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September 1999
International Library Conference
in Copenhagen The first Pan-European conference on the role of public libraries in the information society
"Something for Everyone - Libraries and the Information Society" will be organised by PubliCA in Copenhagen on October 14-15th. The conference is an
"invitation-only" event with more than 100 participants from 31 countries. Among the speakers will be the Danish Minister of Culture, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen; the Finnish politician Mirja Ryynänen who, as a member of
the European Parliament's Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media, wrote a report on the role of the public libraries; General Di rector of IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions), Mr. Ross Shimmon; and an array of other prominent persons from the European library sector. Besides representatives from important European library-related organisations such as EBLIDA (European Bureau
for Library, Information and Documentation Associations) and Bertelsmann Foundation, three representatives from each country have been invited, namely the minister responsible for public libraries, the director of the
library association, and PubliCA's country contact.The purpose of the conference is to influence and direct European library policy. The role of public libraries in the emerging information society in relation to
democracy, economic development, lifelong learning and cultural diversity will be discussed. The intention is to seize the strategic opportunity offered by public libraries exploiting information and communication
technologies for a marked improvement of the citizens' quality of life and democratic opportunities. There are more than 40,000 libraries in Europe all widely used and supporting the development of virtual networks by
providing free and equal access to information of a high quality. The conference will call on all European societies to draw up national policies on information, which recognise the public library's central and unique
role as a point of access to information for everyone. PubliCA is EU's public library policy initiative under the so-called library programme in Directorate General XIII. Aarhus Municipal Libraries are represented in
PubliCA's consortium and bears the main responsibility for the practical aspects of the conference in co-operation with The Danish Library Association, Copenhagen Municipal Libraries and PubliCA's secretariat in
Belgium. The conference is funded by PubliCA and IFLA 97 funds and by ISTAR, which is an EU initiative directed towards the Central and Eastern European countries. In addition, Danish Library Centre A/S has donated
funds to the event. The conference has roused considerable interest - not least in Southern and Eastern European countries, where the initiative is seen as a very important lever for the library cause. The venue for
the conference is the Radisson/SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen. A news conference will be held at the hotel at 13.30 on Friday 15th October 1999. Further information can be found on the Internet: http://www.croydon.gov.uk/publica/ Contact: Library Director
Rolf Hapel, Aarhus Municipal Libraries. E-mail: hapel@bib.aarhus.dk Yours sincerely
The programme committee |
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9. september 1999
International
bibliotekskonference i København Den 14. og 15. oktober afholdes den første pan-europæiske konference om folkebibliotekernes
rolle i informationssamfundet i København. Pressen er velkommen! Konferencen er et
"invitation-only" arrangement med over 100 deltagere fra 31 lande. Blandt talerne bliver kulturminister Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, den finske politiker Mirja Ryynänen, der som medlem af Europaparlamentets kulturudvalg
skrev rapport om folkebibliotekernes rolle, IFLA's (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions), generalsekretær Ross Shimmon og en række andre prominente personer fra den europæiske
bibliotekssektor. Foruden repræsentanter for betydende europæiske biblioteksrelaterede organisationer som EBLIDA (European Bureau for Library, Information and Documentation Associations) og Bertelsmann Foundation er der
inviteret tre repræsentanter fra hvert land, nemlig ministeren der har folkebibliotekerne i sin ressort, formanden for biblioteksforeningen og PubliCA's kontaktperson i det pågældende land. Konferencens formål er at
skabe europæisk bibliotekspolitik - hverken mere eller mindre. Bibliotekernes rolle i de fremvoksende informationssamfund i forhold til demokrati, økonomisk udvikling, livslang læring og kulturel mangfoldighed vil blive
diskuteret. Udgangspunktet er, at Europas mere end 40.000 biblioteker sammen med udviklingen af virtuelle netværk udgør en strategisk mulighed for en markant forbedring af borgernes livskvalitet og demokratiske
muligheder ved at kunne give fri og lige adgang til information af høj kvalitet. Derfor vil konferencen blandt andet opfordre til, at alle europæiske samfund udarbejder nationale informationspolitikker, der anerkender
folkebibliotekernes centrale og enestående rolle som adgangspunkt til information for et flertal af befolkningen. Konferencen, der hedder "Something for Everyone - Public Libraries and the Information Society", er
organiseret af PubliCA - EUs folkebibliotekspolitiske initiativ under det såkaldte biblioteksprogram i Generaldirektorat XIII. Århus Kommunes Biblioteker er repræsenteret i PubliCAs styregruppe og er
hovedansvarlig for konferencens praktiske afvikling i samarbejde med Danmarks Biblioteksforening, København Kommunes Biblioteker og PubliCAs belgiske sekretariat. Finansiering kommer fra PubliCA og IFLA 97 midler samt
fra ISTAR, et EU-initiativ rettet mod de central- og østeuropæiske lande. Desuden har Dansk BiblioteksCenter a/s givet sponsormidler til begivenheden. Konferencen har vakt stor interesse - ikke mindst i de syd- og
østeuropæiske lande, hvor initiativet ses som en meget vigtig løftestang for bibliotekssagen. Konferencen finder sted på Radisson/SAS Royal Hotel i København. Hotellet vil endvidere danne ramme om en pressekonference
fredag d. 15. oktober 1999 kl. 13.30. Yderligere information kan findes på Internettet:
http://www.croydon.gov.uk/publica/ Kontaktperson: Stadsbibliotekar Rolf Hapel, Århus Kommunes Biblioteker. E-mail: hapel@bib.aarhus.dk Med venlig hilsen
På vegne af program komitéen
Rolf Hapel |
