The public libraries of Panevėžys, Klaipėda and Kaunas districts offer meaningful, useful and high-quality leisure activities for children and teenagers aged 10-15. Draugoteka - a free, new and innovative mobile app for Android and iOS mobile devices - has been launched.

 

"With our Norwegian partners Black Book AS, we have several important goals: to encourage children and teenagers to read, to help them understand themselves better, to teach them how to make quality social connections - to make real friends. We hope that the game format we have chosen will be attractive and valuable for the young generation of computer, smartphone and social networking users. We also hope that parents, guardians, teachers, psychologists and social workers will help us to promote the game", - says Raimonda Gvozdienė, Project Manager of the Regional Libraries Strategic Development Unit of the Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library of Panevėžys County.

 

What is Draugoteka about? In the library space, the player meets five strangers - Jonas, Klaudijus, Luna, Saulė ir Elija - teenagers with different interests, habits, lifestyles and experiences. His task is to make friends with them and collect as many hearts as possible to signify true friendship. The strangers, who become the player's friends, will tell their own stories, how they solved difficult problems in life, how (and which) books helped them to understand important things.

 

"In this way, Draugoteka will also have a therapeutic function - it will show the child or adolescent how and where they can seek help and answers to their questions, without preaching", - says R. Gvozdienė.

 

In the near future, the books mentioned in the Draugoteka app will be available in 39 public libraries in Panevėžys, Klaipėda and Kaunas regions. There will be special shelves. 77 new books have been handed over to each library.

The project has installed special book-issuing "post offices" in the same 39 libraries. This will allow young readers to pick up or return books in a non-contact way, at any time of their convenience, using a mobile app.

 

The project "Innovative Reading Promotion Solutions for Lithuanian Libraries in Regard of Developing Social Relationships between Children and Youth with the Environment" is implemented by the Panevėžys County Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library, Klaipėda County Ieva Simonaitytė Public Library, Kaunas County Public Library.

 

The project is funded by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism Programme "Culture" for 2014-2021. The project has a budget of EUR 219 978.