On May 31, the Zagreb City Libraries will introduce the new e-book borrowing service to all members over the age of 15. This will be the first such pilot project in Croatia, it was announced at a press conference by Zagreb City Libraries director Višnja Cej, reports Večernji List on May 26, 2019.
She pointed out that the Zaki e-book borrowing app is straightforward to use, and can be installed on mobile phones, laptops, tablets or computers with the membership card number and a PIN available in all city libraries.
She said that the service would initially include 400 titles selected in collaboration with publishers, but would soon expand and be made available to children as well. The e-books are borrowed for a period of three weeks, and for now, it is not possible to extend the deadline.
Cej said that there will always be people who will want to borrow actual physical books with covers and pages, but there are also those who will want to use their new e-book service in trams, on beaches, anywhere, 24 hours a day. She added that the app was very accessible. Citizens need to be members of the Zagreb City Libraries, have their membership number and a PIN and, “enjoy the new service.”
The e-book project will be launched on May 31 because the libraries wanted to give citizens the new service as a gift for the Day of the City of Zagreb. She believes the platform will contribute to the popularization of book reading in the virtual environment. The program is co-financed by the City of Zagreb.
The press conference also presented the initial proposal for the new building of the central city library branch at the Paromlin site. Ismena Meić, head of the branch, said that by launching a tender for the design at the end of last year, the City of Zagreb had made a significant step towards solving two problems – reviving the Paromlin industrial heritage complex and finding the adequate accommodation for the main branch, which has changed several locations since its establishment in 1907 and is currently housed at the so-called Starčević building.
“By implementing the new building project, the city library would accomplish its centennial dream which would allow the valuable fund with almost 500,000 units to be gathered at one location. The new building will become a living room for citizens, the centre of the city and the public space that will provide citizens with access to information, programmes and services. It will become a new symbol of Zagreb, a city oriented towards knowledge, learning and culture,” she said.
Mayor Milan Bandić said that he was proud that Zagreb allocates seven per cent of its budget for culture, while the share on the national level is just 0.8 per cent. “In order to promote reading, we have enabled children to become members of all city library branches free of charge. We are the second worst country in Europe by reading, so we have to do something about that,” said Bandić.
Translated from Večernji List.
More news about books in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.
