Libraries have a special role to play as they give people an opportunity to access information and discover new ideas, said today Head of the EU Delegation Michael Davenport at the session titled “Books and Culture as a Gateway to EU” held at the National Library of Serbia.
He said it was a good sign that a large number of librarians from across Serbia gathered to launch a network that would move the country towards the EU, assessing that it was a significant contribution to strengthening and spreading the message about Serbia’s EU path to all the corners of Serbia.
According to FoNet, Davenport said that today, in the age of computers and the internet, some voices may be tempted to underestimate the role of the libraries, but these cannot be more wrong.
Ksenija Milenkovic of the Serbian European Integration Office said that there were two main goals: raise the overall citizens’ awareness about the EU and eliminate the fear from losing the national identity to EU accession.
The first goal is to raise the overall citizens’ awareness about the EU and Serbian EU integration process, because surveys show that knowledge on these topics is at a low level, she said and reminded that the Office publications dedicated to EU accession were available in libraries throughout Serbia.
People fear of losing national and cultural identity to EU accession and our aim is to show that the process is quite the opposite and lead to preservation identity because the Union is based on the concept of diversity.
It is important to eliminate fear stemming from poor information, she said.
Assistant Minister Asja Draca Muntean reminded that EU cultural policy is designed to reflect European diversity and added that the culture was an important part in the process of EU integration.
