According to the report of China Library Weekly, the 2nd China-CEEC Curators’ Forum of Libraries Union was held from 13th to 14th of October 2021. The theme of the forum was Libraries as essential in challenging times offer meaningful connectivity: New approaches to library design. Because of the impact of Covid-19, the forum was held in the form of online conference.
The forum closely connected the librarians from China and CEEC. Deputy minister of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Xu, Chinese Ambassador to North Macedonia, Zhang Zuo, President of International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), BarbaraLison, Minister of Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, Irena Stefoska, Chair of the city council of Skopje, North Macedonia, Ljubica Janceva, Director of city libraryBraka Miladinovci in North Macedonia, Suzana Danailova, all gave warm speeches.59 member libraries of China-CEEC Libraries Union and other 10 libraries, including Zhejiang Library, Shenzhen Library, Xiamen Library and so on, were invited to the forum.
In the opening speech, Deputy minister of Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Zhang Xu, expressed that library was the important carrier of inheriting the history and culture, and humanistic spirit, also an indispensable part of cultural exchange. He hoped China-CEEC Libraries Union would deepen the cooperation and pursue common development in the future, making the various cultures created by human beings integrate together, continuing pouring the life and vigor into the cooperation among China-CEEC countries, providing the cultural power for the sustainable development of these countries’ economy and society.
The new president of IFLA, Barbara Lison, expressed that it was not easy to gain 59 member libraries. For the union, two curators’ forums were great events, which were the important explorations during the process of union’s development.
In the conference, Action Plan of China-CEEC Libraries Union (2022-2023) was officially published. The member libraries of the union will continue deepen the cooperation on data sharing, exchange visiting, multi-culture communication， advertising and promotion ,and other aspects. They will also jointly promote cultural cooperation projects in the next two years.