Kosovo's mobile library

Supporting a positive trend

Lipjan/Lipljan, one of the few multi-ethnic towns in Kosovo, is located some 20 kilometres south of Prishtinë/Pristina. While Kosovo Albanians constitute a majority in the town of Lipjan/Lipljan (83%), Kosovo Serbs predominate in the surrounding villages. The area is also home to Roma and Croats. Tensions of the past are lessening and relations are slowly normalizing between the various ethnic communities.

To encourage this trend, the mobile library is supplying educational and scientific literature, as well as popular fiction. While the project primarily targets school children, it also provides books for adults.

According to Patrick Hoffman, Democratization Officer in the OSCE Lipjan/Lipljan Office who spearheaded the project, the Town Library was only reaching people in residential areas. "We had to react. We had to help bring reconciliation to rural areas and support the positive developments already taking place," he says.

Building momentum

In October 2004, a three-member team began touring the villages, visiting the schools every two weeks. According to Librarian Milos Dukic, this was not enough. "Due to an increased number of mobile library users, we often make our tour once a week, bringing in new books," Dukic says. "I am very happy with this development."

The project currently benefits three villages, Staro Gracko/Grackë e Vjetër, Rabovce/Rubofc and Radevo/Radevë. Schools in this area also house the village libraries.

Providing for basic education

The first stop on the mobile library's tour is Braca Aksic School in Staro Gracko/Grackë e Vjetër. School Director and Teacher Mileva Pesic explains how inadequate the library's books are: "We have compulsory literature for each primary school grade, but the curriculum has changed and the books we have are no longer in use. We need new ones that fit the new programme."

The mobile library serves this exact purpose.

"It provides the new books we need," Pesic adds. "They are used by students and teachers as well as by the other villagers, who can always find literature that interests them."

The primary school in Rabovce/Rubofc faced a more serious problem. Their books covered only grades one to five, although they have nine grade levels. Furthermore, they didn't have enough copies to go around.

"Before it was quite difficult to share a book," teacher Srdan Petkovic explains. "Circulation would take a month to go from one child to another."

"Now we have more books, as the mobile library provides for the needs of children. We even have professional illustrations needed for economics and other classes."

Sustainability is the goal

The Lipjan/Lipljan mobile library is not the only such project implemented with the OSCE Mission's financial and logistical support. A similar year-long project was carried out in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica in 2004, benefiting four villages.

Lipjan/Lipljan will hopefully become an example and motivate other libraries and municipalities to reach out to rural areas with books to promote reconciliation. While there are plans for similar projects in other villages, both Serbian and Albanian, it is more important that these mobile libraries become self-sustainable.

"Negotiations on the hand-over of such projects to municipalities are underway," says Patrick Hoffman.