The beginning of November was marked by a much-anticipated opening of (physical) Library of Emotion at Kranj City Library, one of the libraries taking part in the European project “Libraries of Emotions”. Over 250 books, mostly written by European authors, have been granted space on our book shelves. We aimed at selecting prominent titles, including young adult novels and around 50 English titles. The books are marked with special emoji stickers which indicate different emotions love, anger, fear, sadness, surprise, and joy. The emojis permit easier and faster selection of an ideal book for the readers.
During the opening we first explained the main goals of the LOE project. The main objective is adaptation of traditional library practices to the digital environment and enhancement of the libraries’ primary mission which is the promotion of reading and searching for innovative approaches to encourage reading. In this regard, we launched an online platform which complements the aforementioned actual Library of Emotions. In the platform, the users have the possibility to review the recommended literature list and search the books according to the emojis and other criteria (e.g. when and where to read, for whom the book is recommended etc.). The participants were able to test themselves the functioning of the online platform.
Moreover, the audience was also intrigued by the added value of the project: bibliotherapy reading sessions. We described what bibliotherapy actually is, its objectives and the topics discussed in the bibilotherapy sessions which were already held for the project purposes. The themes ranged from being a woman, new reality (situation and changes due to covid-19), internet addiction, mourning, intrapersonal relations and many others. Our co-worker also read a passage from Erica Johnson Debeljak’s memoir Virgin Wife Widow Whore at the inauguration. The book won the Best First Book Award in this year’s 37th Slovene Book Fair.
In spite of the distressing theme narrated by the author, the event ended in a positive atmosphere. The participants were full of praise for the project. It gives great encouragement to our project team which eagerly looks forward to advancing the project and will continue to improve readers’ experience also in the future.