
Żory Municipal Public Library

Żory - Poland
Żory Municipal Public Library is a unique place on the cultural map of the city. We perfectly combine our primary obligation to collect and disseminate collections with the idea of lifelong learning. Through the offered forms of activation, our users participate in the process of individual development and self-realization. The area of our activity covers children, adolescents, working and non-working adults and seniors, offering them a diverse offer of cultural, educational and upbringing activities.
We promote reading, organize meetings with people of culture and educational workshops in various fields. Paying much attention to non-formal education, we undertake activities aimed at broadening knowledge, acquiring skills that are mainly based on practice, experience and activity. They include, among others workshops and discussion panels on socially important topics (e.g. women's rights, violence, national minorities, migrants, terrorism), popularizing new technologies (programming, robotics, 3D printing, computer graphics, stop-motion and film workshops), meetings to support repatriates and refugees. We organize conferences and festivals of science and literature. In the library space we have an art gallery where we organize periodic art exhibitions of visual artists - both amateurs and professionals - not only from our city or Silesia, but also more broadly. In order to make art more accessible, we run two types of workshops called "Art - my passion". In order to expand the educational offer, we implement national and international projects. Thanks to such activities, we influence the development of an attitude of openness, understanding and acceptance.
The library has over 11,000 registered active users, with a number over 300,000 visits annually. A team of 43 people works in various departments of our library. 20 of them are involved in teaching adult learners. Our librarians are well-educated people in various fields, not only in librarianship, with various skills in the field of literature, art, film, ICT and many others. They are well prepared for their profession and the activities they conduct in the library. Many of them also have pedagogical training. They gain professional experience not only in Poland, but also through participation in many international projects.