New fruit trees are planted at the Mala Loka Agricultural School. © Knjižnica Pavla Golie Trebnje

SLO: First Topotheque in Slovenia

Temeniska in Mirnska Polina means “the valleys of Temeniska and Mirna”. In this region east of Ljubljana, a Topotheque has gone online for the first time in Slovenia. With well over 4,500 entries, the Pavle Golia Trebnje Library, which built and maintains this Topotheque, displays the historical sources of the municipalities of Trebnje, Mirna, Mokronog-Trebelno and Šentrupert. The Topotheque “Temeniška in Mirnska dolina” aims to provide a synopsis of the various texts, documents, photographs, films, objects and sound recordings that are held by private individuals and the holdings of the memorial institutions in the region. Andreja Pleničar, head of the library in Trebnje, explains that digitising and making accessible local historical sources helps to preserve the cultural and natural heritage in a contemporary form and thus strengthens the local identity of the citizens. “Our localities are part of the European map and our customs and traditions can be easily compared digitally with those of other countries,” emphasises Andreja Pleničar, who believes that a transnational view of cultural history is important. “Older people have knowledge and skills that they pass on to younger generations. Young people, in turn, help shape the heritage and create something new from it.” In the course of building this Topotheque, many objects from the collections were re-photographed so that a visually homogeneous and aesthetically pleasing overview of the tools and everyday objects could be created, as the presentation of objects from the Štatenberk Farmers’ Museum shows.