“Dear Lastan!”: 70 years of “Modra lasta”, Croatia’s iconic teenage magazine

From 5 to 22 November 2024, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) will be hosting the exhibition marking the 70^th anniversary of the publication of the first issue of Modra lasta, Croatia’s longest-running teenage magazine.

Spotlighting Lastan, the magazine’s hugely popular agony uncle, better still, a “big brother” figure for countless generations of Croatian teenagers over the past seven decades, the exhibition is jointly being organised by the Library, Croatian School Museum, Croatian Association of School Librarians and the Školska knjiga company, which has published Modra lasta since 1968, and will be held as part of the 2024 Croatian Book Month with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media.

Modra lasta in the NSK collections – and much more

The Library holds in its collections all the popular magazine’s issues, which have been a sort of a “teenage bible” for adolescents in Croatia since 1954. Featuring the most representative of these issues, a documentary by Irena Škorić and a wide array of interactive content, the Dear Lastan! exhibition will give an overview of the iconic magazine’s development from its first issue to its current form and present the contribution that a great number of dedicated professionals in various fields made to it since its inception.

Apart from workshops for primary school children and roundtable discussions, the exhibition programme will also include a symposium for school librarians and teachers on the significance of teen magazines and magazines for children in stimulating creativity and popularising reading among children and young people as well as in terms of their potential as an immensely useful tool in education.