EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - At home in the library (Thuis in de bieb)

At home in the library (Thuis in de bieb)

Introduction

The City of Leiden had too little meeting places for girls of foreign origin. In the "at home in the library" project, such ¨places are provided within the municipal libraries.

Problem

The Leiden study into what young people of foreign extraction do in their spare time revealed that girls had little to do. They spend a lot of time indoors. This led to the idea for "At home in the library". The project encourages girls of foreign origin to go out more. The library is used as a meeting place where they can come into contact with each other.

Description

Members of the Leiden municipal council concluded in a study into leisure pursuits of young people of foreign origin that there were insufficient meeting places for girls. This resulted in a project called "At home in the library - a project for world girls". The project provides a meeting place for girls of foreign origin aged between 12 and 18.

Approach

Many projects for young people of foreign origin are set up from the baseline of the problems they face (usually boys). In contrast, this project focuses on the opportunities open to young people of foreign origin, i.e. learning and personal development. The project succeeded in reaching a group that is particularly difficult to reach, namely girls of foreign origin. The impression exists that they have a more positive attitude towards integration than boys of foreign origin. The example these girls set has a knock-on effect on the district and other young people.

Results

Fifty girls regularly visit the girls' corner in the library.
The different areas of the girls' corner (settees, homework tables and Internet workstations) are used so intensively that there is not always enough room for everybody.
The municipality is keen to expand the project to include other libraries in Leiden.
The fact that so many girls use the meeting place shows that parents support the idea.
The project recently won the "Pearl of Integration" award. This prize goes to the most successful Dutch integration project.

Beneficiaries

Local girls of foreign origin.

Resources used

The idea came directly from grassroots level among people of foreign origin. An important aspect of "At home in the library" is that parents support the project. Their daughters are able to meet in a safe environment and in a public place. What's more, the idea of linking the activities to learning appeals to the parents. The girls can do their homework and search for information on the Internet. The project puts them in touch with other girls and allows them to discuss problems, including cultural problems, with each other. This has made the project a discussion podium as well.

Contact info

City of Leiden
Esther Oortwijn, tel. +31 71 5165255

Project start date

01/03/2003

Links

City of Leiden Public Library Leiden

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Equality

Keywords

Gender Equality