FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 11, 2002
CONTACT: Dan Roland (800) 552-4770
BY: Dan Roland

SLIM conference produces historic resolution between national libraries in Eastern Europe- EMPORIA, KS

Directors of five national libraries in Eastern Europe signed a resolution to share information and resources at an international forum in Bulgaria organized by the Emporia State University School of Library and Information Management. "We are working with former communist countries which have emerged from a top-down, state-controlled systems ten years ago. The idea of individual and community decision-making has required quite a shift in the psychological mindset for many people," said SLIM faculty member Dr. Herbert Achleitner.

Achleitner established the first international library development conference in 1995, in Kansas City. In 1997, Achleitner moved the conferences to Warsaw, Poland and to Sofia, Bulgaria in 2000 and 2002. "We wanted to move the conferences to Eastern Europe because we realize, due to the expense, there was no other way people from these countries could attend," said Dr. Achleitner.

The decision also attracted top national attention in Sofia last month. The Bulgarian Republic president himself agreed to make opening remarks at the conference titled, "Libraries, Civil Society and Social Development." President Georgi Purvanov recognized the "influential forum of 23 countries united behind the idea of improving the quality of life." He emphasized that the era of enlightenment and the beginning of libraries is not an accident. "Whether delivery is through electronic formats or clay tablets, the intent is always the same - to inform," he said. Purvanov congratulated the conference coordinators for establishing means of encouraging clear government policy, management activity, funding, and the linking of government and non-government organizations.

Directors of national libraries in Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia signed a resolution to form the Association of Directors of National Libraries from the Balkan Region. The agreement includes exchange of books, serials, data and information. It also recognizes the importance of honoring copyrights and continuing to share expertise. National libraries, like the U.S. Library of Congress, typically serve as official archives of a nation's written culture and language. "The building of a civil society includes working with people from other countries," said Dr. Martha Hale, a SLIM faculty member who also attended. "Information exchange is not a one-way thing. This is not about the U.S. and Canada explaining how the profession works. Eastern European nations have done a wonderful job preserving their heritage, and they have historical resources that are only available in their countries."

Though several of the presentations dealt with the importance of the Internet in information exchange, Hale pointed out that Albanian librarians do not have computers and Czech librarians are concerned about preserving medieval documents.

Attendance at the conference was not limited to Balkan nations. Librarians came from as far away as Australia, Ireland and Wales. SLIM alumni Brandon Barnett, Jacqueline Solis Samara Wilson organized a concurrent student conference attended by SLIM Ph.D. students Rebecca Miller and Jason Knight as well as MLS students Jeremy Frank, Elena Belyaeva, Tatiana Pashkova, Barry Glassman, Julie Vignoul, Carrie West, Laurie Francis and Jim Agee. "For many of the professional librarians and students alike, it was a new thing to attend an international academic conference where people give papers and have informal discussions in the hallways," said Dr. Hale.

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