9 March 2026

Priority for heads of national libraries in the Baltic States: digital security and protection of cultural heritage

Aušrinė Žilinskienė, Director General of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, organised a meeting of the heads of the national libraries of the three Baltic States. The directors of the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian libraries agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership, emphasizing the importance of neighbourliness in addressing geopolitical challenges, protecting cultural heritage, as well as the need for regional representation in European institutions.

This meeting, held at the National Library of Lithuania, marks a new stage of cooperation – all three directors took up their current positions in 2023–2024. The Director General of the National Library of Lithuania welcomed Dagnija Baltiņa, Director of the National Library of Latvia and a recognized UNESCO expert, and Martin Öövel, Director General of the National Library of Estonia.

Neighbourhood as a guarantee of security

According to A. Žilinskienė, today keeping close ties with our closest neighbours is not a choice, but a necessity. “This meeting is a natural continuation of our relationships with our neighbours and closest colleagues. It is also an opportunity to discuss the most pressing issues for all three institutions. One of them is the LiLaEst forum organized by our library this year, which will be dedicated to cultural identity and its transformations. The geopolitical situation also dictates new rules to which we must adapt”.

From digitization to evacuation plans

At the working meeting, the heads of national libraries discussed areas in which the Baltic countries could work together:

• Crisis management 
  Based on the invaluable experience of Ukrainian libraries, specific plans for the protection of cultural values and possible evacuation were discussed in order to prevent the destruction or theft of heritage during extreme situations. Colleagues from Latvia and Estonia were presented with the experience and knowledge of the National Library of Lithuania, gained during functional exercises organized by the Ministries of Culture, which tested the readiness to evacuate exceptional movable cultural assets from memory institutions in Vilnius.

• Digital sovereignty 
  Discussions focused on the integration of information systems, data connectivity, and strengthening the use of minority languages (Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian) in the digital space.

Guests were introduced to the “eCulture” platform, which will be launched in May and will feature more than 1 million cultural objects, and also over 100 virtual cultural stories. The platform is being developed by the National Library of Lithuania in collaboration with more than twenty partners.

• Regional voice in Europe 
  A single position was agreed upon to represent the region’s interests in international institutions such as UNESCO, LIBER, IFLA, CENL, Europeana, and others.

• Continuing traditions: LiLaEst 2026 
  This year, the National Library of Lithuania is taking over the baton of organizing the international Baltic forum LiLaEst. This unique tradition, which has been bringing together specialists from the national libraries of the three countries since 1968, will move to the ethnographic region of Žemaitija on June 10-12 this year. The forum will serve as a platform for discussions and practical solutions on how to strengthen the role of libraries in society.

Vision: the library as a pillar of society

All three leaders emphasized the social function of libraries. Latvian representative D. Baltiņa highlighted the goal of making libraries a pillar of values for every resident. Estonian leader M. Öövelis highlighted the importance of cooperation with educational and scientific institutions in order to increase social inclusion, while A. Žilinskienė emphasized the importance of cultural heritage as the basis of national memory and citizenship, as well as the significance and accessibility of digitization.