorje County, and, at the same time, is one of the greatest cultural institutions in the city. By collecting, processing and depositing various materials the Library provides more than 2 million books, AV collection and wide choice of music and electronic publications. According to Library vision statement the aim of the Library is to provide free access to all information, wide range of knowledge, world and national cultural heritage and various forms of pastime activities which would be basis for lifelong learning, independent thinking and cultural development of individuals and social groups.“1 Zagreb City Libraries have a professionally organized information service available on-line as well. Libraries organize book launches, numerous panel discussions and other programmes for customers of all ages. The intersectional links between culture, information technologies and education are typical of libraries. The intersectional interrelatedness is basis for producing new creative energy: information industries, new technologies and creative industries are already recognized as champions of new creative class which is considered to be the key step in the development of contemporary European societies. Creative industries, the result of combining artistic production with cultural industries, serve as a generator for the development of contemporary societies as a whole – and creativity is used as its

• propellant. A long history between institutions and creativity bears witness to the

constant need for change since creative energy constantly transforms the existing frames. The traditional service user, the client, has also been transformed. The user has become a citizen and a consumer at the same time and is trying to fulfill his/her basic rights in the cultural domain – these rights include the freedom of choice in the public sphere and the comfort or the principle of fulfilling one’s needs in the private sphere. As a result the borders between traditionally divided cultural and private life are getting less visible: this is especially notable in new forms of (Hartley, 31) cultural consumption in the area of fashion, travelling, design and lifestyles. Eventually, there is education as a vitally important element of creative industries. University centers are not only desirable destinations but key points in educating new generations of creative individuals – creative consumers whose habits reflect the fact that borders between the public and the private, between work and leisure are not fixed as we used to believe. Cultural production and consumption are bridging the gap. The pivotal idea of our age is the result of connecting information and creation. Libraries could profit from the advancement of new technologies (digital heritage and archiving, various search engines, availability from different places, connectedness – all the benefits that you as trained librarians and experts are more familiar with than I am), but creativity and communication are the prerequisite and not the consequence of the advancement. The paradigm of new type of public space

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http://www.kgz.hr/info/onama.asp

4 could be the World Wide Web, although it is per se nonexistent and lives only through its participants and their communicational, informational and creative values. Creating or rather recreating public spaces is one of the main goals of participatory cultural policies. Right now it is necessary to rethink the possibilities and advantages of cities in this process which on the one hand respects heterogeneity of the users and on the

• ther contributes to the standardization and homogenization of quality and service types.

What makes a library such a special and precious public space so much different from theatres, museums or cinemas?

• 1. Spatial accessibility – library network extends over geographical map or city map.

Customers find library in their own neighborhood or town and don’t need to travel to the capital.

• 2. Easy access to buildings – public libraries are often accommodated in average

buildings and not in the masterpieces of architecture so customers feel comfortable when they enter.

• 3. Temporal accessibility – libraries are open all day (and all night if possible) so

that customers can use library services when it suits them and not according to some predetermined schedule (as in e.g. cinema, theatre).

• 4. Financial availability – membership is free or there are very low fees so that

citizens are encouraged to join.

• 5. Customers are free to roam the premises – citizens prefer libraries with free

access to materials to libraries with only reference desk and storeroom. A book invites us to open it.

• 6. Individualized use (rather than collective reception as in theatre).
• 7. New technologies (computers etc.) enable customers to become active

participants in cultural exchange, they are no longer just passive observers or recipients as in classic cultural distribution (e.g. viewers, listeners)

• 8. Diversity of content – different interest groups, different age groups, from day

care to philosophy discussions, or just newspaper reading room – once again libraries reach high social inclusiveness i.e. citizen participation rates.

• 9. Library as a whole enables citizens to continually participate in everyday

cultural contents. (An example of the opposite practice is a concert of a foreign philharmonic orchestra: specific concert date, elite audience, high ticket prices, there is even a specific dress code etc.). To sum it up, libraries could become exemplary models of cultural democracy and reach high degree of social inclusion (especially providing special services for socially marginalized groups).

5 As someone who comes from domain of books and literature I would like to make two literary comparisons. The first is a metaphoric and metonymic picture of otherness, an imaginary space which is invisible to an ordinary passer-by. According to Michel Foucault we can call it heterotopia, a heterotopic cultural space reached by and within

• libraries. Describing common literature spaces French literary theoretician Pascale

Casanova uses term the World Republics of Letters which include all the challenges set by the present net of globalized communications and the impact of these challenges on small, linguistically isolated or marginalized cultural and literary environments. If we want to cross these borders at least temporarily first we have to enter the libraries.