Looking to the Future: Public Libraries in Romania and their Role in the Community
Keywords:
public libraries, role, objectives, challenges, collaborations, partnerships, RomaniaAbstract
Public libraries have long served their communities by addressing the information and cultural needs of different categories of users, adapting to societal, technological, and communicational changes. The past few years have brought us many challenges such as the continuous advance of information and communication technologies or the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In this context many public libraries have understood the need to prepare for the future and reshape their role and services by implementing a series of measures to overcome future challenges. This research focuses on public libraries in Romania, analysing their role within communities at a time when interest in education, culture, and reading is declining, and these institutions face persistent underfunding. This study, conducted among Romanian librarians, identifies the technological, economic, and social changes impacting their recent activity, their collaborations and partnerships and their future objectives.
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