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The LIbRaRy – AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
”Roskilde Libraries provide a lively meeting place for the whole community. They are the key portal for new experiences, learning, knowledge and encounters across generational barriers and social backgrounds.” This is the vision of Roskilde city council – and the reality that welcomes 11,000 weekly users to the libraries. The municipality of Roskilde has a multitude of local clubs and societies and many active cultural institutions. Together with residents and politicians, these organisations have created a strong tradition for music and culture. Roskilde Libraries play a central role in the cultural life of the municipality as the preferred cultural institution of its residents. In Roskilde, the aim is for citizens to be able to function in an increasingly digitized world where many services are provided online. The library is the primary source of information, digital and otherwise – and will continue to be so. The library helps strengthen citizens’ digital skills so that they can make the best use of opportunities for digital information and communication. Innovation is the key to offering services that meet the needs of Roskilde’s citizens. Partnerships are essential for realizing these visions. Roskilde Libraries work closely with key people in the cultural and knowledge sectors – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Joy Mogensen, Mayor of Roskilde
Roskilde Libraries focus on strategic development within four areas: the music, the digital, the dynamic library, and the library as a meeting place. please refer to the organisational diagram for Roskilde libraries.
WhaT IS…? denMaRk …a Scandinavian country in northern europe with a population of approximately 5.5 million.
Roskilde …a municipality with a population of 83,000. …a historic town dating from the Viking age known for its many cultural highlights including its gothic cathedral, Viking Ship Museum and the Roskilde Festival, the world-renowned annual rock music festival. … located 30 kilometres from the capital city of copenhagen.
Roskilde libRaRies …six local branches and a mobile library spread throughout the region, covering urban, rural and university districts. … a central library for the Zealand region and the island of bornholm. Roskilde Libraries cooperate closely with 18 libraries in Region Zealand and have a series of obligations to these libraries, providing materials and advice, sharing experiences and training staff.
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the main library is in the centre of Roskilde near the main shopping street, the town parks and Roskilde harbour.
FacTS anD FIgUReS
ORganISaTIOn libRaRy diRecToR
ReseaRcH & deVelopMenT
adMinisTRaTion
HoW aRe We Financed?
seRVice Main libRaRy
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local bRancHes
THe diGiTal libRaRy THe MUsic libRaRy THe libRaRy as a MeeTinG place
The 115 employees of Roskilde Libraries are divided into four main departments (Research & Development, administration, Service and Flow) and three interdisciplinary development teams to ensure that the strategic aims are firmly embedded in the day-to-day work.
every year Roskilde libraries receive € 6.9 million from local government, 1.1 € million from national government and between € 130.000 and € 200.000 in external funding for projects.
do UseRs HaVe To pay? all danish public libraries are municipal institutions run in accordance with the danish act on library services. The law governs public libraries nationwide and ensures a consistent level of service. citizens can use any library they wish free of charge.
HoW Many VisiToRs? every year 600,000 people visit Roskilde libraries. The average Roskilde citizen visits a local library more than 7 times a year and borrows on average more than 18 items a year.
and THe sTock? Roskilde libraries have a collection of more than 731,000 items. More than 1 million items are circulated annually – more than half of these are books, but music, audio books, films and computer games are also popular.
HoW aRe We oRGaniZed? day-to-day management focuses on development and on the continuous enhancement of staff skills. innovation is the byword for all initiatives.
The MUSIc Roskilde Libraries serve a municipality with proud music traditions and a natural focus on musical activities. or rather, on the fine arts because we see the library as related to all the arts. Every visit should hold the promise of an experience in literature, the visual arts, film, theatre – and of course music.
LIbRaRy
One of Roskilde’s big international flagships is the Roskilde Festival, a four-day rock festival that attracts 130,000 people every year. For several years Roskilde Libraries have been involved with the festival, the last few years with an ambitious initiative at the festival site itself: the Poetry hall.
MUsicon The municipality also has grand plans for a new neighbourhood, Musicon, featuring a live music environment in the city. Many cultural players in and outside Roskilde are involved in developing the new neighbourhood – one being Roskilde Libraries.
Every year Roskilde libraries arrange around 170 events, children’s theatre activities, concerts, lectures and more. in addition, the libraries organize about 70 exhibitions, most displaying the works of local artists.
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the Poetry Hall offers Roskilde Festival guests a quiet space for contemplation – a place to take a break from rock’n’roll and enjoy digital literary installations, talks by authors, coffee and books. every year the poetry Hall attracts around 10,000 visitors during the four-day festival.
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the future danish Rock Museum is inspired by seattle’s ”experience the Music project”. photo: MVRdV og cobe architects.
ROcKbIb In 2010 Roskilde Libraries entered into an innovative collaboration with Roskilde Museum to develop and run a library to be situated at the Danish Rock Museum in the Musicon neighbourhood. even before the Danish Rock Museum is completed, it has been opened to the public via a dedicated room at Roskilde Library, which, as well as lending out cDs and other materials also hosts concerts and other activities. The collaboration strengthens the Roskilde Libraries’ twofold ambition to provide a space for experience and a space for learning where people can explore on their own and constantly discover sources of inspiration and surprises. Once the Danish Rock Museum is completed in 2014, the music library will become an integral part. Want to know more about Musicon?
Roskilde Libraries offer musical activities and knowledge in all genres and in multiple shapes and forms, including free download of music from the national portal www.bibzoom.dk.
The Library as a Meeting Place
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Roskilde Libraries pride themselves on providing traditional library services with a large stock of materials and good service. At the same time ”life between shelves” is also in focus. People meet in groups, with friends, for events or to seek inspiration. Some come to read the daily paper – either the print edition or through one of the many digital resources on-line. Despite all the digital services available, local people still love to spend time at Roskilde Libraries.
Open-access library In the small town of Ågerup near Roskilde, the idea of the library as a community space has been taken one step further – Ågerup Library has become an open-access library. Many senior citizens now meet in the morning at the self-service machine or the sofa. Library users without internet access at home use the library’s internet and wi-fi daily, and families with young children are happy to be able to visit the library at their convenience, instead of during the hectic hour between daycare centre or school and home.
An ID card is all local residents need to access the knowledge and activities offered by Ågerup Library. Since the launching of the open-access scheme, opening hours have increased by 500% and the number of visitors by around 30%.
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People gather for events at Roskilde Libraries, in groups big and small, or, as here, on their own for some quiet time.
ShaRe yOUR PaSSIOn The slogan ”Share your passion – you’ve got the activity, we’ve got the space” points up Ågerup Library as a local community space that encourages active participation. Local volunteers arrange talks on anything from hypnosis and knitting to travel tips and e-book readers. The library has become a popular meeting place for groups and societies that use its premises as a community centre. here volunteers can assume ownership of activities and plan for the future.
THe libRaRy oUTside THe libRaRy In addition to the materials available at the library, Roskilde Libraries also provide a service for those who cannot visit the library in person. If age, illness or disability prevents people from getting to the library, Roskilde Libraries offer to bring materials to them in their homes – free of charge. every week Roskilde Libraries bring out materials to more than 100 individuals, 100 child-care facilities, a prison, a hospital and eight care homes for adults.
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In the small town of Ågerup the residents use the library as a community centre. these women are united by a shared passion: knitting!
Roskilde Library houses Roskilde’s local historical archive, which contains materials and historical records chronicling 300 years of local history. archive staff are on hand to help citizens find information about buildings, companies, people and events in books, church registries, association archives, census records as well as photos, tapes and film.
The LIbRaRy aS a DIgITaL ReSOURce Roskilde Libraries are at the forefront of digital development, providing services for citizens with advanced digital skills as well as those who need help to get started and keep up to date. The need for digital skills is booming. Public and private organisations alike are increasingly replacing personal service with on-line self-service. Digital skills are now a requirement for full participation in Danish society. In 2011 Roskilde Libraries entered into an agreement with Roskilde city’s Department for Digitalisation and Service. The agreement gives Roskilde Libraries special responsibility for supporting and helping the citizens of Roskilde to use digital solutions. Roskilde Libraries maintain a strong focus on advice and learning, both in the shape of informed guidance and as organized IT courses for library users.
Computers are freely available and staff on hand to help people get started or take the next step. Roskilde library provides an digital learning centre – open throughout the library’s regular opening hours – where people can get digital help from specially trained iT staff.
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Children and teens view iT as a natural part of their daily lives. libraries must constantly keep abreast of development: What will be the next big thing?
Roskilde Libraries annually arrange 100 free iT courses with around 900 participating citizens. The courses are planned every six months to keep up with recent digital development and trends in society in general.
aGeFoRce.dk Introducing social networks such as Facebook and Twitter is one of the successes enjoyed by Roskilde Libraries. however, Roskilde Libraries have also developed a new social network for users: ageforce.dk, for 50+ citizens who want to meet on- and off-line. Unlike most other large social networks, ageforce is free of charge and free of commercial interests. It has simply struck a vein of popular interest. ageforce.dk provides a forum for active communities and their common interests. This platform allows people to blog and to create and organize their own interest groups. They can exchange opinions, knowledge and thoughts on anything from photography and literature to knitting and cooking. and they can help each other. as well as using the platform as a virtual meeting place, many of the network members also get together in real life. ageforce.dk gives users a good opportunity to hone their digital skills as well.
liTeRaTURe TakinG place The two-year project ”Literature Taking Place” focuses on literature found outside the printed book medium. The project also explores how libraries can continue to offer literature when it breaks out of the printed book form and instead ”happens” as live performance, digital interaction, on the web, on mobile phones and the like.
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AgeForce.dk started as a local network between Roskilde libraries and a group of highly committed local people. Today the network boasts more than 7,800 users all over denmark. The network is still maintained by users and is a successful example of user-driven innovation.
The DynaMIc LIbRaRy Innovation and partnerships are an integral part of the day-today work of Roskilde Libraries. And it is here, in the constant interchange between local users and the rest of the world, that we find the library’s future as a dynamic space. Like the rest of society, libraries are under pressure and need to develop and redefine themselves. Partnerships and collaboration are two ways of securing and increasing libraries’ influence on society. although many libraries already work with external partners, few have a strategic and professional approach to partnerships to rival Roskilde Libraries.
oUTside THe boX The project ”Outside the box” is a collaboration between citizens’ Services and aarhus Public Libraries, Roskilde University and Roskilde Libraries with the aim of collecting and incorporating knowledge of partnership work and collaborative innovation. The project has focused on how libraries can professionalize their external collaboration in order to profile and transform their role in city culture.
Roskilde Libraries frequently welcomes guests from abroad. among the countries interested in library development in Roskilde are china, austria, Hungary, Romania, belgium, norway, england, italy, spain and Greece.
Roskilde Libraries participate in the ”europeana” project – a professional knowledge-sharing platform for facilitating the exchange of information and knowledge about the digitization of cultural heritage.
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”The Cultural Trail” URBAN PLANNING As an active participant in developing, for example, the strategy for a dynamic city centre Roskilde Libraries also play a part in the urban planning of the municipality of Roskilde. With its extended opening hours and external activities, the library helps make the city centre attractive as a backdrop to everyday life as well as a venue for major cultural events. The library is involved with coordinating and developing activities for ”The Cultural Trail”, which runs along an axis of cultural and historical institutions such as the Roskilde Cathedral, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde Museum and the Roskilde Convent.
BETTER TOGETHER International partnerships are also in focus at Roskilde Libraries. Roskilde Libraries have taken part in European projects about lifelong learning, local and regional cultural heritage and digitization, on several occasions as part of the Grundtvig programme managed by the Danish Council for Internationalisation.
roskilde priory roskilde CaThedral roskilde MuseuM
Having doubts about the importance of partnerships as a driver of the future of libraries? Watch the film ”better Together – the potentials of partnerships!”
The palaCe Wing
In connection with the project ”outside the box”, relations with libraries and cultural institutions in chicago and san Francisco have been forged. The ‘literature Taking place’ project has been presented at conferences in new york and Helsinki. Modern libraries develop across cultural and geographical divides.
roskilde libraries
EDItInG Dorrit birklund and Pernille carneiro Juel ARtICLES Pernille carneiro Juel
The MuseuM of ConTeMporary
PHoto CREDItS Peter høybye (p. 1, 9), Jessica D. bicking (p. 13, 17, 20), Pernille carneiro Juel (p. 14) niels Lund Pedersen (p. 4) naSa (p. 4)
EnGLISH tRAnSLAtIon Lise Kok Petersen and Kirsten Lytsen RoSKILDE LIBRARIES, September 2012
LAYoUt: grønagers graphic Production www.ggp.dk
Contact Dronning Margrethes Vej 14 | Postboks 229 | 4000 Roskilde | Denmark adm@roskildebib.dk | + 45 46 31 50 00 | www.roskildebib.dk
Website for Roskilde libraries