A “press corner” to facilitate the media education of the visitors of the National Library was opened at the institution on December 12. This was set up as a result of the Project “Media Education – Priority of the 21st Century” that was launched by IREX Europe in 2018, IPN reports.
The “press corner” will ensure free access to periodicals and will contribute to developing media education. National Library director Elena Pintilei said this is an area intended for the visitors of the National Library who are interested in being correctly informed, including the journalistic community of Moldova. The set objectives will be accomplished through the agency of librarians working at the National Library, who were trained to communicate with the people on the issue and to ensure media education.
Attending the inaugural event, IREX Europe France director Mike de Villiers said the press corner will ensure broader access to information for the population. “A large and nice place was laid out. We hope the people will come and look for information about the media sphere and not only. We hope the librarians will help to critically develop the citizens,” stated Mike de Villiers.
IREX Europe Moldova coordinator Daniela Galai said they wanted such an area to be opened at the National Library because the institution has a considerable sphere of influence. The people come to the National Library and it will be right for them to be informed about the media sphere.
“We have three aspects gathered together here: an area that is comfortably laid out for users; the users can inform themselves with the assistance of librarians trained in the field of media education, and can interact with librarians and between them and discuss different subjects,” stated Daniela Galai.
Natalia Ghimpu, who is responsible for the press corner, said the opening of this corner is a challenge, especially for librarians, in learning more about media education. “Media education is very close to us, the librarians. We contribute to the critical thinking of the community,” stated Natalia Ghimpu.
