Organised on 9 December 2025 Socires a round table in the context of research into the societal significance of public libraries. The immediate reason was the publication of the magazine. Connect Windows. Participants of the meeting were library directors and staff, scientists, officials from different ministries, a chairman of a national school umbrella and representatives of the ecclesiastical diacony.
The meeting focused on how the work of libraries provides a food tree for democratic citizenship and strengthens vital society. The library now provides a platform for various forms of volunteering and social engagement.
Professor Govert Buijs of Vrije Universiteit gave a minicollege on citizenship and social capital. David Oldenhof connected experiences of meaning and meaning in the library. Libraries are places where people grow by working together or by making something beautiful together. In our magazine there are many examples of how that looks in practice.
The meeting showed how strongly the library is now linked to other public organisations such as ecclesiastical diacons, education, government and welfare organisations. During the meeting participants discussed this with each other.
These talks showed that libraries have been successfully transformed, but also struggled with questions, such as short-cycle subsidies that abrade with long-term projects and activities, cooperation with municipalities by many officials and aldermen involved (which is a good sign at the same time!) and how community librarians and other library staff can engage partners and (new) target groups, thus contributing to the social fabric of local society. Especially for medium and smaller municipalities, it is a challenge to monitor their own borders: Don't you do too much?
The magazine is at the basis of a follow-up project that Socires will run the next year with ten libraries, in collaboration with the industry organisation VOB.