Visits for the Swedish lecturers

The last day in Tbilisi for the Swedish speakers at the seminar and workshop was a very hot (temperature around 30°C) and intense day, with visitis to three different children's libraries. Librarian Ingrid Källström, children's books writer Eva Susso, professor Lena Kåreland and project manager Marie Oskarsson first visited the school library at School No 1 on Rustaveli, a school with 1.800 pupils. The school librarian showed the library, two big rooms with mostly old books sorted by genre, language and age groups. She told the group that most of the books were donated by a family, since the whole library and all the 23.000 books in it burned down during the civil war. She also gave an idea of the working terms for a librarian in Georgia – her monthly salary is GEL 280, which is approximatly €140, and she works Monday to Friday 09-18.
The group continued to the neighbouring Palace of Youth on Rustaveli, where 7.000 children and young people from all over Tbilsi come every day to take part in cultural activities like dance classes, art school, theatre groups, film project, chess groups. The palace also hosts a library, with an old reading hall and a stock room with high shelves filled with mostly very old books. The passion for books, reading and children was something that quickly started the conversation between the visitors over the language barriers.
And last, the group visited the newly renovated children's department at the Tbilisi City Library. The room was filled with new, brightly coloured furniture, and behind the glass doors in the pink bookshelves you could find only new books, but the manager stated that the biggest problem was to find enough books by Georgian writers.

Swedish librarian Ingrid Källström talked to colleague at Georgian library, despite the language barrier. Librarians can talk "librarian" said Ingrid after the visit.