Let’s push Bibliobus was a unique fund-raising action for the new Rijeka City Library bibliobus (bookmobile). Given the lack of finance, it became impossible to develop the services of Rijeka’s bibliobus and the existing vehicle had to be replaced with a new one. The estimated amount needed for the project was 700 000 kunas; the action gathered 100 000 kunas, while the Library gathered the rest. While the whole community was engaged in pushing the bibliobus, the campaign was the work of a group of people from Rijeka’s creative industry: working hand in hand with Studio Artlan, Cipmann, Molekula and Manufaktura – Kombinat also gave bibliobus a push. Now, while the areas of our work might overlap, none of us worked together before or even knew each other. The demading role of synchronizing this fresh crew of collaborators was filled by the mastermind from Rijeka City Library, Kristijan Benić. In order to push as hard as we can, we designed, programmed, took photos, shot, edited and organized together. The number of people engaged in the project was never fixed and the division of labour was quite loose.

Our common wish was to have a positive effect on the community we are a part of and towards which we have a sense of responsibility, so we were exceptionally glad to have the opportunity to be the part of the project that had a happy ending – the new bibliobus is here and in full operation. Because of the collaborative approach of all that partook in the project, we have clearly shown that when we see that something we consider relevant has a flat tire, together we can find a way to push it. Even though we always work in a team, it was a challenge for Kombinat to work as a team within a team. It was an opportunity to play with our boundaries and to leave our comfort zone. All the people engaged in the project worked without a fee, but as is the case in any volunteering activity, it payed out in other ways. We met professionals from our field of work who we can at least always ask for advice, recommend for collaboration or start a new project with.