Speakers

Giulio Blasi is the founder and CEO at MLOL (MediaLibraryOnLine) the leading e-lending and digital library platform in Italy.

I run with Elenore Clavreul the international commission of the French library association (ABF).
At EBLIDA, I represent ABF and CFIBD (Comité français international bibliothèques et documentation) another important French librarian association that funds a lot of association representations)
Professionally, I run the Public department of Bordeaux public libraries.

Claude D. Conter, Head of the National Library in Luxembourg since 2020. German and Communication Studies in Berlin and Bamberg. Research assistant at the Universities of Bamberg, Munich and Sewanee (TN; USA) and at the National Center of Literature (L). Various publications on Luxembourg studies, the relationship between literature and politics, literature and law, drama and theatre, and contemporary literature.

Andrew Cranfield is the director of the Municipal Library of Tønder in Southern Denmark, approx. 7 KM north of the German Border.

Andrew served as director of EBLIDA from 2006-2009 and was elected to the EBLIDA Executive Committee in 2021 and is also a member of EGIL (Expert Group on Information Law).

Since 2021 he has also been a member of the Board of the Danish Association of Public Library Managers.

 Kaja Cunk is programme manager at Association for Culture and Education PiNA, with 10+ years of experience in managing, monitoring and evaluating international projects. Her expertise is in civic monitoring, participatory processes and citizens engagement.

She has more than 7 years of work experience in the field of preparing project applications for local (municipality) tenders, national and international calls (Erasmus+, CERV Programme, Creative Europe Programme, Norwegian Youth Employment Fund, Interreg Programme).

Over the years, she has led and moderated many public events, round tables, discussion evenings and political debates for regional and national authorities and representative bodies.

I am focused on engaging citizens of all ages in developing a more sustainable society and way of living. I help transform ideas into action and scale bottom-up initiatives to create change. My role varies from concept developer to project manager and social entrepreneur. Experienced guest speaker and workshop facilitator.

For a detailed profile visit LinkedIn.

Prior to the LGMA, he was the Deputy Director of the Qatar National Library between 2017 and 2019, and worked for nine years before that at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) headquarters in The Hague where he became Deputy Secretary General.

He is the current Chair of the National Authorities on Public Libraries in Europe (NAPLE) Forum, the Chair of IFLA’s Europe Regional Division, and a member of IFLA’s Regional Council, as well as a member of the Library Association of Ireland Council.

Sander van Kempen, M.Sc. Studied Cooperative Computing at Kenniscentrum Cibit / Middlesex University of London. He has a background in IT with several commercial organizations and set up his own business in 2000 with a focus on e-books. He moved to the public library sector in 2011 and has worked for the National Library since 2015. In this role he works with public libraries and participates in international organizations such as IFLA and NAPLE. He also works with public and national libraries in the Caribbean region since 2018.

Ilona Kish previously served as Secretary General of Culture Action Europe, a European Umbrella association promoting arts and cultural associations across Europe. She has extensive experience advocating towards the EU institutions and running awareness-raising campaigns, as well as a thorough working knowledge of both the operational and political functions of the various EU institutions.

• Since 2005 responsible for international cooperation within the  Network of Excellence  for Libraries (knb) at the German Library Association in Berlin, Germany
• between 2013- 2016 Head of the 'Libraries' Department at the Goethe-Institute (German cultural Institute), Head Office in Munich, Germany
• 1991 - 2003 Head of the libraries of the Goethe-Institutes in Tokyo, Japan,  and Paris, France   
• 1989-1991 Library Director at the German-American Institute in Heidelberg
• Member of Executive Committee in EBLIDA since 2019, since 2021 EBLIDA vice-president
• Member of IFLA Standing Committee  ‘Management of Library Associations’ (since 2017); and ‘Management and Marketing’ Section.
• Since August 2021 representing Germany in IFLA’s new Regional Division Europe.
• Various publications and lectures on international library topics
• Studies of library science (diploma) and comparative literature and linguistics (M.A.) at Stuttgart University, Germany

Rauha Maarno works with customer and public relations in Accessibility Library Celia in Helsinki. Her interests and expertise include accessibility, the role of libraries in the society and leadership for change. She has also worked with non-profit organization management for a strategic change towards more active advocacy for libraries.

Juha Manninen, MBA, serves as the Executive Director of the Finnish Library Association.

He has extensive hands-on experience in the field, having held numerous positions at the Turku City Library over 2 decades.
He advocated in Finnish Library Association 2012-2019 and is a member of IFLA Public Libraries Section since 2021.

He was a member in Finnish Library Act revision working group in 2015.

Dr. Rianne Melik is an associate professor at the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment of Radboud University,  (the Netherlands).

Her research focuses on geographies of encounter, studying a wide range of public spaces including open-air markets and public libraries. In the international, European-funded research project Infrastructuring Libraries in Transition (ILIT), she currently researches the public library as a social infrastructure and how it is a ‘constantly becoming’ organisation that is (re)created by staff, volunteers, patrons and other stakeholder each operating day. Rianne combines this research with nearly twenty years of experience as a library volunteer.

Luca has a background in cultural work with a focus on urban development issues.

She joined the team of PL2030 in November 2021 after several years of activity for the representation of interests of the profession of architects and urban planners at EU level.

She aims to contribute to the public and political visibility of the social and cultural relevance of public libraries in European cities.

As Library Director of Aarhus Public Libraries, Marie oversees Dokk1 (the main library) and 18 branches. Since the beginning of her career in 2001 she has been part of Aarhus Public Libraries’ development of the library as a democratic space – a non-commercial space that empowers citizenship, sustainable communities and human growth. Focusing on the knowledge city, user-involvement, partnerships, design thinking and rethinking of library space, she has investigated new technologies, involvement processes and organisational learning in library development.

Mairead Owens was appointed Dublin City Librarian on 1 April 2019. She joined the City Council from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) where she had been County Librarian for ten years. Mairead brings with her a wealth of experience, notably the development of the internationally acclaimed dlr LexIcon, the central library and cultural centre in Dún Laoghaire.

PhD in Information and Documentation Sciences (2018): "The legal regulation of Public Libraries in Portugal". Post-graduation in Library and Information Science (1996). Degree in History (1994). Director of the Public Library of Évora (2014-). Member of the Executive Committee of EBLIDA (2021-2024). Chair of EBLIDA's Library Legislation EG (2022). Researcher at CIDEHUS-University of Evora. Trainer in Libraries' sector since 2001. Visiting assistant professor at University of Évora (2014-2016). Member of Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists, Information and Documentation Professionals (BAD). Frequently invited to conferences, colloquia, and professional meetings, to report her professional experience in creating strategies for affirming the public library in the community, or to disseminate the results of research in policy/strategy for development of a national public libraries service and legal regulations.
Jury of the Portuguese Public Libraries Best Practices Award.

Librarian. Consultant for libraries and other information services. with special attention to social action and innovation, community transformation and sustainability. She combines these tasks with teaching in specialized courses, degrees and masters related to information management (UOC).

Chair of the  "libraries and Agenda 2030" Working Group of the Library Cooperation Council and participates as an expert in the Library Labs Working Group
Member of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Spain.

Member of the executive of EBLIDA and of the IFLA Regional Division. Former president of FESABID.

Inga Surgunte, Mg.art., Mg.philol., Culture Programme Director at the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO, Head of the Sustainable Development projects at the Latvian Museum Association.

Rooted in arts, literature and language studies, Inga has found her professional passion in the heritage field as it embodies a unique combination of scientific expertise and artistic creation and has proven its potential for being a part of solution for contemporary challenges.

Since 1999, a digital library educator and coordinator of the international and by distance courses DILL Digital Library Learning and MAIS Master Information Studies.

Currently she is Editor in Chief of Digital Library Perspectives, and Column Editor of International Information Library Review, partner of the TLIT4U Erasmus Project within the University of Parma Team.

She is Convenor of the IFLA Library History SIG and Treasure of the ASIS&T Education  SIG.

Giuseppe Vitiello has been Director, EBLIDA since 2019. From 1989 to 2018 he served as Head of Unit, Programme Adviser and Expert in various international organisations: European Commission, Council of Europe, ISSN International Centre, EU-ISS and NATO Defence College. Earlier in his carrier, he acted as Head R&D, National Library in Florence and lectured at the Universities of Orléans and Toulouse. He also held visiting positions at the Hochschule der Medien in Stuttgart and the University of Venice.

Ton van Vlimmeren is since 2018 President of EBLIDA, the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations. He is also active as one of the founders of Public Libraries 2030. For twenty years he was director governor of the Utrecht Public Library. He held various board positions in the library world and is active in IFLA, in the International network of the Bertelsmann Foundation, and of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gwenny is productmanager digital collections at Cultuurconnect. She is responsible for the Flemish e-book platform and in this position she contributes to the creation of a balanced ecosystem for e-books in Flanders.

Dr. Steven P.M. de Waal is an opinion leader, keynote speaker, author and board chairman of the Public Space Foundation. With years of experience as chairman of multiple boards, he earned his PhD on the subject of civil leadership.

For a detailed profile visit LinkedIn.

Dr. Ulla Wimmer is lecturer and researcher in library and information science with a strong background in the library field and work for the German Library Association. Her areas of expertise include library statistics, library management and the history and current role of public libraries.

Maarten Zeinstra LL.M. M.Sc. is an intellectual property lawyer (jurist) and information professional. With his one-man consultancy firm, IP-Squared, he provides strategic and practical advice in the public sector on how to provide more access to information, culture and knowledge. He is also the copyright coordinator for the Netherlands Association of the Archive Sector.