Mayors and librarians from 56 villages and 12 district centers of Moldova Thursday took part in the pilot stage of the Novateca program within which 68 libraries will be equipped with computers and connected to the Internet, while the librarians will be instructed, Info-Prim Neo reports. Moldova’s first lady Margareta Timofti, who is a librarian by profession, said that such activities have an enormous importance. “Only 15% of the national libraries have computers and only 11% have access to the Internet. The Novateca program is like a breath of fresh air for the Moldovan libraries that reacted and expressed readiness to take part in this program,” she stated. Margareta Timofti also said that the experienced librarians will know how to attract attention to an interesting book or an activity organized by the library. The Novateca program will combine these two types of information, on paper and on computer, this being to the benefit of communities. The Ministry of Culture’s representative Andrei Chistol said that this project may soon become a national one. “The number of computers is determined by the capacity of every library separately. If we extend the program on a national scale, the centers that benefited from training will provide assistance to other libraries in the future,” he said. Novateca is an initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that during two years will aim to facilitate the people’s access to computers and the Internet through the existing network of public libraries. The program is implemented by IREX Moldova in cooperation with USAID. The technical equipment is provided by Microsoft Corporation.