Karazin University Holds Two-Day Workshop on the Operation and Development of Libraries in Penal Institutions in Kharkiv, Poltava, and Sumy Regions

As part of the program of activities aimed at developing educational, informational and outreach, research, and intellectual cooperation between the Institute of Continuing Education of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and the Department of Social and Educational Work with Convicted Persons of the North-Eastern Interregional Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Ministry of Justice, with the support of the Central Scientific Library of Karazin University and the active participation of the Kharkiv Regional Universal Scientific Library, a two-day workshop was held for employees of the North-Eastern Interregional Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Ministry of Justice and the state penal institutions under its jurisdiction. The workshop was entitled “Planning, Organization, and Development of a Modern Library in Penal Institutions as a Resource, Information, Educational, and Accessible Hub: Specifics and Approaches.”

The workshop aimed to contribute to the creation of an accessible space for providing information support to library users and visitors in penal institutions.

The implementation of the workshop’s main objective contributed to exploring modern approaches to planning, ensuring the stable operation, and developing libraries in educational and correctional colonies in Kharkiv, Poltava, and Sumy regions as modern accessible hubs.

During the workshop, Mykhailo Tatarinov, Director of the Institute of Continuing Education, and Nataliia Shostko, Director of the Kharkiv Regional Universal Scientific Library, introduced participants to the principles of standardized book cataloguing in a modern library, taught them the fundamentals of planning the stable operation of a library to provide information support and develop users’ media literacy, and presented options for creating a modern library space as a coworking area for visitors. They also provided practical advice on the use of artificial intelligence in preparing creative exhibitions, news presentations, and thematic meetings, taking into account the specific nature of the institution’s activities. A highlight of the event was an introduction to the workflow in the “BiblioDigitalHub: Digital Support for Education and Science” system.

The practical part of the workshop involved participants developing specific action plans for those responsible for the stable operation of libraries, aimed at creating an open and comfortable space for learning, working with literature, and visitors’ self-education, as well as developing individual models for the effective operation and development of libraries in the respective institutions. These tasks were completed and submitted for monitoring and the incorporation of necessary recommendations.

At the final stage of the workshop, participants received answers to their questions and took part in a feedback session on the results of the training and its practical component.

Yurii Mosiichuk, Head of the Department of Social and Educational Work with Convicted Persons of the North-Eastern Interregional Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Ministry of Justice, expressed his sincere gratitude to the administration of Karazin University for its longstanding and ongoing cooperation in promoting the resocialization of persons in the respective institutions, as well as for providing training to employees of the Department and correctional colonies on current issues in the development of modern education, science, and innovation.