Public Library Karlo Bijelicki in Sombor became a part of the EUTEKA network consisting of 47 libraries across Serbia which, through EU support, will become local information points where citizens will be able to find information about the EU. On Friday, 6 October, the representatives of the project “EUTEKA – The EU at your library” donated an EUTEKA bookshelf to the public library in Sombor, a bookshelf where publications on the EU will be on display, offering the citizens of Sombor information on many issues concerning the EU and the process of Serbia’s EU accession. The event was followed by a forum titled “How can we turn culture into a development opportunity and how could the EU help us in doing so”.
The forum was participated in by Vladimir Jerkovic, Director of the public library Karlo Bijelicki, Lola Joksimovic, Member of Team Europe Serbia, Dr Miroslav Stojisavljevic of the organisation Robmos produkcija and Cedomir Janicic, Senior Curator of the Sombor City Museum.
The participants highlighted that Sombor, due to its rich cultural tradition, indeed was a city of culture and had many potentials that were insufficiently tapped into. The audience learned that some of the development challenges faced by cultural institutions and organisations in Sombor could be addressed through projects within the Creative Europe Programme.
The forum also presented a draft Strategy for the Cultural Development of Sombor submitted for consideration to relevant city authorities. The forum turned into an open and lively discussion in which the audience took an active part and laid out useful ideas regarding the ways to improve culture in Sombor and translate it into a development opportunity. The participants concluded that, through cooperation among different stakeholders engaged in the cultural scene of Sombor and their joint activities, the city could provide citizens with quality cultural offer and work to create new audiences.
About the project “EUTEKA – the European Union at your library“
“EUTEKA – the European Union at your library“ is a project aimed at providing tangible support to Serbian libraries engaged in providing information about the EU, its institutions, Member States, policies, and the process of European integration. The idea is to turn libraries into information centres where citizens could find various information on the EU and Serbia’s EU accession process.
Within the project, certain public libraries will be granted bookshelves labelled “Euteka” with publications and books available to their members. Libraries also host events which, through the lens of various social topics, discuss the possibilities of Serbia-EU cooperation.
