In October 2018, the 1st China-CEEC Curators’ Forum of Libraries Union was held in the Hangzhou Public Library, China, announcing the establishment of the libraries Union. The Secretariat was permanently set in the Hangzhou Public Library.

From October 13 to 14, 2021, the 2nd China-CEEC Curators’ Forum of Libraries Union was held online, hosted by the PI City Library "Braka Miladinovci" Skopje. The theme of the forum was "Libraries as essential in challenging times offer meaningful connectivity: New approaches to library design". 59 member libraries from China and Central and Eastern European countries and 10 non-member libraries including Zhejiang Library, Shenzhen Library and Xiamen Library participated.

 

Suzana Danailova, the director of the host library, Ljubica Janceva, the President of Council of City of Skopje, Irena Stefoska, the Minister of Culture of Republic of North Macedonia, Zhang Xu, Vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Zuo, H.E. Ambassador of Embassy of People’s Republic of China in North Macedonia and Barbara Lison, the IFLA President addressed in the opening ceremony.

 

Zhang Xu, Vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China

 

In his speech, Zhang Xu, the vice-minister said that as an important carrier for culture and human civilization, libraries are indispensable part in cultural exchanges. Since the establishment of the Union in 2018 together with the holding of the 1st China-CEEC Curators’ Forum, member libraries have achieved periodical results in resource sharing, libraries interactions, business training and academic exchanges, through which mutual understanding was enhanced and cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries was promoted in the library field. It is hoped that the Union will further deepen cooperation and seek common development in the future and bring cultural impetus to sustainable economic and social development of all countries. On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Xu thanked the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, the host PI City Library "Braka Miladinovci" Skopje and the Hangzhou Public Library in China for their efforts in hosting the forum.

Zhang Zuo, H.E. Ambassador of Embassy of People’s Republic of China in North Macedonia

 

Ambassador Zhang Zuo said that it was good to see programs proposed during the China-CEEC Summit 2021 in February were being effectively put into practice even in the difficult situation of the Covid-19 pandemic. By the mechanism built inside the Union, North Macedonia took the lead this time in holding the 2nd forum, which greatly enhanced exchanges and cooperation among interested parties and promoted the sharing of civilization achievement among people of all countries. He also stressed that the differences we have in culture and librarianship development are also what we could learn from each other. Libraries are a window for disseminating knowledge while books are a bridge for cultural exchanges and mutual learning, with which we could bring people in different countries together. It is expected that in-depth discussions could take place and creative ideas could be generated during the forum, thereby better benefiting the general public in China and Central and Eastern European countries.

 

Barbara Lison, the IFLA President

 

The new IFLA President Barbara Lison said that she was surprised to know the China-CEEC Libraries Union had gathered so many libraries together which was quite challenging work to do. The two curators' forums are grand events as well as explorations in Union’s long-term development. She attached great importance in the partnerships and cooperation between libraries in the present-day world and acknowledge the practical value of the topics which were going to be discussed in the Forum especially in the current situation. She also expressed her wishes for a better future of the Union and looked forward to meeting with member libraries in the future.

Dr. Biljana Tudzarova, the advisor in the cabinet of Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia

Jana Mihajlovska, the President of the Library Association of North Macedonia

 

As keynote speakers, Dr. Biljana Tudzarova, the advisor in the cabinet of Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia and Jana Mihajlovska, the President of the Library Association of North Macedonia brought the latest cutting-edge information of the library community in the Central and Eastern European countries.

 

In four panel discussions focusing on “Integration of Libraries in the Post-epidemic era, What`s next?”, “Development of Public Libraries, Construction of Smart Libraries”, “Library development mode under the integration of tradition and innovation, Libraries and digital inclusion”, “Post-epidemic period and reading promotion, Knowledge, Globalization, Development” shared examples and carried out in-depth academic exchanges.

 

Representatives of Chongqing Library, Guangzhou Library, Shanxi Library, Changchun Library, Hangzhou Public Library, Xi’an Public Library, National and University Library "St. Kliment Ohridski" Skopje, National Library of Poland and Vodice Public Library shared practices and examples with colleagues.

 

On behalf of the Secretariat of China-CEEC Libraries Union, the director of the Hangzhou Public Library Liu Dong reviewed the Union development over the past years and read out the Action Plan of China-CEEC Libraries Union (2022-2023).

Liu Dong, the Director of the Hangzhou Public Library

 

It is expected that the China-CEEC Libraries Union would make more contributions to promoting cultural exchanges between China and Central and Eastern European countries in the future, and continue to inject vitality into cooperation mechanisms in different fields and industries between China and Central and Eastern European countries.