The Erasmus+ project NEDLib – Digital Competence and Information Literacy for Librarians was featured in two professional contributions presented at the 15th National Congress of BAD, held on 17–19 June 2026 at Universidade Portucalense in Portugal. The congress was organised under the theme “Commitment to Democracy: Dialogue, Well-being, Inclusion” and brought together library, archive and information professionals to discuss current challenges related to access to information, democracy, inclusion, media literacy and emerging technologies.
Both contributions were included in the session “Diálogo, Mediação e Cultura da Informação II”, highlighting the importance of media and information literacy and the role of public libraries in responding to contemporary information challenges.
The first contribution, “Literacia Mediática e Informacional: o Projeto NEDLib, uma abordagem descentralizada, colaborativa e ajustada às necessidades locais”, focused specifically on the implementation of NEDLib in Portugal. It was prepared by Manuela Barreto Nunes, Armando Correia, Vera Correia, Carla Lopes, Miguel Marques, Margarida Oleiro and Duarte Santos.
The paper presents NEDLib as a collaborative and decentralised approach to strengthening information literacy, media literacy, awareness of disinformation and fake news, and gamification in libraries. It describes the project’s cascade training model, in which key librarians were trained and subsequently developed educational tools and implemented activities within their local communities.
The Portuguese implementation involved five libraries and resulted in nine training activities. A range of pedagogical tools were developed and tested, and the activities reached 55 librarians and 40 library users, with the evaluation indicating a high level of participant satisfaction.
A second contribution, “Nem tudo o que parece é! As bibliotecas públicas no combate à desinformação” (“Not Everything Is What It Seems! Public Libraries in the Fight Against Disinformation”), also included NEDLib among the initiatives discussed. The published paper is authored by Bruno Duarte Eiras, Armando Correia and Margarida Oleiro from the Portuguese Directorate-General for Books, Archives and Libraries (DGLAB).
This contribution examines the participation of libraries from the Portuguese National Network of Public Libraries in three European initiatives implemented between 2023 and 2026 — CLAD, NEDLib and LibMIL/MIL CC. These projects share a focus on media and information literacy, combating disinformation, and strengthening the competences of librarians and local communities.
The authors highlight the positive impact of these initiatives, including the development of innovative activities, strong professional engagement and active community participation. The experience also demonstrates the strategic role of public libraries in supporting critical citizenship, social inclusion and the development of media and digital competences.
The presence of NEDLib in two contributions at the 15th National Congress of BAD demonstrates the relevance of the project beyond its direct training activities. It also contributes to the wider dissemination and sustainability of its results by placing the NEDLib experience within the professional discussion on information literacy, disinformation and the evolving role of libraries in contemporary society.
The NEDLib partnership is pleased to see the project’s methodologies, activities and results shared with the wider library and information community and contributing to the exchange of knowledge and good practices at European level.