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 2026, the CENL Secretariat received seven grant proposals.

The CENL Executive Committee reviewed all of the received submissions and awarded three grants. EC members who submitted a proposal and/or those affected by it were not involved in the process and  abstained from voting. We are delighted to announce that the following applications were successful:

Austria – Evaluating Metadata Quality in AI-Driven Cataloguing Workflows: The National Libraries of Austria and Luxembourg will explore whether automated cataloguing requires its own quality target goals, distinct from traditional notions of correctness. The project will be structured around three onsite workshops. The first workshop will establish the methodological foundation, including defining evaluation criteria and datasets. The second will review prototype measures and early test results, and the final workshop will validate the techniques and assess their applicability. Other CENL libraries are also pursuing automated cataloguing (e.g. Belgium, Netherlands, Latvia, Finland, Germany) and others have expressed interest in it. The progress of this work will be shared in the CENL AI group and the final results will be shared at the CENL AGM in 2027.

Germany – Collecting – Preserving – Presenting: Shared Challenges for National Libraries in France, Poland, and Germany: This proposed project aims to bring together the national libraries of France, Poland, and Germany to discuss current and emerging issues in a comparative and collaborative framework:  1 What to Collect? – 2. Preservation in the Digital Age – 3. From Custodians to Communicators? – 4. Trilateral Perspectives. The three national libraries intend to meet in person once or twice in 2026. Eventually, the results of the working group may lead to a joint event to be held in 2027: 1.5-day Conference with keynotes, panel discussions, and working groups with delegations from the three partner institutions (leadership and expert level) with invited policymakers, researchers, cultural partners, and CENL members.

Moldova – The project aims to organize an innovative international conference, „Reading as a Basis for Culture, Knowledge and Development”, with the participation of representatives from Bulgaria, Poland, Latvia, Romania, and Lithuania. The main objective is to promote reading and reading culture as essential factors for personal, social, and cultural development in the European context. The conference will emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of reading, the role of libraries in promoting culture, and their impact on society.