RSU Library Once Again Classified as Library of National Importance

In October 2021, the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Library was undergoing an accreditation process. According to the laws regulating libraries, this needs to happen every five years. As a result, the RSU Library was once again classified in the highest category, a library of national importance. This title will now be in place for the next five years. 

This status is approved by the Latvian Library Council of the Ministry of Culture (MoC) on the recommendation of the MoC Library Accreditation Commission. There are more than 1,000 libraries in Latvia, but currently only six of them have acquired the highest status.

According to Ināra Aploka, Director of the RSU Library, ‘this is not just a decorative title, but comes with many responsibilities. For example, the RSU Library should be accessible to every user in the country and provide services to anyone who is interested.’

Since 2009, the RSU Library is also the main medical library in Latvia. The library and its branch, the Information Centre for Healthcare Professionals, provides methodological assistance and support to Latvian healthcare professionals.

The Library Accreditation Commission consists of leading Latvian library specialists, including from the National Library of Latvia. Before the accreditation process, a large package of documents, the RSU Library’s self-assessment, was prepared according to various criteria, such as a description of the collection, the library’s information system, its international cooperation, participation in projects, cooperation with researchers, the characteristics of research, the library’s databases, a forecast of how the library’s services will develop, a technological provision, and so on.

Representatives of the Accreditation Commission visited the RSU Library in person, while a conversation with RSU management took place remotely. The members of the commission expressed their admiration for the work that has been done at the RSU Library. Anita Goldberga, Member of the Commission, Deputy Director of the National Library of Latvia, noted that

'libraries at other Latvian higher education institutions could learn a lot from the RSU Library’.