An unusual reading oasis has been created aboard a vessel operated by Navrom Delta SA, which runs regular services between the city of Tulcea and communities in the Danube Delta, while the Panait Cerna County Library has reported an increase in active readers recently.

The idea of setting up a library aboard Navrom Delta SA's Moldova vessel came from captain Vali Moldoveanu, who has worked for the locally owned public service company for more than ten years and has over 30 years of experience in river navigation. He also travels as a passenger on the company's vessels.

'I also travel on the vessel as a passenger, and there are stretches of the journey where there is no mobile signal. A book you take out of your bag can be a solution, and I thought that perhaps other passengers might also like to browse a magazine or a book,' captain Vali Moldoveanu told AGERPRES.

He admits that he enjoys reading, although this year he has had little time for one of life's small pleasures.

'I started a book this spring. I haven't finished it because the season started and I haven't managed to get back to it. It's called 'Orasul cu prea putine muieri de iubit', by Tudose Tatu. It's about the town of Sulina around the 1950s and what life was like back then,' Moldoveanu said.

The Moldova, built at the only Danube shipyard to have closed down in post-communist Romania, operates along all branches of the Danube, depending on passenger numbers and the goods that need to be transported to Delta communities. Travellers are delighted with the onboard library, which offers books in Romanian and widely spoken international languages.

'I'm very pleased with the facilities on the vessel. We have a bar and a library; it's like a cruise. We've used the books in the library, the children's ones. They're very entertaining, and they help the children pass the time,' said a passenger, Ana S.

In Tulcea, just a few steps from the landing point for vessels connecting the city with communities surrounded by water, and close to the Park of Personalities, stands the Panait Cerna County Library. Its current building, opened in 1984, is probably among the newer county library buildings in Romania. The institution has a collection of more than 330,000 items and a growing number of active users, following a sharp decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, when their number fell from 3,287 in 2019 to 1,462 in 2020.

'Last year, we had 2,148 users, while this year we have 2,821 active readers and 813 new readers. There is a clear recovery, and that means what the library offers is meeting people's needs,' the institution's manager, Ligia Dima, said.

The county library participated in a project financed by European funds through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under which it and nine other similar institutions in Tulcea County received interactive whiteboards, a book scanner, laptops, e-readers and tablets.

'Unfortunately, there are only 24 libraries left in the county,' Dima said.

During the communist period, rural libraries generally operated in community cultural centres. Some of these buildings subsequently fell into disrepair, while others never truly served as libraries, functioning instead more as bars or meeting places. With librarianship rarely enjoying high professional recognition, the role of mayors in preserving these institutions was essential. Local authorities, however, have themselves faced financial difficulties and staff shortages over the years, with library services now increasingly concentrated in schools.

'We borrow books from the school library. When we can't find the book we're looking for there, we order it online or go to Tulcea,' said a child from the village of Jurilovca while leaving school.

Panait Cerna County Library manager Ligia Dima advocates merging school libraries with those run by local authorities, although finding staff to keep them open at weekends would remain a challenge even under such an arrangement.

'How many parents can afford to travel to Tulcea to borrow a book? Most of our readers are from the city. It is important to have a library in every commune,' Dima said.

Some guesthouses in the county have created dedicated reading areas, while others make illustrated books and albums about Tulcea available to visitors who want to better understand the area where they are spending their holidays.

'You should know that people also try to find answers in books,' said Vasile Bold, the owner of a guesthouse in Jurilovca.

The management of the Panait Cerna County Library hopes to modernise the spaces where its books are stored.

'They are kept in good conditions, but improvements are needed. Fire-resistant shelving, for example, is necessary,' Dima said.

The manager's plans for the county's main library also include renovations to the building's roof, which has caused problems in one office, and the windows. The plans have been discussed with the County Council leadership, which has raised hopes that the work could be carried out in 2028.

'I dream of reorganising all these spaces, replacing the shelves used to store books in the stacks, making the children's areas more colourful and attractive, and creating a combination of technology and books. We need to make more room for technology and accept that life would be harder without it. What would we do now, for example, without our phones? In a few years, I would also like a little robot to welcome you at the library entrance, ask how you are feeling and where you want to go, and guide you to the appropriate room. There, alongside a librarian, you might meet another little robot to take you to the right shelf. We need to be open to such developments and use them intelligently,' Dima added.

As for their own wishes, passengers aboard the Moldova mention a room dedicated to PlayStation games or one where they could watch films, and one of their wishes may come true in the near future.

According to information published on its website, the Panait Cerna County Library appears to be the successor to the Tulcea County Prefecture Library, probably established in 1878 or 1879, shortly after the introduction of Romanian administration in the region. Its collection was developed at the initiative of several former county prefects, including the poet Ioan Nenitescu.

The library was destroyed during the First World War and subsequently re-established as the Panait Cerna Public Library, under the patronage of retired General Panaitescu. Over the years, it has operated from various locations around the city, including the offices of a local newspaper. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Luisiana Bigea; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)