20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

456 Barbro Wigell-RyynänenThe objective of the library and information services provided bypublic libraries is to promote equal opportunities among citizensfor personal cultivation, for literary and cultural pursuits, forcontinuous development of knowledge, personal skills and civicskills, for internationalisation, and for lifelong learning.Library activities also aim at promoting the development of virtualand interactive network services and their educational and culturalcontents. (Library Act, 1998. Chapter 1,2 §, Objectives)A forthcoming amendment of the Library Act concerns competencerequirements, originally in relation to the Bologna Process, currently toensure competent library staff also in rural areas in connection with themunicipal reform.Legislation and Government funding has guaranteed the steadydevelopment of municipal libraries. There are state subsidies coveringabout 40% of total expenditure for the costs of running the municipallibraries. There are state grants for the services of the provincial libraries,and construction of new library buildings and acquisition of mobile librariesare subsidized.Annual project funding, about 2 million euro, is allocated to publiclibraries for pilot projects, for in-service training of staff and for producingcontents and userfriendly services on the web. Municipalities maintainlibrary and information services, but pilots and projects mostly depend onstate subsidies.Programs and policiesThe Library Policy programme 2001-2004 was prepared by a committeeappointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture soon after the newLibrary Act was issued. The committee worked for two years to identifythe challenges arising in the civil information society and seek concretesolutions to them on local, regional and national level.In the Finnish society, the public library is an active and effectiveinstitution, easily accessible and easy for people to visit. Open toall, it strengthens democracy. It passes on cultural heritage andsupports multiculturalism, it builds and promotes the communityspirit. It is a learning environment, supporting learners of all ages,and it promotes comprehensive literacy but also informationand media literacy. It is a good work community of competentprofessionals. It is a desirable partner and contributes to successand welfare in the region. (Freely quoted from the Library PolicyProgramme)