ULC Will Host European Study Tour
Study Tour of libraries also includes global library summit in Copenhagen

March 4, 2008 (CHICAGO) -- The Urban Libraries Council (ULC) is expanding its members’ network of collaboration to the global level by connecting members with their counterparts in Europe.  October 6-11, 2008, ULC will sponsor a study tour of European libraries, culminating with a global library summit – The Smart City and Its Libraries Conference -- hosted by the Copenhagen Public Libraries.

“ULC recognizes that today urban libraries are less defined by their geographic boundaries and more by the universal challenges that face us,” said Martín Gómez, ULC President.  “We see a worldwide hunger to learn more… to share more and that’s what this study tour is about.  Our goal is to facilitate the creation of a global network of urban libraries that helps us all find new solutions, identify innovations and stay ahead of the trends."

Susan Kent, former director of New York Public Library and former member of the Bertlesmann Foundation’s public library international network, is advising ULC on the study tour.  It’s the second such tour hosted by ULC.  In 2006, ULC members visited Singapore and Hong Kong’s acclaimed library systems, studying their unique niche libraries and self-service innovations.  Ms. Kent said that the ULC European study tour is already attracting interest from libraries in a variety of sizes with clear learning objectives.  “They want all the opportunities this tour affords for learning best practices in using architecture and technology, and also how European libraries are serving immigrant and refugee populations,” she said.   

Participants will have an opportunity to get an up-close look at library innovations in Delft, Amsterdam, Malmo and Copenhagen and take part in The Smart City and Its Libraries conference, which will include feature programs on the three challenges facing North American public libraries: building stronger connections with the community, serving diverse populations and integrating the virtual and physical library. 

The study tour is one of this year’s ULC initiatives aimed at engaging members on the global library stage.  Among others is the February publication of ULC’s Welcome Stranger: Public Libraries Build the Global Village, which focuses on the role libraries play in serving new immigrants.

“Operating at a global level gives ULC and its members the opportunity for a richer exchange of ideas,” said Mr. Gómez. “We have lessons to share and lessons to learn.”

For more information on ULC’s European Library Study Tour, visit http://www.urbanlibraries.org/events/eurotour.html or send an email to ulceurolibtour@urbanlibraries.org.

About the Urban Libraries Council
For more than 30 years the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) has worked to strengthen public libraries as an essential part of urban life.  A membership organization of North America’s premier public library systems and the corporations that serve them, ULC serves as a forum for sharing best practices resulting from targeted research, education and forecasting.  ULC’s programs are acclaimed for inspiring new organizational models that invigorate urban libraries and enrich the areas surrounding them.  ULC is headquartered in Chicago.  For more information, visit the group on the Web at www.urbanlibraries.org.