Students to be offered overnight stay at Latvian National Library for the first time

The National Library of Latvia (LNB) will hold an event called “Students’ Night at the LNB” on 13 and 14 November, and for the first time students will be able to stay overnight in the library, the LNB reports. The aim is to introduce young people to the library’s resources and how to use them in their studies.

Participation is free, but advance registration and a valid LNB reader’s card are required. Both students and other interested people may attend the evening programme, while overnight stays are reserved for students who have registered beforehand and requested this option.

Evening programme

Lectures, discussions, workshops, quizzes and a student film showcase will run on 13 November from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Participants can also join tours of the library and its exhibitions. Discussions are planned on fostering an interest in science among children and young people, and on scientific careers. The Isaiah Berlin Society will talk with Member of the European Parliament Ivars Ijabs about his book “Democracy (and What to Do with It)”.

The programme also includes inter-university debates in English, a short-film screening and discussion with students of the National Film School of the Latvian Academy of Culture, a rap workshop with musician and philologist Arturs Skutelis, an old-print reading course and a printing workshop. In cooperation with Riga Technical University, visitors can take a virtual look at the tunnel of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Some activities require separate registration.

The Student Business Incubator of the Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies will run an overnight hackathon, “Challenge Fit”. With mentors’ support, participants will explore problems, develop ideas and, by morning, prepare a solution concept to present to a jury.

Night and morning

A disco with DJ Linda Samsonova is planned from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. At midnight there will be a tour of the library’s dark corridors and rooms, as well as a talk on funeral and cemetery-festival traditions in Latvia.

Overnight accommodation in the LNB Conference Centre is available on 14 November from 2 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Guests should bring their own mat and sleeping bag. Morning activities begin at 7 a.m.: a yoga class on the building’s 11th floor, for which participants need sportswear and a mat, and a financial literacy breakfast hosted by Swedbank.