On April 4, 2025, a mid-term seminar organized by Culture Information Systems Center was held in Riga within the framework of the EU-funded project “Library Bridges: Promoting the Integration and Inclusion of Third-Country Nationals in Europe through Libraries and Local Partnerships” (LIBRI).
Representatives from the project’s partner organizations in France, Italy, Poland, Romania and the Netherlands participated in the event. All representatives expressed their recognition that participation in the project is very valuable both in a local and international context. At the same time, the implementation of the goals set in the project is a great challenge, as the scope of the project is complex and requires additional efforts and investment. The spectrum of challenges affects not only libraries and their services, but also cooperation with municipalities and other institutions that carry out integration work. Often, communication and cooperation with third-country nationals is not easy, as the interest of different individuals in cooperation is very different.
The sharing of experiences by representatives from different countries was very valuable and enriching, because the situation of each country in these issues is different and requires different solutions. It is necessary to think about new services in libraries, for example, the creation of new social platforms to offer the full spectrum of all necessary information.
The seminar also reviewed the future time plan of the project, with team representatives expressing their wishes and needs regarding the future project period and specifying the submission of reports and other reporting documents.