Public Libraries in the Learning Society

nev e r t o o
It´s !
late to l e a r n

Knowledge and education are the means to a better life

– not least for society’s most exposed groups:
the elderly, refugees and immigrants, the disabled.
How can the libraries of Europe help ensure that all citizens
are a part of the throbbing information society and its prosperity?

That is the question the PuLLS-project is attempting to answer.

 Why PuLLS?
PuLLS is a European project consisting of 6 libraries, a research
institution and a marketing agency in 7 countries in Europe. The
PuLLS project was started by us because:

We know that in the information age certain social

groups are still excluded from information

We expect public libraries all over Europe to deliver a

crucial contribution to the education of adults

We have learnt that education is the key to active

citizenship and general well-being

We feel that everybody deserves a fair chance.

That’s why!
In the knowledge society, the risk of social exclusion and division
of the society increases if information and ICT skills are lacking.
The public libraries’ unique role as the citizens’ gateway to
information can facilitate the transition to a knowledge-based
society by offering open learning centres. After all, the public
libraries are the only public institutions, which deal with the
citizens’ information competence and secure access to
information and lifelong learning irrespective of their economic
ability.
The target group for the PuLLS project is adults, who have left
school with no further education than basic general education,
who lack basic ICT skills, and who resides in the regions of the
project partners.

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 Project group meeting
in Barcelona: Dolors Vime,
Cristina Galí, Teresa Pagès,
Lluís Baixeras, Montse
Montals, Magda Lorente
and Núria Pi.

Learning
session
Sutton

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 What are the goals?
The PuLLS project will develop and test the concept of open
learning centres in public libraries. The objective of working
together on the PuLLS project is to develop a European model,
which can be used in the European countries and the new and
coming member states.
Europe's future depends on the extent to which its citizens can
face the economic and social challenges. A "European area of
lifelong learning" will empower citizens to move freely between
learning settings, jobs, regions and countries in pursuit of
learning.
The first step towards transformation of the traditional
educational systems is allowing everyone access to lifelong
learning. It is important to:

make lifelong learning more accessible by multiplying

local learning centres at libraries or at workplaces

create a learning culture to motivate learners to

increase levels of participation and to demonstrate to
everybody the need for learning at all ages

develop local knowledge and resource centres

provide everybody with basic ICT skills

The creation of the PuLLS model was started at the very first
seminar in Aarhus in September 2005 and it has been tested in a
pilot period from October 2005 to March 2006.
At the meeting in Barcelona in the spring of 2006, refinement of
the model was the main issue. Since then The PuLLS model
forms the basis for the activities in the project for the next 6 to 8
months (May – November 2006). Each of the library partners
has been testing the model in different cultural environments
with different target groups.

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 Kick off meeting
in Aarhus.
Winter 2005

Rich
Picture

Meeting in Barcelona. Spring 2006

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 What are the results?

Among the greatest achievements of the PuLLS project are the

creation of a website (www.pulls.dk) and the provision of a model
for open learning centres in public libraries with a range of
different qualified educational material.
The website has several functions. First of all it provides the
partners and those staff members working within the PuLLS
project an overview of the educational material and an easy way
to communicate. It has become an important source of sharing
experiences, ideas, inspiration and good practise in order to
develop the common European model of an open learning centre.
Through learning from and sharing experiences with colleagues in
other countries we have been influenced and inspired by each
other and several local pedagogical methods for lifelong learning
have been created.
Various educational materials have been produced in the PuLLS
project, e.g. a toolbox, curricula, e-learning programmes. All
materials produced can be used freely by public libraries all over
Europe for inspiration or used directly for educational
programmes in the libraries.
The products can be found at the PuLLS website (www.pulls.dk)

Everyone can follow news and project

developments by subscribing to the
PuLLS Newsletter

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PuLLS
Products

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Who are the partners?
Aarhus Public Libraries, Denmark (www.aakb.dk)
APL is public library for Aarhus Municipality and county library for Aarhus County. APL is
known as one of the most innovative public libraries in Denmark. It consists of a main
library and 18 branches.

Helsinki City Library, Finland (www.lib.hel.fi)

Helsinki City Library is Central Library for Public Libraries in Finland. Helsinki City Library
has a main library and 36 branches.

Würzburg Public Library, Germany (wuerzburg.de/buerger/kultur/buecherei/index.html)

The library system consists of a main library and 5 branch libraries with services for
homebound people, children. Würzburg Public Library offers IT, music and lifelong
learning multimedia studio.

Oton Župančič Public Library, Ljubljana (Slovenia) (http://www.lj-oz.sik.si)

The Oton Župančič Public Library (KOŽ) is a central public library in Ljubljana, the capital and
administrative and educational centre of Slovenia. KOŽ is one of 10 Slovene regional libraries.

Servei de Biblioteques de la Diputació de Barcelona (http://www.diba.es/biblioteques/)

The Library Service of Barcelona Provincial Council offers support and services to the
network of libraries in the Province of Barcelona. The network consists of 163 municipal
libraries and 9 mobile libraries working together.

London Borough of Sutton Library Service

(http://www.sutton.gov.uk/education/libraries/suttoncentral.htm)
Sutton Library Service is the public library service for the London Borough of Sutton which is a
local authority in London with approximately 180,000 inhabitants. The library service consists
of a main library, 8 branch libraries and a mobile library.

University of Brighton (http://www.cmis.brighton.ac.uk)

The University of Brighton is a strong and distinctive higher education institution.
It makes major contributions both to the national system of university education and to its local
and regional communities. External assessments of the quality of teaching and of graduate
employment have ranked among the strongest in the UK

MK5060, The Hague, The Netherlands (www.mk5060.com/)

MK5060 – full circle projects is a young, privately owned company that specialises in marketing
and project management for the non-profit sector.

Sokrates
Grundtvig Uddannelse og kultur