Librarian’s Day in Neamt

“GT Kirileanu” Neamț County Library organized a series of activities dedicated to books, reading and public libraries, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, on the occasion of Romanian Librarian’s Day, as well as International Book and Copyright Day. During the meeting with the librarians from the public libraries of the county – the communal, city and municipal libraries – a professional debate took place in which a series of important aspects of the librarian profession and the role of the public library in the information society were brought to the attention of the participants. The topics “Advocacy for books, reading and libraries” were also addressed. The role of the librarian in contemporary society” and “Successful projects in public libraries in Neamț county. Exchange of good practices”, followed by the “2024 Librarians’ Gala”. It was also an opportunity to pay tribute to the scholar GT Kirileanu, by organizing, in the exhibition space on the ground floor of Building A, the exhibition “GT Kirileanu – founder of the library”, bringing together facsimiles of GT Kirileanu’s writings and works that were dedicated by those who took care of his posterity.

Every year, on April 23, two events are marked that focus on the book and its users: it is the International Book and Copyright Day and the Day of Librarians and Public Libraries.

The International Book and Copyright Day is organized by UNESCO in order to promote reading, publishing and copyright, the first manifestation of this kind taking place in 1995. The date of April 23 was not chosen by chance, this day marking the disappearance of two titans of universal literature, William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, as well as other writers: the Peruvian writer Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (1616), the English poet William Wordsworth (1850), the French writer Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly (1889) and the English poet Rupert Brooke (1915). Also, April 23 is the birthday of many personalities who served writing, such as Maurice Druon, K. Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel MejíaVallejo.

And because reading cannot be conceived outside of libraries, by Government Decision no. 293 of April 14, 2005, April 23 was declared “Librarian’s Day in Romania”, so in Romania, starting from 2005, Librarian’s Day is also celebrated on April 23 at the same time as International Book and Copyright Day . Thus, on April 23, Romanian librarians mark this day through various activities: communication sessions, interlibrary visits, exchanges of best practices, professional meetings, etc.

The history of the most important library in Neamţ county – the “GT Kirileanu” County Library – begins in the fall of 1935 and is linked to the name of the scholar Gh. Teodorescu – Kirileanu (born in the village of Holda-Broşteni on the Golden or Moldavian Bistriței Valley) who materializes his the desire to return to his native lands and settle in Piatra-Neamţ, with the entire treasure of manuscripts, books and periodicals of his library. For this purpose, he bought a plot of land and built (on 25 Ştefan cel Mare str. – today no. 27) the house that sheltered him until his death (November 13, 1960). Officially, the library became public in 1956, through the donation act of February 24, which stipulated the establishment – in its house – of a documentary library “for the enlightenment of the people”. At the beginning of 1968, in the context of the new territorial-administrative reorganization of Romania, among the new constructions of the city was the current headquarters of the library in Bd. Republicii no. 15. The investment was made by the Neamţ County Council right in the International Year of the Book, 1972, this being the first building intended for a public library, built in our country after the Second World War. In 1973, the former library of the scholar GT Kirileanu ceased its status as an independent library, its collections being transferred to the new headquarters of the County Library and taking on a functioning regime under the name of the “GT Kirileanu” Documentary Fund.

Virgil Cojocaru