On Libraries : Introduction

University Libraries, 2019

Preface by Christopher Hollister, Instructor and Editor: International Libraries: An Open Textbook is a reference sourcebook about the libraries and the field of librarianship in non-North American countries around the world. Each chapter in this volume includes a profile of a featured country’s variety of libraries, its library histories, its systems of library education, and its library practices, laws, and professional associations. Graduate students in the University at Buffalo’s Department of Information Science authored these chapters for the LIS 503: International Librarianship course during the summer term of 2019. The text was developed under the a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) as an open educational resource that can be adapted for future sections of the International Librarianship course or for similar courses offered in library and information programs at other institutions. Contributing authors: Amanda B. Reed, Sarah M.H. Johnson, Heather Severson, Michael Green, Melissa L. Rubin, Anne Windholz, Celia J. Dehais, Hannah Taylor, Sioban Gilligan, Mien Wong, Laura E. Cernik, Matthew C. Davis, Christine E. Gates, Mallory S. Quinn, Deanna K. Roberts, Emily Wejchert, Kathleen Lynch, Sarah R. Harrington, Anita Duka, Tara E.M. Montini, and Sally Schaefer.

As a consequence of developments in information technology, libraries are more than ever confronted with new threats and opportunities. This concerns national libraries, as well as public libraries and university libraries. Services and logistical processes are to be redesigned, but also the role of libraries in society comes under scrutiny. From a social and political point of view, one might argue that libraries are needed more than ever, but as information becomes digitally available, this is far from evident for all those responsible for the libraries' sustainability. National libraries have a special position, not only within the library sector but also in society, in their own right as well as on behalf of the library sector. This is even more true in the information society. After a short overview of the history of national libraries, the article describes a number of relevant trends in the information society that affects libraries and considers the medium-term consequences, especially for the national library, its role in the library world and within the modern society. Finally, a more speculative long-term vision on national libraries as networked organizations is presented, not as a blueprint, but as a guiding perspective for decisions about national infratructure. National libraries go back a long way. An excellent overview of their development until the mid-1980s is given by Humphries (1988). He distinguishes three stages in their development:-the autarchic library: the original model of a large independent, self-sufficient store of materials;-the cooperative library: the new spirit of cooperation in the country's library services from 1958 onwards;-the librarian's library: the national library as the centre of a national information network to which it makes its own creative contribution (the situation in the 1980s). The Autarchic Library There are two difficulties in trying to define a national library: the diverse origins and nature of national libraries throughout the world, and the isolation of a national library from its readers in the sense that it has no single clearly identifiable clientele. In Britain Antonio Panizzi formulated a vision of what constituted a national library which also had a pervading influence on the attitudes to a national library in other countries. From 1856 until 1866 he was principle librarian of the The British Museum library which was, in fact, the national library of the United Kingdom in all but name. The focus was most particularly on British works and on works relating to the Britisch Empire. With respect to foreign literature, arts and science, the library sought to possess the best editions of standard works for critical purposes or for use. Moreover, the public had a right to find in their national library important foreign works. In a number of other European countries, royal libraries were taken over to form the national library. In many countries a legal deposit was introduced.

Liber Quarterly: The Journal of European Research Libraries, 2002

Library Trends, 2014

Alexandria: The Journal of National and International Library and Information Issues, 2000

After qualifying as librarian she joined the South African Book Exchange in the thenStateLibrary. Shehasa B.Bibl., an MBA andqualifications in teachingand industrialengineenngfrom the University ofPretoria. Joan de Beer is Acting Director of the National Library ofSouthAfrica" Pretoria Division. Before joining the State Library in 1989 she held positions in university, special and public libraries. Sheholdsa B.Bibl. from the University oftheFree State.

The Australian Library Journal, 2013