International Librarianship in Europe (1990-2000)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to outline the objectives and the main features of two initiatives in favour of libraries, developed by the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the last decade of the 20th century. The EU ‘Telematics for libraries’ programme formally started in 1990 within the Third Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development and was followed by a similar initiative in the Fourth FP. Libraries at that time enjoyed unprecedented attention from the European Commission.

The programme was developed within what was then EU Directorate General XIII, in charge of the development of information technologies and markets in Europe. Never before had libraries in Europe received a comparable level of funding for transnational, technology-based joint projects. National bibliographies, information literacy and –practically- all library services and operations were drawn into the technological revolution.

Different in nature was the project developed by the Council of Europe, mainly addressed to the so-called ‘new democracies’, i.e. former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. As these countries were in the process of joining the Council of Europe, they needed to reform their book and library regulations. The initiative culminated in the Council of Europe-EBLIDA Guidelines on library legislations, issued by the Council of Cultural Cooperation in 2000.

The two programmes were totally different in their nature, objectives and, especially, with regard to the level...