The open-air children's festival "Adventures Continue" was held for the sixth time. We invited children under 12 years of age, their family members and four-legged friends to events: education, meetings with authors, sensory readings,  creative workshops, etc.

The festival was organized by the Public Institution "School Improvement Center", the literary awareness program "Children's Land", the Public Institution "Children's Land Affairs" and the Liudvika and Stanislovas Didžiuliai Public Library of the Anykščiai District Municipality.

The festival was funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Anykščiai District Municipality.

Storytelling is a way to preserve our history, local legends, share experiences, and understand the world around us and each other. Storytelling can be used by each of us every day – it sparks imagination, builds self-confidence, and helps build connections with audiences.

The project activities were implemented in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania:

Creative workshop for youth "Sustainability and Nature: Solving Complex Problems Using Visual Storytelling"„

Together with Icelandic artists Asthildur Jonsdottir and Ellen Gunnarsdottir, the youth explored complex and interconnected sustainability challenges, known as “wicked problems.”.

Using collage, photography, and animation techniques, they learned to create engaging visual stories and developed skills in how to effectively communicate complex sustainability issues to diverse audiences through words and images.

This hands-on activity is designed to inspire change and raise awareness about sustainability.

Storytelling training "Valuable Stories"„

„Valued Stories“ is a program created by the non-governmental storytellers’ association Berättarnätet Kronoberg and implemented by Sagobygden Museum, which helps students engage with educational content and gain a deeper understanding of their language and culture. In the training, led by professional storyteller and director of Sagobygden Museum Tine Winther, we examined how, using stories and their timeless wisdom, we can talk about modern values, such as democracy, empathy, friendship, and equality. From fairy tales, we learned to appreciate what is truly important in life. We learned how we can apply the experience of training to cooperation with educators, how to use knowledge when working with various age groups – children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly.

Storytelling workshop with Jakob Elofsson

Participants learned rhetorical techniques and received useful advice on how to develop their imagination. They all discussed together what makes a story engaging for them - acting against established rules, unexpected changes in the story, interesting heroes, characters with strong personalities, and a hidden love story.

Storytelling is a way to preserve our history, local legends, share experiences, and understand the world around us and each other. Storytelling can be used by each of us every day – it sparks imagination, builds self-confidence, and helps build connections with audiences.

The project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers' cultural educational project "Nordic - Baltic Stories".

The book provides detailed information about 150 folk artists of the Anykščiai region - both those born and raised in this region, and those who came from elsewhere but became a part of it. In this dictionary, readers will find masters of various traditional crafts, whose works have been exhibited in exhibitions and are valued for their uniqueness. This is an authentic world of Anykščiai folk art, encompassing both older creators and the younger generation, striving to take over and cherish traditions.

The project was funded by Anykščiai District Municipality.

The first day of the camp "My Summer Stories" is full of new acquaintances, games, and creativity! 

That day, we were visited by graphic artist, book artist, and postcard creator Loreta Uzdraitė, who introduced the children to the technique of linocut. The children created unique postcards for themselves and their loved ones. 

„The morning of the second day of the "My Summer Stories" camp is a great time to do yoga asanas, shake off the laziness in your body, and recharge with good energy for the rest of the day!

In the afternoon we went to the library. Here we were introduced to sensory reading, using all our senses, playing games and discussing.

On the third day, the children met with nature lover and our hiking guide, Rolandas Lančickas.

Hike, meeting with a white heron and other forest dwellers, quiz, lunch in nature and many other discoveries!

It was a lot of fun!

On the fourth day of the camp, we participated in storytelling education based on Ieva Babilaitė's wordless book "(Not) Alone." The children came up with the details of the story themselves, developing their imagination and creativity. 

In the second half of the day, the children continued to create stories and even put on lively performances that they showed to their camp friends! 

On the last day, we thanked each other for the fun time we had, "sailed" on a boat full of Nordic children's books, and, wishing each other a fun rest of the summer, we set off to write new summer stories!

The project was funded by Anykščiai District Municipality.

In 2024, Anykščiai Public Library contributed to the joint project "Social Recipe", which is intended for people who have reached retirement age, with the aim of involving them in community activities and improving their emotional well-being.

Seniors were invited to the project's series of classes "Library for Seniors' Emotional Health and Personal Growth". Participants were treated to bibliotherapy classes using various techniques and methods, AI training, and therapeutic and creative activities.

During the meetings, seniors made new acquaintances, shared good experiences, and developed new skills.

The project was initiated by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania.

The project was funded by the State of the Republic of Lithuania.

On July 20, the storytelling festival "From the Beginning" began in Bishop's Square. The two-day festival brought together the most famous storytellers to Anykščiai. Aleksandr Špilevoj told the creative storytelling workshop that if you lie, you need to do it so expressively and engagingly that it doesn't even count as a sin. During Gabrielė Labanauskaitė's creative writing workshop, the participants created stories sentence by sentence, which revealed the most unexpected twists and turns of stories. Greta Štiormer taught how to turn anger into a driving force. The actors of Teatro P, who came to the library hall in the rain, Balys Ivanauskas and Artūras Dubaka, transported the audience of the concert-performance to a dream world, and the storyteller Milda Varnauskaitė told about two giant friends whose beautiful friendship falls apart due to the fault of their unfortunate different socks...

The second day of the festival was opened by the Vilnius University folklore ensemble "Ratilio". "Seeing that oral folklore is somewhat forgotten and little exploited, we decided to popularize this genre by dressing it in the (now fashionable) clothes of storytelling. Here, not only the reproduction of the written story is important, but a special place in that story is occupied by the perception of the story, knowing what one wants to say, improvisation, the storyteller's ingenuity and creative ingenuity. By telling mythological tales in dialect, we strive to learn the mysteries of mythology ourselves, and to introduce listeners to the abundance, beauty and sound of dialects, and to establish an emotional connection with the audience." - said the ensemble's director Milda Ričkutė before the performance.

After the performance of "Ratiliokai", the young festival visitors gathered for a creative workshop led by art therapist Irena Bulotienė, during which children and families created colorful illustrations, and at the end of the festival, a magical soap bubble show awaited everyone.

The storytelling festival "From the Beginning" aims to show how important living tradition and storytelling are. This event combines various creative activities and different storytelling methods, giving all participants - from the youngest to the oldest - the opportunity to feel the magic of storytelling. Such events not only revive and cherish our cultural heritage, but also strengthen community ties, encourage creativity and empathy. We hope that this festival will become an annual tradition, inspiring more and more people to discover and get involved in the tradition of storytelling!

The project was funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Anykščiai District Municipality.

The festival's information partner is the regional news portal "„Anyksta“

In 2024, Anykščiai L. and S. Didžiuliai Public Library, in order to contribute to the formation of Anykščiai's literary identity, initiated the project "Writers' School", the aim of which was to provide writers with the knowledge necessary for writing and publishing books. A selected group of people who wanted to become writers gathered once a month in Anykščiai, at the History Manor, where meetings were held with professionals - Vilnius University and Vytautas Magnus University lecturers, writers, and literary critics.

The project was funded by Anykščiai District Municipality.

The main goal of the project is to promote cooperation between Anykščiai Public Library and the Museum of Legends (Sagobygden), Sweden. Both organizations aim to contribute to increasing the attractiveness of the region by implementing cultural activities. On September 16-20, 2024, librarians visited Sweden, the city of Ljungby, the Sagobygden Museum (Museum of Legends) and other organizations. During the visit, joint projects were planned that contribute to the formation of the literary identity of the Anykščiai region and the popularization of storytelling.

The project was funded by the Swedish-Lithuanian Cooperation Fund and Anykščiai District Municipality.