IREX Advocacy department has finalized the third Communication, Networking & Advocacy workshop for this year, which was held the week of November 21-25 and included 22 participants from Gorj, Hunedoara, Mures, and Sibiu counties. The workshop was fashioned according to the successfully tested “whole-system-in-the-room” methodology and was highly participatory.

We benefited from the presence of three county library managers, as well as a representative from the Public Policy Unit of the Ministry of Culture & National Heritage, which has strengthened both IREX’s and our partners’ relationship with the ministry. The ministry representative has also submitted a report to the Minister of Culture and other key staff within the ministry and library-related department, so as to inform them of the workshop content and impact, as well as secure the ministry’s continuous support to the Biblionet Program. In addition, two more IREX colleagues have contributed their skills, while acquiring new ones during the workshop. We are counting on our colleagues in attendance to follow up with the county teams for the implementation of the action plans sketched out and presented during the last workshop day, as participants also expressed relief at being given technical assistance.

As during the previous workshops, interactivity and the highly participatory trait of the workshop has been one of the most appreciated features. The one-minute message exercise - which made participants uncomfortable, even scared, at first - has helped them realize how important it is to encapsulate one’s key theme and convey it efficiently to the targeted policymakers. The difference this time, though, as that the teams have begun working on their action plans on laptops, rather than on flipchart, which is definitely living proof of their having bought into the modern-technology-for-the-library philosophy. As one participant put it: “Give me a library and I can change the world!”

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