Tartu Public Library, the second largest public library in Estonia, was founded as Tartu Library Society in 1913. This was the period of rapid cultural and economic development and one of its manifestations were new libraries started for a wide gamut of reasons – libraries were founded in all kind of societies, in factories, municipalities, etc. Later, in the twenties of the 20^th century a number of libraries were consolidated into the municipal Tartu Public Library. Still, we are doing our best to follow the initial traditions of advancing freedom, cooperation, participation, empowerment of citizens, education, quality free time. The library has over 36 000 members, which is over 1/3 of all people of Tartu. We do our best to be a functioning education and community centre with over 800 events and exhibitions a year. In the main libraty and four branches over 6000 citizens get some kind of instruction (various computer and smartphone skills, makerlab classes, seed library, etc) annually. Traditionally for Estonia, we have large collections of contemporary and older literature in Estonian and other languages. We also host extensive collections of sheet music, musical and video recordings and other material that our members may ask for.

Library has put a lot of effort into the development of its online resources – we are a member of the general joint catalog ester.elnet.ee and provide for bibliographic material pertaining to Tartu for the analytical databases in ise.elnet.ee. Two projects connecting literature to places are under way – Tartu in Fiction (teele.luts.ee) and Stops for Stories (www.jutupeatus.ee), both of them are a combination of traditional web library/database with photos, soundfiles, map applications and finally – physical signage in locations they are referring to. There is always something happening in the library, there is always a reason for visiting the library, we can be trusted, we trust our members and are truly proud of the position we have acquired in the hearts and minds of our fellow-citizens.