Lithuania

The Lithuanian Section of IBBY has been established by the initiative of several children‘s book specialists in 1992, shortly after Lithuania restored its independence. The section is led by a longtime chairman Kęstutis Urba. It is located in the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, and is closely associated with the Children and Youth Literature Department.

In 1993, a still very young Lithuanian Section of IBBY had the honor and responsibility to host the second Baltic Children's Literature Forum. It gathered book specialists from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Russia. Since then numerous events and conferences for children’s literature have been organized. The Lithuanian Section of IBBY has found common ground with The Swedish Section of IBBY and other Swedish institutions, resulting in a beautiful friendship. In 2015 an international conference “Children and youth reading as a challenge in the 21st Century: Libraries for Social Change in 2015” has been organized to honor the state visit to Lithuania of the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

The Lithuanian Section of IBBY is responsible for:

• Organizing annual events including International Children's Book Day celebration (April 2nd), during which the most notable children‘s book authors and illustrators are awarded and the previous year in children‘s book world discussed; scientific-practical seminar Readings of Pranas Mašiotas, during which different topics on children’s literature are analyzed, presented and discussed; international seminar Sea and Children‘s Literature, which gathers book specialists from neighbouring countries at the Baltic Sea.
• Carrying out various cultural project and conducting a wide range of seminars, conferences, exhibitions, launches of new books, writers‘, artists‘ and translators‘ anniversaries, and other events.
• Appointing awards for the best books of the year, awards for children's authors, illustrators, researchers, promoters of reading (8-9 different categories each year).
• Publishing of quarterly magazine “Rubinaitis” about children‘s books for teachers, librarians, literary researchers, writers, illustrators, publishers, parents and students since 1994. The magazine covers children's literature theory, history and criticism, introduces the work of Lithuanian and foreign writers and illustrators, reviews recently published books, features interviews with famous literary and artistic people, contains a lot of useful information and bibliographic material.
• Cooperating with publishers to analyze new publications and make recommendations to ensure that the world‘s children literature classics and most notable contemporary works are published in Lithuanian language. Conducting the reading research „TOP5 most popular books“ based on the questionnaires from Lithuanian pupils.
• Cooperating with numerous institutions (libraries, publishing houses, universities, schools, theaters, etc.), creative organizations, associations and other institutions in Lithuania and worldwide.