Library Spirit in the Nordic and Baltic Countries 1909 – 2009 – The 2nd Seminar in honour of the agitator and pioneer of establishing free public libraries in Denmark and the Nordic countries, Andreas Schack Steenberg (14. 12. 1854 – 27. 1. 1929).
A HIBOLIRE seminar in Copenhagen, December 14-15, 2009.

Members of HIBOLIRE and other scholars interested in book history are invited to participate in this seminar arranged by the Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark and The Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen, Denmark. The main purpose is to present the book Library Spirit in the Nordic and Baltic Countries – Historical Perspectives (2009), and by propagating our research to repay the great goodwill HIBOLIRE and all the authors of the book have got from Nordforsk, the Nordic Council, and to support our research activities in each of our home countries.

Abstracts

The programme includes presentations (20 minutes), but the planning committee is happy to receive more contributions. If you are interested to participate and propose a presentation, please send information about your participation and the title of your presentation by November 10th 2009 to: md [at] db.dk (Martin Dyrbye, The Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark).

Signing up for participating in the seminar not later than November 10th 2009 to: md [at] db.dk

Hibolire publication
Library Spirit in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Historical perspectives

Photos from the book release

What is the historical explanation for the birth of the best public libraries in the world? Library Spirit in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Historical perspectives gives a row of answers. It presents the development of public libraries in the Nordic and Baltic countries from their historical roots until the present day. This is the first time libraries in this vast area covering a large part of the globe are presented together.

The Nordic countries are on the top of the world considering (among other thins) public libraries. These countries share a true library spirit. Even Baltic countries, after they were given a chance after the break of the Wall, have developed their libraries dynamically. What is unique in the book, is that even libraries in the autonomic regions of the Nordic area, Greenland, Faroe Islands and Åland, are present in the book, as well as library services to the Sami people. On top of articles on all these countries and areas, there is an overview of the key events of library history in the region.

The book is published by the network HIBOLIRE (The Nordic-Baltic-Russian Network on the History of Books, Libraries and Reading). It is edited by a team: Prof. Tiiu Reimo (University of Tallinn, Estonia), fil.lic. Magnus Torstensson (Bibliotekshögskolan i Borås, Sweden), Ass.Prof. Martin Dyrbye (Danmarks Biblioteksskole) and docent Ilkka Mäkinen (University of Tampere). Authors are members of the network and other experts.

The book can be ordered (price 17 Euros) from the net bookshop Granum