About us

The Library Association of Ljubljana (LAL) is a voluntary, independent, non-profit professional organization of librarians and operates in the central Slovenian region (unites librarians of administrative units of Cerknica, Domžale, Grosuplje, Hrastnik, Kamnik, Kočevje, Litija, Ljubljana, Logatec, Ribnica, Trbovlje, Vrhnika, Zagorje ob Savi). The Association was established on March 29 1968 as a legal successor to the Ljubljana branch of the Library Association of Slovenia, founded in 1954.

The Association is a legal entity of civil law with rights, obligations and responsibilities, determined by current regulations. The Seat of the Association is in Ljubljana, at the Central Technical Library of the Ljubljana University, Square of the Republic, no. 3.

The basic act of the Association is the Regulations of the Library Association of Ljubljana, adopted at the Members’ Assembly on November 19 2010.

LAL is led by its organs: Members’ Assembly; Executive Board with its President, Secretary, Cashier and eight members; The Supervisory Board with three members and the Honorary Court of Arbitration with three members. The current leadership was elected on March 14 2023, for the 2023-27 mandate. The Current president of the Association is Ana Zdravje, MSc.

Purpose, tasks, and goals

The Association is established with the purpose to:

• provide its members the fulfilment of rights and obligations, adopted in the Regulations of the Library Association of Ljubljana and the Statute of the Slovenian Library Association (SLA);
• manage the interaction with library organizations and associations, state organs, libraries, other professional institutions from the field of librarianship, and with other interested societies.

The tasks of the Association are:

• following and development of library and information science in theory and practice;
• professional upgrading of library activities;
• monitoring the development of the library network and the unified information system;
• publishing of professional publications in accordance with current standards;
• mutual assistance at solving individual professional problems;
• informing members on common matters.

The Association achieves its goals and tasks:

• by passing the Programme of Operation, with respect to the needs and interests of the members as well as the programme directives of professional factors in the field;
• by organizing professional conferences, lectures, and other forms of meetings, with which the professional progress of members is provided for;
• by publishing professional publications and cooperating with public media with regard to the topical issues of the library profession;
• by following the issues of normative acts and standards;
• by organizing meetings with similar associations.

Slovenian Library Association (SLA)

The LAL is a non-profit, independent association of librarians in the Central Slovenian region. It is also a collective member of the Slovenian Library Association (SLA).  Its only income is earned through the membership fees, which are contributed by the members for the operation of the LAL and SLA. In return they receive the professional journal Knjižnica (The Library). The level of derivation of the membership fees is determined by the Assembly of the SLA.

Operation in the public interest in the field of culture

LAL has gained the status of a society, operating in the public interest in the field of culture, in 2014.  Other forms of financing (donations, project financing, etc.) have not been used so far, while sponsorship funds are occasionally acquired. The Association determines the use of acquired funds in the annual Programme of Operation and the Financial Plan, adopted by the Members’ Assembly.

Dedication of part of the income tax for donation

LAL is one of the rightful claimants, to which a part of the income tax may be dedicated. This may be done by any taxpayer individually on the website of the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia.

Former presidents and honorary members

Former presidents of LAL:

Lepša Šturm, 1968-1976
Jože Šifrer, 1976-1979
Miša Sepe, 1979-1983
Majda Jakše Ujčič, 1983-1987
Ivan Kanič, 1987-1991
Nada Češnovar, 1991-1995
Smiljana Pejanovič, 1995-2009
Maja Peteh, 2009-2019

Honorary members of LAL:

Nada Češnovar
Majda Jakše Ujčič
Ivan Kanič
Smilja Pejanovič
Miša Sepe
Lepša Šturm

Members of LAL, who are honorary members of SLA:

Silva Novljan
Jelka Gazvoda

Information