The 11th round of Olga Rok Scholarship Competition for female librarians who in non-standard way stimulate social activity in libraries is on. The deadline for applications is on July 20.
The Olga Rok Scholarship Competition is financed from the endowment fund established at the initiative of her granddaughter Anna in 2012. This way she wanted to memorize life and work of her grandmother – a librarian in Warsaw. The objective of the competition is to support personal development of women-librarians all over Poland and collect and popularize women who – like Olga Rok – know how to mobilize themselves as well as others to look for new solutions, overcome stereotypes and stimulate development of community they are active in.
Female librarians from all over Poland can apply for a scholarship in two competition categories – the smaller library (at a village or a town of up to 50,000 residents) and the bigger library (at a town of more than 50,000 residents). The scholarship amount in both categories is the same – PLN 5,000. The Competition Committee will assess whether the candidate’s experiences can be inspiring for other women, what other librarians can learn from them, especially in the area of attracting new users and involvement in the life of local community, and also the applicant’s potential as leaders of change in their communities.
The Competition Committee is composed of:
- Sylwia Chutnik – expert in culture, a writer, a feminist, a civic leader, a columnist and readership popularizer;
- Beata Jasiak – manager of Instruction, Methodology and Readership Survey Division of Tadeusz Mikulski Dolnośląskie Province Public Library in Wrocław;
- Jacek Królikowski – President of the Information Society Development Foundation;
- Joanna Lempart – Program Director of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation;
- Paweł Łukasiak – President of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland;
- Anna Polus – deputy director of the C. Norwid Provincial and Municipal Public Library in Zielona Góra;
- Anna Rok – the initiator of the competition, Olga Rok’s granddaughter;
- Natalia Sarata – the RegenerAkcja Foundation;
- Agata Urbanik – Facilitation Support, a facilitator, coach and social researcher;
And the winners of the previous round of the competition:
- Monika Bonder, of Wola District of Warsaw Public Library, Branch of the No 25 Library for Children and Young People;
- Alena Yanukovich, of Broadway Branch of Józef Wybicki Municipal Public Library in Sopot.
The scholarship is co-funded by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and the Olga Rok Endowment Fund. The Fund Manager is the Academy for the Development Philanthropy in Poland which promotes the idea of endowment funds under the “We are today, tomorrow, forever” campaign. The Information Society Development Foundation, the manager of the Library Development Program addressed to libraries in villages and small towns is the substantive partner of this initiative.
