Policy instruments that financially support archive and library activities are based on the yearly public calls for public needs in culture; measures for the support of library activities (development of projects, programmes and promotions) and for the support of programme activities in the archive sector. The Croatian Library Council and Croatian Archive Council are advisory bodies to the ministry responsible for cultural affairs that perform professional and other activities related to library and archives in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Libraries and Library Activity and the Law on Archival Materials and Archives.
The Law on Archival Materials and Archives from 2018 defines the conversion from analogue to digital archival material and it creates the legal preconditions for the creation, transmission and storage of material that is created as original digital archival material. This implies preconditions for the digitisation of the overall archive service and it is a key novelty in relation to the old Law on Archival Material and Archives that was adopted back in 1997. The National Plan for the Development of Archival Activities (2020-2025) adopted in 2019 creates preconditions for the construction of a modern archival sector in Croatia and enables the transformation of the archival service into a modern public service and the full availability and use of archival material and data on it, regardless of the form in which the material was created or the place where it is stored. At the same time, as the main strategic document in the field of archiving, it should serve as a basis for planning a comprehensive financial perspective for the next decade and the preparation and implementation of EU projects. A significant part of these activities is already planned by the Cultural Heritage Digitisation Project – eCulture, which is being implemented with the finances mainly provided from EU funds (see chapters 2.4 and 3.1).
The number of archives remains rather steady during the years; according to the Archive Registry available at the web site of the Ministry of Culture and Media, in addition to the Croatian State Archive currently there are 17 state archives, as well as an additional archival institution – Memorial-Documentation Centre on the Homeland War.
The above-mentioned Cultural Heritage Digitisation Project also takes into account the library system as a part of its plans and activities (see chapter 2.4). One also has to mention the adoption of the National Strategy for Promotion of Reading (2017-2022) in 2017 that is currently being implemented, which is focusing on better access to books, development of reading and literacy activities, taking libraries as an integral part of planned activities. The year 2021 was proclaimed by the Government as ‘The Year of Reading’, and a number of activities and projects have been executed in that period. However, no assessment has been made on the projects implemented.
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