Traditionally, the literature has recognised the role of public libraries in the promotion of human rights, through their efforts in making information accessible to anyone, irrespective of their personal circumstances. At the same time, scholars have largely overlooked their potential in the protection of human rights. This article shows that libraries can make an important contribution to the protection function, by using the example of cooperation between the National Ombudsman of Serbia and 15 local public libraries in smaller municipalities. The research is framed within the Orchestration theory, recently developed by Abbott and others. We demonstrate that the relationship between the Ombudsman and local libraries can successfully be analysed with O-I-T framework, where the Ombudsman (Orchestrator) enlists local libraries (Intermediary) to become more accessible to citizens (Target), providing them with an easier way to communicate their human rights concerns and lodge a complaint with this key human rights remedy mechanism, by using the video communication software installed in local libraries. The results of this research could serve to inspire similar studies exploring the application of the Orchestration theory on the complex multi-actor human rights dynamics from a global perspective to national and local environments. While this research was inspired by the Serbian experience, its key policy implication is that innovative cooperation between a national human rights institution (NHRI) and local libraries is perfectly applicable to other states as well. The design of the project implemented in Serbia can be copied successfully worldwide, as it is not based on complicated infrastructural or institutional changes, but on creative and cost-effective idea.

中文翻译：

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作为人权中介的地方公共图书馆

传统上，文献承认公共图书馆在促进人权方面的作用，通过他们努力使任何人都可以访问信息，而不管他们的个人情况如何。与此同时，学者们在很大程度上忽视了他们在保护人权方面的潜力。本文以塞尔维亚国家监察员与 15 家较小城市的地方公共图书馆合作为例，表明图书馆可以为保护职能做出重要贡献。这项研究是在协调理论的框架内进行的，该理论最近由雅培和其他人开发。我们证明了 OIT 框架可以成功分析监察员与当地图书馆之间的关系，监察员（协调员）邀请当地图书馆（中介）让公民（目标）更容易使用，通过使用视频，为他们提供一种更简单的方式来传达他们的人权关切并向这一关键的人权补救机制提出投诉安装在本地库中的通信软件。这项研究的结果可以激发类似的研究，探索协调理论在复杂的多参与者人权动态中的应用，从全球角度到国家和地方环境。虽然这项研究的灵感来自塞尔维亚的经验，但其主要政策含义是国家人权机构 (NHRI) 与当地图书馆之间的创新合作也完全适用于其他国家。