The Europe Challenge

How does the Tirana Feminist Library work?

The whole process has been very cool. First, the grant we received from The Europe Challenge helped us prepare a list of core titles. To do so, we chose to apply the co-design method that we also learned during The Europe Challenge mentorship sessions. To pick the titles available in the library, we had several meetings with members from different communities and different NGOs, because we wanted to have books that would actually serve the community. It was a collective process.

“Libraries are places of abundance. They contain different types of knowledge, different types of views, and they can be accessed freely.”

And then, after we opened the library, we noticed that people started using the space and they actually enjoyed having it at their disposal. People actually started donating some of their books. And that has been the most beautiful part of the whole process: citizens actually trusting us with their books and, at the same time, exchanging them with others. I think this is a great outcome.

Not only does the Tirana Feminist Library have books about the most diverse topics – like feminism and gender issues, climate education, intersectionality – but it is also a gathering place for people from different communities. There, they can borrow some of the books and take part in the Albanian cultural debate. The area where Berk is lacks public libraries, so the Tirana Feminist Library tries to bridge this gap to help the communities improve their agency.

What type of people frequent your library?

Mainly women, especially feminists, and groups that work in environmental activism, or that work for gender rights, and the LGBTQ community. And also students who are interested in political science or gender issues, because some of these books are actually hardly accessible in Albania.

You are a mentor of BUDDIES: what do you try to pass on to your mentees?

Being able to actually listen. It’s very important because every one of the projects has been very different from the other. But also communities are very different. And I think the most important thing when working in the cultural sector is actually being able to learn and to listen. So even if you’re a mentor, you should be very open to what comes towards you from your mentees.

What did this project give you?

It gave me a lot. First of all, I had the chance to interface with different realities that I didn’t know anything about. For example, there’s this great project in Greece with silent books. It showed me how silent books can actually overcome language barriers and cultural differences and speak broadly to a country that is multicultural and has different nationalities living in it. Also, in Moldova, there is a queer project that is trying to restore the legacy lost to censorship.

That actually resonated with me, because Albania has also gone through a period of dictatorship, when many titles were censored. Basically, even though every project is different, we can find so much in common. Only through listening can you actually see the threads that connect us.

What’s the one thing that makes libraries so special?

I think that libraries are places of abundance. They are democratic places because, first, they contain different types of knowledge and views, and secondly, they can be accessed freely.

They are places where one can really spend some time and grow. And I believe this is very democratic, especially now that we are increasingly driven by profit, under constant time pressure, and when everything is transactional. In the library, one can grow new ideas or enter into a silent discussion with unknown entities. That is knowledge, for me.

I think for our time, they are a hub of freedom. It is hard to find other institutions that support knowledge and democracy without a transaction process. This is freedom.

Complete this sentence for us: “Every library in Europe should have someone who can…”

Who can recommend the perfect book – or movie – for the emotional moment of the person who wants to borrow it. Like a book pharmacist. Someone who, if you are heartbroken, or have political dilemmas, or you want to know more about something, but you don’t really know how, can help you borrow something meaningful.

How was your experience of mentorship with The Europe Challenge and BUDDIES?

I loved it. I have worked in several other European projects, but this one has been special because it’s way more focused on actually nurturing the bonds between the participants.

Sometimes, when you work on certain projects, you don’t really enjoy the process because everything feels so controlled and you spend so much time on small bureaucratic things. Instead, the Europe challenge gives you the joy and also the time, the liberty and the freedom, to actually connect with people, with the people you’re working with, even beyond the planned schedule. With the groups we have been working with, we have had more than the requested meetings. And we have actually done them because we liked talking to each other.

And this is something which can be achieved only if the main drive behind a program is to actually nurture this kind of relationship.

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BUDDIES is a project funded by Erasmus+, working with The Europe Challenge to support library and community workers through mentoring, networking, and policy recommendations. It is coordinated by the European Cultural Foundation, in collaboration with Aarhus Public Libraries, Comicdom Press and Public Libraries 2030, and cofunded by the European Union.