Čačak Public Library New Building: An Experience of Putting the Library on the Scene

Abstract

Abstract The paper presents development of the Čačak Public Library new building in western Serbia, opened in March 2019, paired with an advocacy campaign entitled “Library on the Scene!,” which was already started in 2017. Čačak Public Library is the first new main public library building built in Serbia since 1990 and its development reflects the long history of slow changes burden with various problems within the library field of Serbia. This paper summarizes various initiatives started by the librarians in Čačak for the past several years that were aimed in securing the overall support for the Library building, but also for the spread of new ideas which together presented new vision of a public library that functions as the community center. In this process librarians have developed partnerships with other colleagues, teachers, architects, stake holders, and users of all ages, in an effort of succeeding in changing the traditional public perception of a library.