Congratulations to the National Library of Estonia on their award for the 2021 Erland Kolding Nielsen Grant.

The National Library of Estonia proposed a one-day international seminar to explore issues of competencies and training for librarians.

There has been a current shift in training landscapes for librarians in Estonia, its change has birthed new training providers who have entered the market, thus pressuring the government to deploy new regulative systems to measure quality. This has incited the NLE to explore similar entry-market training systems in different CENL member countries. Some explorative questions ar; what is the role of the national libraries and their level of involvement, what training systems do other members have in place, who are the agents involved, what are the advantages and disadvantages, which competencies are important and topical for libraries, and lastly, do training possibilities correspond to training needs?

The seminar aims to increase a common understanding of the competencies required by libraries in the present day. Further, the panel will discuss the role of national libraries in addressing and developing these competencies.  Moreover, consider the readiness of libraries and librarians to face the rapidly changing labour market. In cooperation with other European colleagues, NLE wishes to find new ideas and activities related to offering libraries different self-development options.

The seminar will take place on 27 May 2021 and be accessible on YouTube, EAPALE, and on the NLE website. The seminar will be simultaneously interpreted in both English and Estonian.