Press Release: Library Legislation and Policy in Europe: Results of a Questionnaire - Interim Report

15 December 2020

 

 

“Hard” legislation at national level is only one of the ways library policy unfolds; some European countries - Germany, France and Italy, for instance - have functioning library systems, but no national Library Act.

In this report, which was prepared in collaboration with the French Ministry of Culture, library needs within a national library system are examined, together with library needs at local level and library needs in regard to policies other from cultural and educational policies.

The EBLIDA Secretariat started a consultation with its Members with the ultimate view of revising the Council of Europe-EBLIDA Guidelines on Library Legislation and Policy approved in 2000. This objective is one of the Strands of the 2019-2022 EBLIDA Strategic Plan.

“The 2000 Guidelines are a reference document which has exerted long-lasted influence in many European states. They need now to be reformed and/or adapted to renewed needs and activities in European libraries.”, says Ton van Vlimmeren, President EBLIDA.

“With the assistance of the recently created Working Group on Library Legislation and policy in Europe we can proceed now to step 2 of the process: the elaboration of more modern instruments designed to face contemporary library challenges: the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the presence of Information Content and Service Providers, like Google or Amazon, as library competitors”, adds Giuseppe Vitiello, Director EBLIDA.  

 

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