Školske knjižnice su u povijesnom razvoju mijenjale svoju ulogu. Prvotno su u manjim mjestima bile sjedište kulturnog i društvenog života. Kasnije postaju zatvorenije, okrenute svojoj neposrednoj ulozi u odgojno obrazovnom postupku. Danas se školska knjižnica poima kao izolirano mjesto namijenjeno isključivo učenicima i nastavnicima. Jednim dijelom, to je rezultat nedostatka primjerenog prostora koji predviđa standard i one se pretvaraju u svojevrsna “skladišta” sa smanjenom mogućnošću javne i kulturne djelatnosti.
Knjižnice Medicinske škole i Komercijalne i trgovačke škole Bjelovar dijele zajednički prostor od useljenja u novu zgradu 2008., čime se razlikuju od ostalih školskih knjižnica. U takvim uvjetima, gdje se raspolaže s prilagodljivim izložbenim prostorom, moguće je ostvarivanje javne i kulturne djelatnosti knjižnice. Izložbe su jedna od glavnih aktivnosti kojom se želi ostvariti kontakt sa širom zajednicom, a tijekom dvije godine ostvareno je nekoliko zapaženih izložaba. Osim uobičajenih poučnih izložaba, potaknute višegodišnjim iskustvom rada u narodnoj knjižnici, knjižničarke su se odlučile za organizaciju autorskih izložaba. Autorske izložbe fotografija i slika su, uz uobičajene korisnike školskih knjižnica – učenike i djelatnike škola, okupile širi krug korisnika, a ostvarena je i suradnja srodnih ustanova. Suradnjom knjižničara, knjižnica, škola i srodnih ustanova promovira se djelatnost knjižnica i postiže viša kvaliteta usluga, čime one postaju važan dio života zajednice.
Izložbama se nastoji predstaviti recentna likovna produkcija zavičajnih autora te jedan od zanemarenih dijelova: stvaralaštvo nastavnika i likovnih pedagoga. Budući da su obje škole strukovne, u formalnom obrazovanju nemaju umjetničke sadržaje (likovna i glazbena kultura) te su ove izložbe put do oblikovanja ličnosti mladog čovjeka koji ima kulturne potrebe.
U radu je prikazan konkretan primjer uključivanja školske knjižnice u širu zajednicu kroz izložbene aktivnosti.The role of school libraries has been changing over the years. Originally, they used to serve as centres of cultural and social life in smaller communities. Later this scope has narrowed down towards a more direct role in the educational process. Nowadays school libraries are conceived of as isolated places intended exclusively for students and teachers. This is partly so due to a lack of appropriate space required by the standard, resulting in their transformation into a sort of “storage rooms” with a decreased potential for an active public and cultural engagement.
The libraries of the Medical and Trade High Schools in Bjelovar have been sharing their facilities since they moved to the new school building in 2008, which renders them different from other school libraries. In such an environment, where adaptable exhibition room is available, it is possible for the library to undertake its cultural activities. Exhibitions are one of the main activities aimed at establishing a contact with the wider community and in the past two years there have been several very well-received ones. In addition to regular educational exhibitions and as a result of year-long experience of public library work, the librarians have decided to organize one-person exhibitions. Apart from regular school library users, such as school students and staff, such exhibitions of photographs and paintings have managed to attract a wider circle of people and stimulate a cooperation between related institutions. Such cooperation between librarians, libraries, schools and related institutions results in the promotion of library activities and a higher level of services offered, which makes them an important segment of the community life.
Exhibitions are conceived to present recent art work by local artists and focus on a neglected segment, being the works of art by school and art teachers. Given the fact that both schools are vocational, in their formal curricula they do not include any artistic courses (art and music). Exhibitions such as these thus provide a way towards developing the personality of young people who feel and display strong cultural needs.
The paper gives an account of a very concrete example of engaging a school library into the wider community through exhibitions
