The annual Erland Kolding Nielsen Grant awards up to €5,000 to CENL member library projects that promote international collaboration and strengthen bonds between CENL libraries. In 2025, the call was open from 8 January 2025 to 7 February 2025.

In its meeting on 27 February 2025, the CENL Executive Committee reviewed all of the received submissions and awarded three grants. We are delighted to announce that the following applications were successful:

Bulgaria – “Heritage and Memory beyond Borders”: The project aims to organise a joint exhibition on documentary heritage included in the UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” Register in Sofia, Bulgaria. There will also be a professional exchange between the participating libraries on how to preserve and promote their cultural heritage.

Hungary – The project includes the exchange of knowledge on digital philological methods in four areas: 1) the creation of geo-referenced and pin-marked maps, 2) the handling of minor languages such as Gaelic and Hungarian in digitisation and HTR modelling, 3) data visualisation, 4) the usability of archived web content for research purposes and the development of data mining and data visualisation of this content.

Romania – The project is about “Saving Books. Treatment, Prevention, Preservation. Professional Training Workshop for Librarians and Conservators”. It includes the organisation of four conservation workshops led by the conservation team of the National Library of France at the National Library of Romania for about 30 participants. Additionally, French specialists will assess the condition of the National Library of Romania’s “Destructured Collections” and discuss their treatment and conservation procedures.