doi: 10.19090/cit.2021.39.76-80
No. 39 (November 2021), p. 76-80

English Reading Club at the National
and University Library of the Republic of Srpska

Summary

It has been a long time since public libraries ceased to be places for borrowing books only. Along with the development of information technologies, libraries as well had to put some effort into being something more than just places where patrons come to borrow and return material from library holdings. In this article, the author will present the social role of a modern public library in the cultural and educational spheres of life through a program never held before at the National and University Library of the Republic of Srpska (NUL RS) in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). This program is entitled the English Reading Club (ERC). It started in February 2020 and is held once a month. The program is free and open to the general public. The most important qualities of the English Reading Club are bringing the community together, and encouraging lifelong learning by reading and discussing books on a regular basis in a safe and comfortable environment. The ERC combines the love for reading and learning with quality social time where its members talk not only about the material they read but also about the methods of English vocabulary mastery. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has practically locked down the whole planet, this program had to be adapted to the new situation and partially transferred online. Given that the members and leaders of the club are mostly English as Second Language (ESL) teachers, books conversations help them explore and apply new ways to encourage students’ positive attitudes toward reading and mastering English vocabulary in their classrooms. Although the club is open for all book lovers, it turned out to be visited mostly by women. Thus, the English Reading Club at the National and University Library of the Republic of Srpska has appeared to be a program for female cooperation and education, too.

Keywords:

Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka, National and University Library of the Republic of Srpska, English Reading Club, community learning, public libraries, reading, foreign languages, online learning, women in education

Submitted: 21st April 2021
Correction to the manuscript: 16th October 2021
Accepted for publication: 21st October 2021

English Reading Club at the National and University Library of the Republic of Srpska by Sonja Pržulj is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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