The Austrian Library Association and the Austrian National Library are launching a new, long-term partnership: the aim is to equip librarians to meet the digital challenges of the future through a comprehensive training and professional development programme, thereby sustainably enhancing media and information literacy throughout Austria.

A key focus of the new training programme for full-time and volunteer staff in public city, municipal and parish libraries is on the competent use of the Austrian National Library’s extensive digital collections and the critical evaluation of information from the internet. Librarians are thus to continue to act as qualified points of contact and media experts in the future – for instance, by utilising new AI technologies – and, for example, to debunk fake news.

Starting point is the comprehensive programme offered by the Centre for Information and Media Literacy (CIM) at the Austrian National Library, which comprises practical training courses on research, digital resources and current developments such as artificial intelligence, and is open to anyone interested. The training courses offered as part of this new initiative are delivered in face-to-face, online and hybrid formats (on-site and online). There are also ‘train-the-trainer’ programmes to enable librarians to pass on the knowledge they have acquired to colleagues and library visitors.

“Democracy needs informed citizens. That is why we at the Austrian National Library see it as our core mission not only to preserve knowledge, but also to actively impart it. Through this collaboration, we are pursuing the shared goal of strengthening media literacy amongst people throughout Austria. The Austrian National Library’s diverse digital resources and training for librarians that is in step with the times provide the best foundation for this,” says Mag. Michaela Mayr, MSc, Director-General of the Austrian National Library.

“Media and information literacy amongst library staff is essential for putting together a high-quality range of media and programmes in public libraries. The Centre for Information and Media Literacy at the Austrian National Library offers a high-quality range of training courses for this purpose. The cooperation between the Austrian National Library and the Austrian Library Association thus reinforces the role and importance of libraries as places that provide access to knowledge and information – one of the fundamental prerequisites of a democratic society,” said Ursula Liebmann, MA, Managing Director of the Austrian Library.