Live-stream recording from the conference Nordic Libraries Annual 2026. This live-streamed video includes a presentation by Paula Menéndez, who manages the library grants and coordinates the working group on accessibility and sustainability, and Ignacio Castillo, Deputy Director General for Library Coordination, both from the Spanish Ministry of Culture: “Spanish Libraries and Climate Change”.
Menéndez and Castillo describe how climate change is felt in Spain, from heatwaves and wildfires to the DANA storms that have also damaged libraries, and how libraries can be part of the response. They introduce the Spanish library system, with around 5,800 libraries and a decentralized structure coordinated by the Library Cooperation Council, and the council’s working group on sustainability and accessibility, which is preparing guidelines for the planning, design and equipment of library buildings. They also present the Ministry of Culture’s grants for modernizing municipal public libraries in municipalities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, covering accessibility, sustainability and equipment. The presentation shows how libraries are becoming climate shelters and asks whether it is a utopia for libraries to produce their own solar energy. In the Q&A with the moderator, Päivi Jokitalo, they discuss the biggest challenges of the work, the need to change librarians’ mindset and why libraries matter most as social hubs in small villages.
Nordic Libraries Annual is an annual conference that addresses topical issues in public libraries and library development. NLA 2026 was organized as a webinar on October 27, 2026 by the Finnish Supervisory Agency (LVV) in collaboration with Library Channel (Kirjastokaista).
The theme of the 2026 conference was “Libraries and preparedness”. The conference examined preparedness from different perspectives and from across Europe: what it means for the public and for public libraries, and what examples and experiences already exist within the library sector.
Read more:
All videos from the conference
Live-stream: Mikko Helander and Joonas Nevalainen
Producer: Riitta Taarasti
Produced by Library Channel (Kirjastokaista), 2026
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