Ignite Talk

A few years ago in Milan, a group of citizens from different backgrounds, who barely knew each other, decided to address the lack of social cohesiveness in their residential neighborhood through the creation of a library. But then COVID arrived, leading to a collapse in social and cultural participation, especially in communities that already lacked cohesion before the pandemic. In 2022, the Europe Challenge – an ambitious initiative designed to explore how people can meet, live and work in Europe today – gave a team formed by public librarians and citizens the chance to shape a common solution to this issue through a trial-and-error project.

Host

Liù Palmieri

Liù Palmieri is in charge of the Innovation and Special Projects Office of the Milan Public Library system (Italy). She deals with strategic processes and projects regarding public libraries on a local, national, and international level. Two of her current projects include the strategic plan for Milan public libraries over the next four years and the network of spontaneous libraries in the city. She is also a member of the AIB (Italian National Association of Libraries) Public Libraries Evaluation committee.