Scientific Secretary’s Note:

Holding this international conference is part of the commitments of the Jean Monnet Joint Project with the European Commission entitled "European Union Plans and Experiences for Public Libraries: Applicability for Iran." The project was submitted by Allameh Tabataba’i University to the European Union’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency in the form of a Jean Monnet Programme grant proposal.  In September 2019 it was judged and announced as the sole grant winner from Iran.

The Jean Monnet Programme, also known as the Jean Monnet Activities, is a European Union initiative to encourage teaching, research and reflection in the field of European integration studies in higher education institutions. The programme is named in memory of Jean Monnet (1888-1979), a French diplomat regarded by many as a chief architect of European unity.  The initiative, originally launched in 1990, was opened in 2001 to higher education institutions from all around the world. In 2014 it became part of the Erasmus+ programme.

The current project has covered a two-year period. Its main collaborators are two Iranian professors of Library and Information Science (now officially called Knowledge and Information Science): Dr. Farideh Ossareh, from Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz; and Dr. Rahmatollah Fattahi, from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

The purpose of the conference is to present the results of the project and to share the public library experiences of European and other countries with the Iranian academic community and librarians.

The conference will focus on the following:

  • The structure, organization, and strategies of public libraries in Iran and Europe
  • Specialized and personalized services in public libraries in Iran and Europe
  • Public libraries and civil society in Iran and Europe
  • The review, analysis, and developmental design of future services in public libraries in Iran and Europe

Given the focus on public library experiences of countries outside Iran, we invite specialists and experts from other countries to present papers regarding practices there. Papers will be reviewed by the scientific committee, which will select items to be presented orally or in print in the conference proceedings. It is hoped that the presentations will help energize Iran's public libraries to develop the services needed by our nation’s civil society.

I would like to thank all the members of the Scientific and Executive Committee—Dr. Mandana Tishehyar, the Director of International Academic Cooperation at Allameh Tabatabai University, and the officials of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Allameh Tabatabai University—who are involved in the preparations for this conference.



Dr. Golnessa Galyani-Moghaddam,

Jean Monnet Project Coordinator and Conference Manager,

Tehran, Iran, 2021