Outcomes of BiblioTech Project

In 2020, UNICEF in partnership with the Municipality of Tirana expanded their already successful partnership around children’s protection online - Friendly WiFi  and came up with the idea of transforming public libraries into technological hubs for internet literacy and online protection. The launching event of the “BiblioTech” in October 2020 saw the mayor of Tirana introducing the concept and encouraging young people to join the initiative and become champions of innovation and technology.

How significant is the change?

This change contributes to outcome 5 of the SOC CSSF Programme results framework “Prevent victimization in target countries, girls, boys, and adolescents have greater access to information on risks of sexual abuse and exploitation and how to protect themselves”.

The evidence gathered from UNICEF 2019  study “One Click Away” shows that Albanian children start using the Internet at the age of 9.3 years and this age is decreasing. 1 in 10 children reported at least one unwanted sexual experience through the Internet. Their parents meanwhile demonstrate digital skills equivalent to a 9–11 y.o. child. No surprise that the only practice which was reported by Albanian parents to manage their children’s exposure to harmful content online, was through restrictions.

And additional 2,300 library subscribers are also enjoying the new service. The BiblioTech also helped to incorporate “Friendly Wi-Fi” filtering solution into a new vision on how the public spaces can be organized to stimulate digital development of children and their caregivers in a safe environment. Therefore, the change triggered by these interventions is fundamental and sets the example of a new quality standard for public and private institutions working with children.

How did the project’s activities cause the change?

The Municipality of Tirana and UNICEF put in place a dedicated management team in charge of implementing the BiblioTech development in each public library. The right balance of choosing the necessary technological hardware and software that was user-friendly was also an important component of the success. This alowed to host multiple sessions, workshops, capacity building activities with ease and with excitement coming from the youth-led groups. Each week dedicated ICT experts offered thematic information sessions, workshops and technology facilitated activities on digital literacy, safety online and information technologies. The deployment of a Mobile Bibliotech was an important innovative approach too, which allowed to reach the most vulnerable children (often from Roma and Egyptian minority groups) in the communities located far from the libraries. 

UNICEF and the Municipality closely collaborated with ALBTelecom, the principle private partner and internet service provider, which ensured the internet provision through cable and wireless were “Friendly WiFi certified” protecting users from child sexual abuse materials and adult pornography. 

Overall, there were several core determinants which helped the BiblioTech initiative to scale and make change:

i) the concept was simply and very easy to explain to everyone;

ii) the issue of “internet safety and digital literacy” was an interpreting subject for all age groups and everyone could relate to it easily; 

iii) the set up was a great mix of the traditional library with an ambient environment and technological hub with lots of exiting gadgets;

iv) everything was designed around the existing capacities and resources, and thus making the transformation smooth and sustainable;

v) engagement of the Municipality and Private sector partner happened at the very conceptualization stage and hence everybody felt very strong connection and ownership of the process;

vi) UNICEF was always managing from the background, giving lots of space of recognition to all involved partners;

vii) BiblioTech initiative is very tangible. It provides mostly the soft skills but everyone can see and touch it, making it very ‘practical’ for visibility and promotion.