engleski

The contribution of public libraries to the economic development

The aim of the paper is to highlight the contribution of public libraries to the economic development of local community. Public libraries are commonly considered as cultural institutions and generally they are not perceived as one of the potential drivers of local economy development but as an expense. However, more recently, the impact of public policies focused on inclusiveness, lifelong learning and workforce personal development, has prompted the emergence of analyzes in which researchers have found that public libraries are making significant economic gains for the local community. These analyzes, accessed and stated the financial effects of public library operations on the local economy in relation to the resources invested in their work. Libraries create this financial benefit for their community by enabling users to access new ICT resources, general and specialized business information, training to empower personal competencies and encourage entrepreneurship, enabling the involvement of all community members in community education and other social processes, empowerment programs for marginalized groups and their facilitation. inclusion in the labor market, enabling workers to search for jobs as well as business opportunities for entrepreneurs, etc. The paper describes case studies from literature of public libraries and their economic contribution, as well as an example of the Ivan Goran Kovačić City Library in Karlovac, Croatia, and its department Business Library with related services available to the local community in order to strengthen the economic development of Karlovac. Results will identify ways of the contributions and impacts of public libraries to the local economy development.

public libraries ; local economy development ; local community

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