During the 28th final, the chapter presented Lower Silesian Keys to Success in seven categories, as well as special distinctions. Members of the chapter:
- chairman – Dr Bogdan Cybulski, former president of the Regional Chamber of Audit in Wrocław;
- deputy chairwoman: Dr Ewa Mańkowska – former Deputy Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship;
- Sławomir Najnigier – president of the Association for the Promotion of Lower Silesia;
- Dr Paweł Wróblewski, MD – former Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, president of the Lower Silesian Medical Chamber;
- members: Adam Bisek – member of SPDS; Henryk Gołębiewski – former Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship; Dr Kazimierz Herlender, Eng. – professor at Wrocław University of Science and Technology; Dominika Kaczmarek-Kalisz – president of ZPB “Kaczmarek”; Prof. Leon Kieres, PhD hab. – former judge of the Constitutional Tribunal; Jacek Kowalski – president of the Wrocław Agglomeration Association; Czesław Kręcichwost – president of Euroregion Glacensis, member of SPDS; Prof. Tomasz Nowak, PhD hab. – former director of the Botanical Garden in Wrocław; Cezary Przybylski – former Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship; Piotr Roman – Mayor of Bolesławiec, member of SPDS; Dr Stefan Sterc – president of SJOS sp. z o.o., member of SPDS; Dr Roman Szełemej, MD – Mayor of Wałbrzych; Jan Zając – president of “Pergamena”, member of SPDS; SPDS secretary: Ryszard Chruścicki.
– We attach particular importance to how candidates function in their immediate surroundings. It matters to us whether a candidate fulfils their public duties and cooperates with local authorities and non-governmental organisations. We try to recognise and reward the achievements of organisations and individuals who also work in communities far from major centres, because positive impulses are particularly needed there – says Bogdan Cybulski, chairman of the Chapter.
This year, the Municipal Public Library – Knowledge Centre in Bolesławiec was among the winners of the Lower Silesian Key to Success in the category “For the best tourism initiative or organiser of mass cultural, recreational or sporting events”. The honour was accepted by Anna Idkowiak, director of the institution, accompanied by a team of colleagues.
The municipal authorities on the Bolesławiec library:
The C. K. Norwid Municipal Public Library in Bolesławiec – Knowledge Centre is the first institution of its kind in Lower Silesia to combine the features of a modern library and media library with functions associated with a knowledge centre and informal education, carrying out tasks in the fields of culture and art. An institution with traditions, but in an entirely new form, has appeared on Lower Silesia’s cultural map. The Library – Knowledge Centre has become a “third place” for many people, immediately after home and work or school. Visitors spend their time here, and more than 500,000 people from across the voivodeship have already used its services. The mission and vision of the MBP-CW include integration and lifelong learning; openness to the world and diversity; accessibility; international contacts; cooperation with local communities, associations and businesses; learning through play and informal education. The Library – Knowledge Centre has operated in its new building since 2018. However, the Library has been active in the region for nearly 80 years. The period since the opening of the new premises has been filled with many interesting cultural events. The library has changed its character, becoming a modern centre for meetings, local initiatives, integration and openness to the world. These have included author meetings, events promoting reading, learning through play, experiments and interactive exhibitions.
The offer of this unique place includes, among other things:
- book discussion clubs: the “Książniczki” adult BDC, the Deaf Reader’s BDC, the Vegefani BDC, the “Męskie czytanie” BDC, a children’s BDC, the “Stowarzyszenie (nie)poważnych literatów” Youth BDC, the Poetry Lovers’ BDC and the Fantasy Lovers’ BDC;
- interest clubs: the Włóczykija Club, Women’s Circle, French themes (“All Year with French”, Café français en ligne) and English Thursdays;
- workshops and themed series: Let’s Meet at the Library, library lessons, art classes, author meetings for different age groups, Puzzles at the Library and Let’s Play Board Games;
- an offer for seniors: a computer course for seniors, Bibliosmart – learning about modern technologies used in the library, Eco-Senior and A Book for a Senior;
- activities of the Municipal Environmental Education Centre (an integral part of MBP-CW): outdoor classes for children and young people, knowledge competitions, beautification of the city and cooperation with allotment gardeners to develop the city’s “green lungs”;
- the “My Offline World 2.0, or Workshops Open to Integration” addiction-prevention programme;
- national and global activities and campaigns: Earth Day, European Mobility Week, Codeweek, National Reading, All of Poland Reads to Kids, Library Night, Library Week and the Lower Silesian Science Festival.
The library was selected as the first SOWA location in Lower Silesia – the Zone of Discovery, Imagination and Activity established as part of a nationwide programme of the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw and the Ministry of National Education. The Copernicus Science Centre zone is fully equipped and promotes knowledge and science in an unconventional way. The activities of MBP-CW also provide inspiration in ecology, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, care for the environment and the immediate surroundings, which directly affect everyone’s quality of life. Experiences carried out in these fields have been presented at international conferences and meetings. In connection with their professional activity, including the “French themes” club, and by going beyond the Library’s basic work, MBP-CW employees seek new challenges and present the operation of the Bolesławiec cultural institution during international placements. A library employee is currently completing a placement at the Bibliothèque publique d’information – Centre Pompidou in Paris. They are discovering the work of this remarkable library while also promoting and presenting what MBP-CW has developed and can be proud of. Such contacts, experiences and exchanges enable the Library – Knowledge Centre to develop new areas of activity and establish new international connections.
The Municipal Public Library – Knowledge Centre was selected for the elite group of libraries in Poland that, through the Alma library system, have been co-cataloguing with the National Library since 2023, jointly creating the national library collection, as part of the project “Building a Nationwide Library Network through an Integrated Library Resource Management System”. The Library – Knowledge Centre is part of a network of libraries from across the country. Through contacts, meetings and joint activities, librarians develop their skills, promote Bolesławiec’s reading activities nationwide and participate in landmark events for the nation’s written heritage, such as the opening of the Palace of the Republic in Warsaw and the release of the National Library’s most valuable collections. MBP-CW in Bolesławiec has carried out many projects with foreign partners. The Municipal Environmental Education Centre, which shapes pro-environmental attitudes among the region’s residents, is an important part of the activities of the Library – Knowledge Centre in Bolesławiec. A significant area of MBP-CW’s work is the organisation of author meetings, which attract large audiences and help develop visitors’ reading interests. The meetings are interpreted into sign language to include deaf people in the Library’s cultural events.
An important part of the Library – Knowledge Centre’s cultural programme consists of activities promoting the history and past of our ancestors connected with people resettled from the eastern borderlands. For years, MBP-CW has cooperated with the Society of Friends of Lviv and the South-Eastern Borderlands, jointly organising author meetings, concerts, lectures and performances presenting the history of the borderlands. The enormous collection of literature about the borderlands, authors originating from the borderlands and works devoted to the region is unique on a national scale. Thanks to this cooperation and donations from members of the Bolesławiec branch, the Library created a Borderlands Corner with a separate collection.
Such extensive cultural and educational activity by the Municipal Public Library – Knowledge Centre in Bolesławiec is possible thanks to the commitment, knowledge and skills of its staff, supported by contacts and cooperation with many entities, institutions and companies. Its main partners include: the National Library in Warsaw; the T. Mikulski Lower Silesian Public Library in Wrocław; the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw; the Jelenia Góra Regional Information and Education Centre – Karkonoska Library in Jelenia Góra; Amazon Foundation (Kindloteka STEM); the Bolesławiec branch of the Society of Friends of Lviv and the South-Eastern Borderlands; Euroregion Nysa; the Polish Association of the Deaf; Migaj Sercem Association; the Friends of the Drohobych Region Association Correspondents’ Circle; Głogowska Edukacja Kresowa; the Polish Beekeepers’ Association; and others.