With engagement campaigns and a culminating event on 8 November, the National Library of Latvia invites everyone to celebrate 500 years since the first Latvian book

On 8 November, the National Library of Latvia (NLL) invites everyone to participate in the culminating of the series of events 500 Years of  Latvian Books – Through Darkness with a Book – marking 500 years since the first book in Latvian was printed. The events will take place at the NLL, but will be broadcast live from the NLL in 98 libraries across Latvia, as well as in diaspora communities. More than 30 locations will complement the live broadcast with special in-person events.

Reinis Suhanovs, Director of the 8 November event Through Darkness with a Book, and NLL staff invite everyone to a joint celebration – the 500^th anniversary of Latvian books, which is significant for the entire nation in Latvia and around the world. The Director emphasises: “A written text is a source of strength for a nation. Rephrasing a song by the band Pērkons: As long as there are writers and readers of Latvian texts, we will continue to live.”

An extensive programme of free events for different age groups and interests is planned at the NLL.

From 11:00 to 20:00 in the Ziedonis Hall, an event Through Darkness with a Book will be held in eight stages, and be joined by libraries throughout the regions of Latvia and diaspora communities, both with their own broadcasts and by watching the live broadcast from the NLL. Eight planned stages: “Press Breakfast: Newspapers are the Draft of History”, “Children’s Menu: Children – Authors of Books”, “Business Lunch: Bitcoin Should also be Discussed in a Coherent Text”, “Local Historian’s Lunch: It Happened Here”, “Afternoon of Fiction: Book Stories”, “Political News: Books as an Element of National Security”, “Digital Dinner: How Does Reading Manifest Itself in the Digital Age?”, “Lasāmreivs (Reading Rave): Books that Let You Dance!”

A variety of camera events will also take place in the NLL reading rooms on different floors of the building – participants are invited to 1:1 conversations and special thematic collections dedicated to the event. For example, the Humanities and Social Sciences Reading Room will host a discussion with writers Māris Bērziņš and Osvalds Zebris, and will unveil a selection of the most-read fiction books in Latvia. The Economics and Law Reading Room will host a 1:1 conversation with entrepreneur Viesturs Tamužs and digital security expert Elviss Strazdiņš, as well as a selection from the collection Financial Literacy.

In the Periodicals Reading Room, everyone is invited to join in discussions with erudite scholars – NLL leading researcher and historian Mārtiņš Mintaurs, and literary scholar and researcher at the University of Latvia Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, Jānis Oga. You will also be able to acquaint yourself with the collection of Ventas Bebru Ziņas un citi stāsti. Laikraksti un žurnāli latviešu ilustratoru darbos (Venta Beaver News and Other Stories. Newspapers and magazines in the works of Latvian illustrators). The Audiovisual Reading Room is dedicating its collection to another special cultural anniversary – the centenary of Latvijas Radio (Latvian Radio). In the Map Reading Room, you will be able to meet historian and education expert Edgars Plētiens.

The Children’s Literature Centre will be waiting especially for the youngest visitors to the NLL. It will feature the opening of the Young Booksellers Exhibition, where visitors will be able to view the books created by children from various parts of Latvia and the diaspora as part of the My Book campaign. Poet and writer Inese Zandere and director of Istabas teātris (Room Theatre) Jānis Znotiņš will also be here to chat with the kids. Throughout the day, the NLL atrium will host a procedural installation-performance entitled Writer. Book. Reader, as well as the ceremonial conclusion of the My Bookshelf campaign and the binding of a book created jointly by the public. Everyone is invited to bring their own gift to the People’s Bookshelf throughout the day – a special book with a personal message for future generations of readers.

The programme Pagrabs (Cellar), dedicated to alternative reading, will welcome visitors on the

 ground floor (-1) of the NLL. Alternative readings show that text is viable outside the book – as an act of self-expression or a collective gesture, a tattoo on the skin, graffiti in the urban environment, or an entry in a diary. It exists in various forms and transforms into a living experience that finds its place in the body, mind, and space.

During the event, visitors are invited to see a specially prepared selection of self-published, desk-bound, or banned literature from various periods. Dramatists Jānis Balodis and Elizabete Šiklova will focus on writing as an individual or collective experience. The exhibition Graphic Content, created by students of the Latvian Academy of Culture, invites visitors to reflect on how individuals use public space for self-expression. An insight into tattoos as an object of scientific interest will be provided by a lecture given by Ieva Lībiete, Director of the Anatomy Museum of Rīga Stradiņš University. The programme will also be supplemented by a tattoo workshop. Inspiration for texts will be provided by the creative and playful text design project iidziiba and the Gothic calligraphy pop-up corner by NLL museum educator Dace Pūka. A special experience, viewing handwriting as an essential form of design, will be offered by Elīza Siliņa’s work Handwriting for Life.

The NLL offers a reminder that until 8 November, everyone is invited to participate in the public campaign My Bookshelf by taking a photo of their home library and sending it in with a short description. The form is available here: http://ej.uz/LG500-anketa

The event cycle 500 Years of  Latvian Books and its culminating event Through Darkness with a Book are supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia and the State Culture Capital Foundation.

The 500th anniversary of Latvian books is included in UNESCO’s calendar of Latvian anniversaries this year as a date of cultural and historical significance that marked a decisive beginning for the spread and development of the Latvian language and the creation, existence and identity of the nation.

For more information:

Aiva Rozenberga

Representative of the event series 500 Years of  Latvian Books

National Library of Latvia

E-mail: Aiva.Rozenberga@lnb.lv

Telephone: +371 29462451

Agija Ābiķe

Head of Public Relations

National Library of Latvia

E-mail: Agija.Abike@lnb.lv 

Telephone: +371 27440994