08 April 2009

Nonprofit Groups Open World of Online Information to Romanians

Gates Foundation, IREX putting computers in libraries through Biblionet

Library users in Scanteia, Romania, learn to take advantage of their new Internet access.

By Kathryn McConnell
Staff Writer

Washington — The single Internet-connected computer in the public library in Baru, Romania, was overwhelmed with users wanting to search for information or communicate with friends and relatives in other countries.

The library, like most others in Romania, was old and had been neglected. Most of the 1,500 public libraries in the country have no computer.

But in Baru, population 3,000, local officials wanted to improve public services for residents.

That’s one reason why the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2007 chose Hunedoara County, where Baru is located, to be an initial partner in its Global Libraries Program, called “Biblionet” in Romania. For many people in developing countries, quality Internet access is not available or affordable, the foundation says.

The Gates Foundation also selected IREX, a Washington-based international nonprofit group, to implement Biblionet, which will become a countrywide network of libraries with public-access computers to serve Romania’s 22 million people. After five years, responsibility for the program’s funding will transfer to local governments.

Biblionet aims to make Romania’s libraries “more contemporary — instead of museums of books,” IREX’s Ari Katz told America.gov.

Library patrons in Hunedoara and the other four counties that are the first to receive computers are enthusiastic. In Baru, residents now have four computers providing them access to information about jobs, educational opportunities, health issues and financing for developing farms and tourist businesses. The former industrial region wants those sectors to generate more revenue.

Denisa Craciunescu, left, learns how to use audio and visual technology at the Baru public library.

“Biblionet brings a better hope for our children,” said Baru Mayor Daniel Raducanu.

Teacher Silvia Butnar used a library computer to look for school newsletters from other communities. She wanted to get ideas her students could use to start their own news publication. Librarian Narcisa Sorescu helped a young job hunter use a computer to submit applications to local employers.

At the library in Devan, the capital city of Hunedoara County, young musicians use the computers to find music scores and instrument stores.

A student named Loredana told local IREX staff she has a computer at home but no Internet connection. “It’s more fun to come here anyway because we can learn from each other, and the librarians are very helpful,” she said.

In developing Biblionet, IREX partnered with Romania’s National Association of Public Libraries and Librarians to collect information on the extent to which people in communities used libraries and on librarians’ training needs. Professional development training for librarians had been neglected, Katz said.

Now, librarians can go to Biblionet’s 41 training sites to learn how to manage a library equipped with computers and how to develop locally relevant content. Using software donated by Microsoft, librarians are learning how to teach patrons computer research skills and basic applications, Katz said.

In Ukraine, the Gates Foundation and IREX recently started a program similar to Biblionet called Bibliomist. The program eventually will provide public Internet access at 1,000 libraries.

Katz said many local officials in Romania have taken note of the Baru library’s success in making computers accessible to the public. Biblionet encourages local governments to invest in new resources for libraries.

“Mayors throughout Hunedoara ask me about Biblionet, and I do everything in my power to support it,” Baru Mayor Raducanu said.