Kranj City Library

Established in 1960 with the merging of two existing city libraries, the Kranj City Library serves as a regional library as well as a cultural and information centre for the wider Gorenjska region (it consequently boasts a comprehensive and ever-growing collection of books and multimedia items on the region and its people).

In addition to managing branches in Stražišče, Naklo, Preddvor, Šenčur, Cerklje na Gorenjskem, and Jezersko, it also runs so called mobile library stations at five further peripheral locations. The Library Association of Gorenjska is also based at its premises. In 2011 the library moved to newer, state-of-the-art premises in the city centre.

https://www.mkk.si/


The Challenge Journey

Who are the community/citizens working on the Europe Challenge?

Our community is general public influenced by the prejudice that areas of STEM are not for women. The general public then breaks down into different areas affected by prejudice: women who would like to participate in STEM areas, men who want more diversity in the workplace, employers who want more qualified staff, colleges and high schools, who want more students.


Members of our group that are working on the challenge are employees in primary, secondary and university educational institutions, institutes, extracurricular service providers, employees in the private sector and public agencies, students at home and abroad, and different promoters of science and technology.


How did you identify and engage your community?

At the beginning we gave our challenge an appealing and slightly provocative title to get attention with it.

We titled it Technophobia is not for women.


In our discussion group we wanted to have people from different fields of STEM. We published an invitation to a consultative group with a short questionnaire, which allowed us to put together a diverse but relevant group of individuals who were able to shed light on our topic from different angles.


We put the invitation on all our communication channels (web page, two radio stations, social media, mailing list, posters, advertisement in our local paper and local magazine …) and at the same time we asked other interested partners to publish the invitation on their channels as well.


We got a great response of the interested public.

What is your overall challenge topic? Which concrete challenges have your communities decided to address and why?

The challenge of Kranj City Library is to promote equal opportunities for the inclusion of women in the STEM field.


Scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have remained predominantly male fields with low participation among women. Studies has shown that pandemic even decrease the numbers of female representation in STEM.

As part of the European Challenge project, the Kranj City Library decided on the topic of women's participation in STEM environments. We prepared a workshop with a consultative group from the local and wider environment. At the workshop, we talked about personal experiences and identified ways in which we could approach the challenge with its activities.

The core value that we promote is: equal opportunities for all. We will break down stereotypes, reveal new possibilities and encourage women to participate in the fields that are usually subject to stereotypes.

In our discussion group with the local community, we have identified following barriers that prevent women from getting more involved into the field of STEM:

  • General stereotypes that this field of study or interest is not for women

  • Low general awareness of the problem

  • There are not enough women role models in the field

  • There is also the phenomenon of the “glass ceiling” that with its conditions of work makes it difficult for women to progress to higher positions in the STEM field

  • There is not enough local media coverage of this topic





Some quotes from the participants of the discussion:

Ph.D. Metka Kralj: “Considering that only boys come to robotics, those girls who come are a little different, in a way special, rebellious to the point that their difference does not bother them. However, we will not attract most of the girls in this way and we have to approach them differently. "

Tilen Tomazin finds that 95% of participants that attend Lego robotics courses are boys. He finds programming a good entry point where girls can also get involved.

As the bigger challenge, Ph.D. Janez Bešter highlights the question of how to really inspire young people to be creative, to make something out of themselves and to know how to be persistent.

Špela Prijatelj Pajkić: “I want society to be able to address the child's real needs and interests. When we limit children to the interests and activities that should belong to their gender, we demotivate them and thus lose great scientists and good staff that could otherwise develop. "

Ph.D. Saša Novak concludes that as a society we can help the most with our attitude and she welcomes all initiatives in which society is changing into a more open one. She welcomes differences and equal opportunities.

Tools

The tools that helped us with Europe Challenge planning were:

Design thinking for libraries

Message house

A Community Dialogue Guide for Public Libraries


How are your communities driving the challenge and what tools are they using?

The members of the discussion group met on Zoom where we had moderated debate. We tried to cover the topic holistically and highlight the most pressing topics that would be addressed through various activities. The conversation was about various issues: from women's advancement in science, rewarding for achievements in technology, girls' education and guidance in the school system, good practices from abroad, prejudices against science and technical subjects, the importance of teachers and role models, and about the role which libraries can play in overcoming prejudices.


Through this conversation we found out that there is a lack of female role models in this area, which are important for young people in guiding their career choices. This is because there is a lack of women in leadership positions, in award nominations and thus in public appearances.

Based on this fact, they found that a Living Library would be an effective way of presenting women role models from different STEM fields. In June they joined forces with organizing the event: various institutions who were working in STEM helped with the women who were “living books” and role models from the field, also our local high school brought students to the event. In the meantime new partners who were not participating in the discussion group were getting involved. For instance – when we were searching for women role models from the field of STEM, we contacted institution that is doing the project Women engineer of the year. They recognized the value of what we are doing and wanted to help with engaging the women and with the media coverage.

Some explanation about Living Library event


A Living Library works like any other library, except that the “books” speak, as they are people with interesting stories, experiences and worldviews who are willing to share them with readers. The loan is limited in time, it is a dialogue (conversation) between the reader and the live book.


Students from our local high school that attended the event, stressed that the experience was very positive, that they got answers to the personal questions they were dealing with, that the event was very inspiring, some may even change their plans for the future. Among visitors were also parents that came with their children and were enthusiastic about the conversations that they were able to have.



Living Library in action

Robotics for Girls

The next group of people addressed the challenge of a general stereotype that the field STEM is not for women. At LEGO robotics workshops that were usually held in our library, we noticed that mostly boys attended them. This was also highlighted in the discussion group.


During summer local workshop provider Institute 4.0. organized LEGO workshops for girls. We wanted to address the parents who did not even think about such workshops for their daughters. There are usually one or two girls in the workshop. We, on the other hand, with the tactic of positive discrimination filled all 17 vacancies. The reactions of the girls were very positive.


In the discussion group we found out that moulding into individual roles progresses over the years. Adults are often put in one role that they play for life. With the usage of positive discrimination, we want to encourage the women to try something new and different.


How are your communities reimagining public space?

How do you see the solutions to your local challenge being replicable / adaptable for other people and in other European contexts?

“As a strong player in the public space, the library can address the widest public of the local environment and co-create programs with the local community that follow our goal of creating an environment of equal opportunities.”

PhD. Saša Novak shared her personal experience with us: “Towards the end of primary school, I already knew that I would be a chemist. For me, librarians have played a very important role in my life, so I think that the fact that library is embarking on this project is wonderful and necessary. In 6th grade, a librarian gave me a book about Marie Curie with the title Who is this woman. And it marked me for life. I recently found it at an antique shop. This is a very small book and not the best written. I don't know why it impressed me so much at the time, but it did. Even later, the librarian was an important person for me when I was choosing books for my daughter, she skilfully guided me through literature. Libraries have a very big influence on people and can play important roles in people’s lives. By offering stories of successful women for children and their parents, you can make a lot of changes. "

Comment of the Human Library visitor: Kim Komljanec and the girls.


As the STEM field is lacking women in all EU countries, we believe those micro projects with libraries and local communities can be easily replicated and provide successful solutions for the problem.

Human library is a great and very powerful concept which is adaptable to any topic that deals with stereotypes.

How does your local challenge redefine, rethink, reimagine public space?

With our theme we will upgrade our public space as a place that vocalizes critical thinking and deals with stereotypes.

This way we give voice to the local community and the chance to cooperate with possible solutions for the newly appearing challenges.


How does your local challenge connect with the wider Europe Challenge?

The challenge of encouraging women in STEM is also European challenge.

With dealing with the topic we promote equal opportunities for all. We will include good practices from Europe in the preparation of our activities.