ICI London is thrilled to participate in EUROLIS Seminar 2025, Open Libraries. Equity Across and Beyond the Shelves.
Libraries are evolving in step with contemporary societies and their challenges. No longer confined to rows of shelves, today’s libraries are dynamic, multifunctional spaces where inclusivity, accessibility and the sharing of knowledge are central to their mission.
To promote openness, diversity and equity is to create spaces that welcome all, reflect a plurality of voices and cultures and actively remove barriers to access. Modern libraries are places of encounter and exchange, supporting communities with opportunities to learn, connect and create.
This year’s Eurolis Seminar will highlight how libraries across Europe are responding to the challenges ahead—by hosting engaging events, creative in-person workshops and initiatives that foster digital literacy and social inclusion. Together, we will explore how libraries can continue to serve as open gateways to equity, across and beyond the shelves.
Italian speaker is Beatrice Pallotta Fornaroli, Librarian in Reggio Emilia and specialised in Children’s Literature. Beatrice’s presentation will be Nati per Leggere: Promoting Family Reading in Early Childhood in Italy. Nati per Leggere (Born to read) is the Italian national programme that promotes reading in families with preschool children as a key factor in child development and well-being. Beatrice will outline the programme’s goals and values, the scientific evidence supporting it, the crucial role of networks, places and professionals involved. Additionally, she will focus on the programme’s impact on communities, presenting data and reflects on the future challenges ahead.
This year’s Seminar is an in-person event at Europe House in London (32 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3EU) on Friday 21st of November 2025, from 10.00 am to 4.30 pm. This event will be conducted in English.
More info about the Seminar HERE
Free attendance and booking is required. To reserve your spot, click HERE
This project is co-organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in the United Kingdom and EUROLIS, an association of librarians and information professionals from Austria, Greece, Italy, France, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK from the European Cultural Institutes based in London. Founded in 2002, Eurolis believes that libraries and information services are vital for building an educated and open society, based on the idea of a free Europe that flourishes through its diversity and tolerance of other cultures. This collaborative project is created by trust and cooperation between its members, emphasising that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.
Beatrice Pallotta Fornaroli is a librarian in Reggio Emilia, specialised in children’s literature. Since 2017, she has been promoting the Nati per Leggere program. She is a member of the Italian Library Association (AIB) and, within this role, she is part of the Nati per Leggere Editorial Observatory, where she has contributed to the publication of the Bibliographic Guide for Parents and Future Readers (2021, 2023, 2025 editions).