Sixteen libraries to receive support from the Norwegian and EEA Grants
On Tuesday, 21 April 2026, the inauguration of the “Culture” Programme, financed under the fourth edition of the Norwegian and EEA Grants, was held at Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw. The National Library of Poland is one of the programme’s beneficiaries and has received EUR 2 million to implement the project “A Library for Local Communities”. Its aim is to establish regional centres of knowledge, dialogue, civic education, and resilience against disinformation in 16 libraries selected through a competition. The project will be carried out in cooperation with the National Library of Norway and the National and University Library of Iceland.
The inauguration was attended by representatives of governments and institutions from Poland, Norway, and Iceland – the donor states of the EEA Grants. Among them were Trude Storheim, State Secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Equality of Norway; Friðrik Jónsson, Ambassador of Iceland to Poland; and Linda Veiby, Director of the Department of Heritage and Society at the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Norway. The Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage was represented by Deputy Minister Marek Krawczyk and Dr Monika Smoleń, Director of the Department of European Funds, while the National Library of Poland was represented by its Director Dr Tomasz Makowski and Deputy Director Dominik Cieszkowski.
The “Culture” Programme aims to support increased participation in culture, the protection of cultural heritage, the development of international cooperation, and the strengthening of the social sector. The Ministry of Culture also announced further calls for applications to be launched in June, covering both investment and non-investment projects.
The strategic importance of the National Library of Poland had already been highlighted earlier, on 4 February 2026, when Poland and Norway signed the agreement on the implementation of the “Culture” Programme. At that time, the Library’s project was designated to receive non-competitive funding as a predefined project of strategic importance, agreed between the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Norwegian government. Deputy Minister Marek Krawczyk also noted that the Palace of the Commonwealth had been one of the most successful projects of the previous edition of the Norwegian and EEA Grants.
During the conference, the Library’s predefined project was presented by Kajetan Chlipalski from its Library Science Unit, together with Norwegian and Icelandic partners. The Icelandic delegation was headed by Örn Hrafnkelsson, Director of the National Library of Iceland, while the Director of the National Library of Norway was represented by Senior Adviser Arne Gundersen. After the proceedings concluded, the Norwegian and Icelandic delegations toured the Library’s reading rooms and the exhibitions at the Palace of the Commonwealth.
