Visibility of public library objectives in national legislation and policies

Today I'm at the 17th EBLIDA Annual Council Meeting and conference "A Library Policy for Europe", in Wien.

EBLIDA is the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations. We are an independent umbrella association of national library, information, documentation and archive associations and institutions in Europe.

Specifically one speech was interesting. It was from Jens Thorhauge, Director general of the Danish Agency for Libraries and Media about “Visibility of public library objectives in national legislation and policies”

His main point was

A policy should guide us between two extremes

• UTOPIA
– ICT is exploited to create
the ultimate library:
integrated access to
knowledge, culture and
support in the daily lives of
all citizens…

• DYSTOPIA
– Libraries cannot pay prices
on download of copyrighted
material – access becomes
restricted along with digital
monopolies. Digital divide
widdens and social tension
grow

There is a route – but it is stony
• We should avoid Dystopia and fight for Utopia
• Develop a vision for the ’new public library’
• Create strategies on a local, national and European level
• Run projects with new services
• Present the library where people are
• Build partnerships and
• Become part of ’new public service’

See all the PowerPoint:
http://www.conference.bvoe.at/presentations/Thorhauge.pdf

Kommentarer

Populære opslag fra denne blog

The development of ‘open library’ in Denmark #wlic2013

In occasion of my participation in the World Congress for Libraries IFLA, I have made a presentation of the libraries in Denmark and especially the concept we call OPEN LIBRARIES. The theme of WLIC 2013 is "Future Libraries: Infinite Possibilities" and OPEN LIBRARIES is one of the possibilities. In Denmark, all the libraries is free to use, In the way, that all the basis services are free of charge for the public. In Denmark almost all the Libraries are funded by tax. The libraries are obligated to make all kinds of materials available, both physical and digital. Not just books. We have 98 municipalities and all of them are obligated, by legislation, to have a library and to finance it. Some of the municipalities have more than one library. We have approximately 450 public libraries, to a population of 5,5 mil. people. Half of the libraries are closed in the last ten years, but the development has hopefully stopped now. It seems that development lead to fewer and few...

Hvad læser børn i en skole uden et bibliotek?

Mine største børn siger stadig at de går på skolebiblioteker, men jeg tvivler på at min den yngste på 4 kommer til at kende begrebet. I kølvandet på folkeskolereformen er skolebiblioteket nemlig blevet afskaffet eller i hvert fald erstattet af pædagogiske læringscentre . Hvad betyder det for skolen og elevernes kompetencer i forhold til traditionelle biblioteksdyder som litteratursøgning, kildekritik og læselyst, når man ændre fokus fra bibliotek til læringscenter. Det er tanker der er inspireret af at jeg er på vej til generalforsamling i Aarhus hos Kommunernes Skolebiblioteksforening eller de har naturligvis også skiftet navn til Kommunernes Forening for Pædagogiske Læringscentre . En forening som vi I Danmarks Biblioteksforening har et godt og udbytterigt samarbejder med, hvilket vi desværre ikke har med den anden "skolebiblioteksforening" Pædagogisk LæringsCenterForening som har meddelt at de ikke længere ønsker at deltage i biblioteksparaplysamarbejdet da de ikke l...

Open libraries - without staff ............. all the time

Do you know this when you visit the library? The experience is no longer as common in Denmark North Beach: San Francisco Public Library yesterday at 9:55 am When I as a Dane participant in such a big event like IFLA or the ALA Annual Meeting is one of the questions we often get; is it true that in Denmark the libraries are open without staff? The answer I give is; no, we do not have libraries without staff, but we have libraries that are open even when the staff is not there. More than half of all public libraries in Denmark are now "open libraries" In Denmark, all the libraries is free to use, In the way, that all the basis services are free of charge for the public. In Denmark almost all the Libraries are funded by tax. The libraries are obligated to make all kinds of materials available, both physical and digital. Not just books. See New e-book deals between all danish publishers and the public libraries in Denmark We have 98 municip...

Biblioteksdebat

Søg i denne blog