Newcomer: Best Practices on Community Librarianship in Europe

Abstract: This article describes a European curriculum for community librarians as a result of the NEWCOMER Project. The methodology adopted by the NEWCOMER Project was based on building a network of community libraries sharing their experience and knowledge during transnational meetings. The partners of the NEWCOMER Project discussed the profile of the community librarian in their different contexts and shared a curriculum for community librarianship, guidelines for recruiting community librarians, and methods for continuous lifelong learning. To further support the community librarian profile in Europe, the NEWCOMER Project has produced a handbook of good practices for libraries. A policy recommendation has been created by the project that can lay the foundations for building community libraries beyond the duration of the project.