Library Policy and Legislation: a European Perspective (1st Part)

Why, in the last five years, have at least three European organisations - the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the European Commission - devoted so many studies, investigations and, finally, policy documents, to library policy and legislation? The answer is in the enlarged scope for library and information work and in the newly emerging factors that are permeating its policy and planning. These factors are: convergence, globalisation and participation. The author examines the four areas in which library and information planners are called to focus their policies - freedom of expression and free access to information, libraries within national information policies (BBF, n° 5-2000), libraries and the knowledge industries, and the protection of library heritage (BBF, n° 6-2000) - and how these areas are covered by policy documents, in particular by the recently issued Council of Europe/EBLIDA Guidelines on library legislation and policy in Europe.
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