May 15, 2023
We are very pleased to have had the attention of State Secretary Gunay Uslu today at Eindhoven Library. As part of an event to celebrate a new federal subsidy scheme, two members of HLE Network's organizational team had the opportunity to introduce the International Children's Book Collection to her and many other partners of the library from across the Netherlands.
An historic moment
Currently, not every municipality in the Netherlands has its own full-fledged public library, and for many communities the distance to an available library is far. These are among the reasons that funds are being made available for libraries in an effort to improve core competencies. From 2025, municipalities will be legally obliged to offer a public library.
Structural contributions being made to libraries by the central government marks an historic moment. Eindhoven Library organized an event on Monday, May 15, to celebrate the start of the application period for the "One-time Specific Allowances for Local Library Facilities 2023-2024 (SPUK Bieb)" scheme, which will contribute to creating future-oriented, accessible libraries in the Netherlands.
The event program included a Q&A with the director of Eindhoven Library, State Secretary Uslu (D66), and an alderman from Eindhoven municipality. Following this there was an official kick-off of the new subsidy scheme together with Secretary Uslu and the partners of Eindhoven Library via a fun activity of the MakersClub.
A visit to the international collection
Two members of HLE Network's organizational team then introduced the International Children's Book Collection to three sets of visitors, at a table with the theme "Collaboration." Also presenting at the table was the head of the Helmond-Peel library.
Among the visitors to the "Collaboration" table was State Secretary Uslu, who showed great interest in the achievements of the various language groups in Eindhoven. The International Children's Book Collection is not merely a set of foreign-language books on the shelves: it is an impressive example of community cooperation and engagement.
Visitors to the table were also informed about projects that HLE Network has organized, such as the National Read Aloud Days for Multilingual Children and the Joy of Reading in the Heritage Language campaign.
We would like to thank the library for inviting us to meet State Secretary Uslu and the library's partners. For coverage of the event, see the library's Twitter posts: