Reading circles and bibliotherapy activities in Transylvanian libraries (after 1989)

Abstract

In the years following the change of regime in Romania in 1989, there were no reading circles or reading clubs in Transylvanian libraries with Hungarian connections. If there had been, they were not mentioned in the Könyvesház or in any other library journal, nor were they mentioned in professional circles. The first reading circle initiatives started in the 2010s, after the Association of Hungarian Librarians Living in Romania organised a bibliotherapy training for librarians in June 2010, led by Éva Bartos, Director of the Hungarian Library Institute, at the Kájoni János County Library in Csíkszereda. As a result of this training and subsequent ones, more and more libraries are now offering bibliotherapy sessions or reading circles using bibliotherapy methods, and among them, even a drama circle with the participation of children living with disabilities.