The Library as a public safeguard for well-being in contemporary society: meeting in Bari

Wednesday 17 April at 3.30pm Bari Civic Museum

The Library is a public safeguard for well-being in contemporary society

During the meeting on the value and importance of libraries, the Center for Books and Literature, Anci, the Puglia Region and Teatro Pubblico Pugliese present the memorandum of understanding to carry out activities to promote reading and support the Apulian book supply chain

Center for Books and Literature, Anci, Puglia Region and Teatro Pubblico Pugliese – Regional Consortium for Arts and Culture united to promote reading and support the Apulian book supply chain. A strategic cooperation that will materialize with a memorandum of understanding aimed at collaborating to conceive, activate, implement and consolidate initiatives and synergies for the valorisation, promotion and diffusion of reading and for the support of the book supply chain. The protocol will be presented during the meeting The Library is a public safeguard for well-being in contemporary society, scheduled Wednesday 17 April from 3.30 pm at the Civic Museum of Bari, with institutional greetings from the President of Anci and Mayor of Bari; Aldo Patruno, Director of the Tourism and Culture Department of the Puglia Region; the Councilor for Culture, Tourism, Territorial Marketing of the Municipality of Bari and Paolo Ponzio, president of Teatro Pubblico Pugliese – Regional Consortium for Arts and Culture. The speeches follow: The regional system of library services and the Libraries of Puglia portal Of Gabriella BerardiDirector of the Biblio-museum Center of Foggia, Puglia Region; Reading support policies Of Adriano Monti Buzzetti ColellaPresident of the Center for Books and Literature, Ministry of Culture; The role of the Municipalities Of Vincenzo SantoroDirector of the Anci Culture, Tourism and Agriculture Department; The Community Library strategy and the Colibrì model of the Councilor for Educational Policies of the Municipality of Bari and the conclusion The social value of libraries Of Antonella Agnoli. Also planned are the interventions of Luisa PartipiloLombardi Library Contact, Ilaria D’AprileIurlo Library Contact, Terry MarinuzziContact person for the Marconi Library e Francesco Carofiglio, Contact person for the Civic Museum Library. The meeting is promoted by the Puglia Region, the Biblio-museum Centers of Puglia, the Puglia Public Theater – Regional Consortium for Arts and Culture, the Center for Books and Literature, Anci, the City of Bari and Colibrì.

The memorandum of understanding is part of the actions implemented by the Puglia Region, supported by the Teatro Pubblico Pugliese, to promote and develop the regional publishing sector. Commitment enshrined in the Strategic Culture Plan for Puglia 2017-2026 PiiiLCultureinPuglia – which intends to promote books and reading as essential tools of cultural welfare – which in recent years has seen a notable effort to create an interconnected and solid system between subjects operating in the field of books and reading. In fact, over the last few years the Puglia Region has established the Biblio-Museum Centers of Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce, BAT and Taranto and formalised, in 2023, the birth of the Regional system of library services – which unifies the previous provincial systems into a single system and Polo SBN and the establishment of the Single Catalog of the heritage of the 234 Apulian libraries of all levels which includes approximately 3 million documents and is used by almost 200 thousand users. Furthermore, the Puglia Region and Teatro Pubblico Pugliese have increased and organicized the presence of the Puglia publishing system in the main national and international book fairs. To develop the work of recent years, the Puglia Region and Teatro Pubblico Pugliese stipulate this agreement with the Center for Books and Literature and Anci who already collaborate on consolidated projects such as “Città che legge”, which recognizes and supports the socio-cultural growth of communities urban thanks to the spread of reading, and for the development of annual tenders addressed to Municipalities for the activation of local projects to promote reading which involve the involvement of subjects in the “book supply chain”. The Center for Books and Literature is an autonomous institute of the Ministry of Culture and belongs to the General Directorate of Libraries. It aims to implement policies for the diffusion of books and reading in Italy and abroad, proposing itself as a point of reference for the professional world and as a place of meeting, dialogue and exchange for public and private operators in the fields of book production, knowledge and dissemination. Within the framework of the agreement, ANCI will make its organizational structure available, activating the widespread network of participating Municipalities also with the aim of involving and raising awareness among the Municipalities to participate in the initiatives covered by this Agreement.

editorial board