Ipswich County Library has received the backing of a Europe-wide programme to help the local Romanian community in Ipswich.
The library’s new outreach project has received funding and support from The Europe Challenge which is helping to provide a range of new initiatives and activities. The project will include a Romanian film festival in September and has funded more Romanian language books and resources, and more support for Romanian speakers to encourage them to get a library card and visit the library.
Ipswich has around 3,300 Romanian speakers and it’s the second most spoken language in Ipswich. This growing community faces barriers accessing and integrating with local services and opportunities.
The project was the idea of Hannah Blackmore, Assistant Manager of Ipswich County Library who based her Masters Dissertation on multilingual users at the library. She discovered that although there is a significant Romanian-speaking population in the area, they did not use the library regularly and there were not as many books or information available in their language.
Hannah said:
“I'm so excited that our project was accepted onto the Europe Challenge. It’s a wonderful opportunity for the library and Ipswich Romanian Community which will help us to build a stronger community here in Ipswich and improve social inclusion and wellbeing. It’s also connected us to a supportive network of other teams across Europe - I've learned so much from them already and been inspired by how they are working to uplift their libraries and communities.
“Suffolk Libraries aims for all its libraries to be a welcoming space for all members of the community, where everyone can belong. This includes trying to identify and do more for groups we are not reaching.”
Romeo Mustata, the founder and director of Ipswich Romanian Community (IRC), has been heavily involved in the project and helped to identify several areas where the library could help. He said:
"The outreach project in collaboration with Ipswich County Library for the Ipswich Romanian Community is crucial because it fosters inclusion, supports cultural integration, and provides access to essential resources and services for the Romanian community in Ipswich.
“Working in partnership with the library has been incredibly rewarding. It's a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the community and make a meaningful impact by bridging cultural gaps and facilitating access to knowledge and resources. The collaboration has been seamless, and I'm excited about the positive outcomes it will bring for both the Romanian community and the library."
The full details of the Film Festival will be announced very soon. The plan is to screen a selection of free feature films, documentaries and short films to celebrate the Romanian culture and community.
The Europe Challenge project has also achieved the following:
Hannah and Romeo attended the Europe Challenge summit in Cambridge with other challenge teams from libraries all over Europe. In September Hannah will be presenting the project in Amsterdam at a final showcase event at OBA Public Library, along with the other library workers from across Europe.
The Europe Challenge is an annual programme that brings together teams from libraries and communities across Europe to address social isolation, inequality, disinformation, climate crises and other local challenges by developing, sharing and implementing creative solutions with support from the European Cultural Foundation and its partners. The initiative is a unique growing network of European libraries that work together to enhance democratic participation and social and environmental well-being through citizen-led local change.
The Europe Challenge is funded and support by the European Cultural Foundation and their partners: Arts Council England, Fondazione Cariplo, and Scottish Library and Information Council.
