Category: Featured

–This post is written by UHP student Megan Kavaras, currently studying abroad and working on her senior thesis project.

Shambling thatched roof houses amid communist era block apartments pass by outside the train window. I am currently squashed into a crowded car with my friend and translator, as we make our way across six of the seven historical regions of Romania to study the impact public libraries have on community development and civic engagement. This research for my senior thesis has provided a first hand understanding of the social fabric of a post-communist transitioning economy. Although 23 years past communism, Romania is still struggling to move past the political system of bribes, nepotism, and a disenchanted, disengaged population. Funding, support and organization for public goods and services often does not trickle down from Bucharest.
In the second poorest EU member state, civil society and civic engagement is weak. A combination of low political efficacy and a leftover mentality that father government takes care of everything helps perpetuate the system. I decided to study public libraries after learning that Romania had over 2000, at all levels and areas of development. NGOs such as Biblionet, funded by the Bill and Melinda gates foundation support programs and services for education, youth involvement, minority inclusion, job and career development, and public health. My project focuses on understanding the effectiveness, challenges and impact of these services.
I first learned that public libraries here do not have national funding, but rather are overseen by each county, and support depends upon the county directors and the mayor’s personality and interests. This is one of the biggest challenges libraries face in reaching the community and providing quality information.
Perhaps the biggest challenge to development in Romania, through libraries or otherwise, is changing the current mentality. This is what I am hearing over and over again, from library users to librarians and NGO leaders in Bucharest. Only 10% of the population currently uses public libraries, and while some truly incredible development progress has been made, the numbers are still low. The positives are that libraries serve a variety of interests, are an inclusive environment (they often partner with minority cultural organizations) and are present at all socioeconomic levels. More advocacy and publicity are needed to make people aware of what libraries offer- outside of going into the library itself or searching for its website, it’s difficult to find information on services. More funding for quality materials and programs would also help increase use.

My experience has been that Romanians are generally warm, welcoming people willing to show outsiders their culture and traditions. Often, the assertion that civil society is weak and engagement low unjustly conjures images of people with few interests or complex opinions. Rather, unity and cooperation are the issue, and according to several people I’ve interviewed, one need is for change in the education system to teach discussion and include more debate and critical thinking in the curriculum.
This generosity and thoughtful opinions many people here have shared with me as an outsider has been genuinely rewarding. However, this sharing does not always exist between community members, something I found unusual. As one librarian explained it to me, people don’t have much and they worry about taking care of their own. They are hospitable but those that grew up under communism learned resilience but not civic responsibility or a sense of volunteering. While still developing and at the very early stages, I feel public libraries could be one of the most effective institutions for civil society development, providing space and means for public education and involvement. Library users and librarians alike have said it would be disastrous if the library did not exist or had to close.
I will continue this project by researching branches of the EU that support public library networks, and will work with the ANBPR on a petition program to gain EU support for Romanian libraries this fall. There is still much to do in developing public resources such as libraries, especially with the current Biblionet Program grant, the main source of funding, coming to an end this February.