Chairman's note
to the report
- This report was commissioned from the Library
and Information Commission by the Department for Culture, Media and
Sport.
- At the first meeting of the working group, on 24 April 1997, we had a
general and fascinating discussion about the role of the public library
in the next century. We all agreed that the book would continue to play
an absolutely central role in our life and culture, but we also
recognised that electronic access and delivery, particularly of
educational and reference works and government and local information,
will play a transforming role in the future activities of the public
library. We thus determined at a very early stage that the three areas
of particular interest would be, first, the consumer - what the
citizen will expect from the public library as we enter the new century.
Secondly, content - what is actually going to be delivered
through the public library system. And finally training -
reskilling the library workforce for the new age. The research we
commissioned, which is described in the report, confirms the importance
of these three headings.
- The working group was asked to report its initial findings to
government by the end of July. This we have done. But, although our
recommendations are clear, we have worked to a very tight time-scale and
we are fully aware that more work needs to be done in one or two crucial
areas.
- We must all thank the Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes CBE, for augmenting
this report by writing a poem about libraries for us.
- Matthew Evans, July 1997
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