Almost PLN 55 million in funding for 2024-2025 will be awarded, by a decision of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, to 27 libraries that received the highest scores in the third call under the National Reading Development Programme 2.0 Priority 2, Intervention Direction 2.1 ‘Library Infrastructure 2021-2025’.

The call for applications lasted until 10 October 2023. A total of 114 applications were submitted, of which 111 were formally correct. The tasks for which funding could be obtained include: construction, reconstruction, reconstruction, adaptation or modernisation of a library building with its equipment.

The Minister of Culture and National Heritage decided to award funding to 27 libraries that received the highest number of points obtained in the substantive and strategic assessments for a total amount of PLN 54,773,288 (in the years 2024-2025).

Funding from the budget of the National Programme for the Development of Readership 2.0 – Intervention Direction 2.1 may be applied for by local government cultural institutions – municipal public libraries that are independent cultural institutions and municipal cultural institutions comprising public libraries for which the founding body is, respectively, a rural municipality and an urban-rural municipality with no population limit and an urban municipality with up to 100,000 inhabitants.

The National Programme for the Development of Readership 2.0 is a multi-annual government programme for the years 2021-2025, which aims to support, promote, and develop readership in Poland, shape pro-reading attitudes, increase access to all book formats, strengthen competence in the use of the mother tongue and the role of public libraries as local centres of social life and centres of access to culture and knowledge.  The Programme comprises four priority support areas, managed by the National Library, the Book Institute, the National Cultural Centre and the Ministry of Education and Science.

Adrian Andrzejewski