The organisation of public
libraries.......................................................... 3
Innovative projects in UKRAINIAN
public libraries.............................. 4
PULMAN COUNTRY Report
information on public libraries
The
Public Library system in the Netherlands consists of three layers of library
services related to three levels of government, serving 15.6 million
inhabitants. The central government remains responsible for quality,
innovation, co-ordination and efficiency of the national system of public
libraries, while the provincial authorities are accountable for support
services to the local libraries and the municipalities are responsible for the
realisation of the local library services.
Local
level
At the local level, about 1057 public libraries (505 with 552 branches)
are financially supported by local authorities. Following the general tendency in Western
administration, the responsibility for public libraries was decentralised to
the provincial and municipal authorities under a new, Social Welfare Law in
1987, primarily an administrative measure which regulated funding.
Most of the 489 communities have a library or mobile service (90 buses
in total). A large part of mostly smaller libraries, is associated with the 9
Provincial Library Centres (in Dutch: Provinciale Bibliotheek Centrale, - PBC) and have a full service contract; other libraries buy some
of these regional services, including mobile services.
It is noteworthy that most public libraries are
private foundations and not part of the local or council services. They are
nevertheless mainly (78-80%) funded by public means and as such public
institutions accessible to all. Local libraries seek increasingly partnerships
in the community, be they in the social, educational or cultural field. New
services cannot be created without co-operation and a broad vision on users’
needs. Local libraries can benefit from similar agreements on national and
regional level.
Provincial Level
There are
12 provinces (ranging from 400.000 to 2,5 million inhabitants). At the
provincial level, the provincial government subsidises PBCs. The PBC’s are not
open to the public but are library service and facility centres in which a
number of library functions are concentrated and specialised. They are a
service organisation for the libraries in the province. As provinces differ in
traditions and structures, the PBCs are not the same, they even have different
names and have recently undergone major changes, for example merging with a
city library (Groningen,Zeeland), merging with another PBC (Noord/Zuid-Holland)
or a network owned provincial service (Overijssel).
According
to law in force, the Cultural Policy Act 1994, Provincial Library Centres are
organisations which form a provincial network together with local libraries. In
order to promote coherence at a provincial level, agreements on fundamental
aspects are necessary; for example, union catalogue, interlibrary loan,
supplementary collections, specific groups, computerisation, school library
work, co-operation with cultural and educational organisations and institutions
and the supply of services and products of the Provincial Library Centre.
The
PBC-services include: management and consultancy; supply and support of staff,
organisation development; support of media selection and promotion of reading;
acquisition and letting out of media; information and retrieval services,
interlibrary loan; research and innovation; computerisation, digital networks;
mobile services; expedition and printing services. Other institutions than
public libraries can use the services of the PBC, for example schools,
educational institutions and nursing-homes.
PBCs
offer a catalogue of all products and services they provide, with an annual
price list. Agreements between a library and the PBC on the supply of services
are written in a contract. The PBC works as an organisation for general and
(library) technical services. A differentiated offer of products and services
is developed in close co-operation with the local libraries. With regard to
policies, local libraries are mostly represented on the board of the PBC, which
supports their interests and enables them to formulate common policy. User
groups, consisting of local libraries, discuss the products and service of the
PBC. Other marketing instruments are also used to restyle products and to
innovate services. . The most important innovation in provincial library policy
is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) in library
services. Co-ordination and facilities are especially valuable in a digital
infrastructure.
Public
libraries which have ceded their management to the PBC, have a qualified
regional manager and the PBC serves as central employer of the staff.
Innovations in staff policy and training can be executed organisation-wide. A
number of practical training courses is offered, for example on management,
marketing, exhibitions, presentations, promotion of reading, information
technology, services to special groups etc.
In the
seventies a group of 13 public libraries started to receive extra funding in
order to buy and provide popular academic literature and other related services
to users in the region. (WSF). This was to unburden the workload of university
libraries. These libraries have developed various forms of mutual cooperation,
especially in the field of innovation and collection development. After
decentralisation, they are part of the library services at the provincial
level.
National
level
Most
national tasks in the public library field are delegated to and performed by
NBLC, the Netherlands Public Library Association.. The state subsidises NBLC,
for maintaining and improving the public library network, including tasks for
professional quality, innovation, IT, reading promotion and a central lending
facility for foreign languages (5,022 million Euro). NBLC develops programmes
and runs projects on innovative library services, develops policies and
programmes for new library challenges. NBLC also offers consultancy and
supervision (as paid services) and a Knowledge/Resource center.
Central library information services are performed by Biblion Ltd (a
former department of the NBLC Association) and Netherlands Library Service
(NBD, a non-profit library supply foundation established by booksellers,
publishers and public libraries in 1970) which have merged into NBD/Biblion in
Leidschendam in 2001.
There is
a well-established delivery service for government and public information via a
national distribution system performed by NBD/Biblion and the provincial
library centres (PBC’s). Twice a week all libraries can receive information,
(interlibrary loan) books, media, exhibitions and material via this system.
National campaigns are also using this distribution system to reach a large
audience.
NBLC and NBD have set up a joint centre for
IT-expertise, LAURENS, to speed up innovation and IT-implementation in the
library field. which will run the new library portal: bibliotheek.nl and
further IT-projects.
The
public libraries mainly derive their bibliographic data from NBD/Biblion
directly or via their provincial library centre. PBC's have a catalogue of
their central collections, often also including the local holdings. Or they
have a central online portal to give access to the local catalogues.
FOBID
The
library organisations have established a formal umbrella organisation called
FOBID Federation of Organisations in the field of Library, Information and
Documentation. The Board of the Foundation is formed by representatives of
NBLC, Netherlands Public Library Association, NVB (Netherlands Librarians
Association) UKB (Co-operation of University Libraries and National/Royal
Library) and the Royal Library itself. Four committees cover items of mutual
interest: Legal matters (especially Copyright and EU-Directives), Professional
Education, Bibliographic Matters and the Netherlands IFLA Committee. The
general secretariat is executed by NBLC's Bureau for Research and International
Affairs.
Public
Library services and co-operation
The
development of public libraries rests on a long tradition of library service,
co-operating at national, provincial and local level. The public library can be
described as a national public service, manifested in the local community. The
Provincial Library Centres have created strong networks of smaller libraries.
In most provinces increasing co-operation between the PBC-network and city libraries
takes place, although at different paces. Public libraries on the one hand
expect national direction from NBLC for support, new services, implementation
of new technology, staff development and advice on policy matters. But Dutch
public libraries are on the other hand allergic to central solutions and
authority. NBLC follows a strategy of facilitating, guidance and discussion,
rather than imposing central solutions or presenting blue prints. General
support for library policies and agreements on a voluntary basis are the
pillars on which the public library networks rests.
All types
of material are represented in Dutch public libraries. There is no definition
of a public library in the current law, consequently no obligation to provide
specific materials. But the NBLC Statute of the Public Libraries (1990) does
refer to ‘all types of materials and sources’. Most of the materials are books,
an increasing number 5-10% is audio-visual materials, including dvd and
software. Educational toys and talking books are not always present, depending
on arrangement with libraries for the blind/publishers.
Services
in public information and societal information from government and social
agencies are growing. A broad programme was launched in 1998, including health information
and career information. These services are now supported by digital sources.
Based on shared cataloguing, guided by the
National/Royal Library, a Netherlands Central Catalogue has been established,
run by Pica. The NCC is used as the central database for input and output of
titles including the central database of public library titles generated by
Biblion), and is the base for the interlibrary loan system among the academic
and special libraries, including the regional support libraries (13 city
libraries) which have added their holdings to the database. Pica started as a
non-profit centre for academic libraries and is now an ltd, taken over by OCLC.
Interlibrary loan between the public library
sector and other types of libraries is regulated on a voluntary basis, but
facilitated through the automated NCC/IBLsystem (run by Pica). Exchanges
between NBLC and Royal Library staff show an increased interest in co-operation
in the field of digital services (reference desk, services to schools, digitisation
projects, virtual library) and support service to public libraries and their
target groups.
Funding
At the
local level public libraries are financially supported by local authorities, on
average up to 80%. Municipalities and Provinces receive a retribution from the
Municipal resp. Provincial Fund. These budgets are not earmarked for public
library services. The library board has to present and defend its annual budget
proposal before the municipal council. If possible, three or four year
agreements are made to safeguard continuity and successive investments. In
addition, 15% of income is through users (membership and overdue fees) and 5%
through other paid activities like courses and lectures.
On the
local and provincial level, the library organisations may seek extra funds for
additional tasks or for fulfilling tasks for other institutions or in
municipal/provincial projects (special target groups, educational support,
information service to the municipality administration). They may also seek
funds from Foundation Reading (set up by NBLC, booksellers and publishers
associations) for reading promotion projects.
In spite
of the Library Charter (see below), the free-of charge principle is almost
forgotten or hardly maintained, apart from free access to the library space,
and reading print materials on the spot. There is, with a small exception for
children, no central legislation or regulation, so a variety of tariffs and
models is used (leisure park, annual fair or newspaper model). Library boards,
very often obliged by the municipalities, set up tariffs. Apart from that,
lending right as part of copy right has been implemented in legislation. It
means that public libraries are charged for lending media and have to pay a sum
annually based on the number of borrowed items. Very few libraries pay these
extra lending costs out of their budget; very few municipalities are willing to
compensate for these extra costs, so generally speaking, the users are charged
extra.
For
borrowing books or using the Internet, patrons generally speaking are charged.,
even apart from lending rights. In general, the fee for borrowing materials is
an annual contribution, in average 20 Euro, but in all varieties: with a larger
sum for extra items or for including all kinds of items. Users often have to
pay per loan for audio-visual materials (1,5 - 3 Euro), in some cases even for
books (0,20 Euro). Children are mostly exempted from paying for borrowing
books, but the age at which they have to start to pay is gradually lowered,
sometimes even starting at twelve years. The municipality has to take the
decision whether children can be charged. Their fee should, according to the
law, not exceed half of the adults' fee.
Following
tariff policies, in 9 out of 10 cases the public's use of Internet is not free.
The average fee is 0,68 Euro for a quarter of an hour. In 20% of the cases,
libraries offer some sites for free; this mostly (75%) concerns public and
government information. A Handbook on Media-education with examples of best
practice has been published by NBLC.
PBC’s are
financed by the provincial authority, mostly on the basis of a long-range plan.
The provincial subsidies are used for the execution of provincial tasks and
also for maintaining the building, the staff of central services and
maintenance of the PBC. The PBC also gains income, because a part of the costs
for the products and services, which are undertaken in co-operation with the
local libraries, is passed on to the local libraries. Which costs are passed on
for which services differs somewhat according to provincial policy. Provinces
can also decide how and how much they fund the special academic regional
support function, which is attached to 13 major public libraries (WSF). Before
decentralisation, these libraries received each a state subsidy of 180.000 Euro
a year for regional tasks.
In the
budget of the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science, only funds for
national library tasks are included (Longterm plan 2001-2004):
·
NBLC 5,022 million Euro
·
Library
for Seafarers 0,533 million Euro
·
Libraries
for the Blind 11,887 million Euro
The annual budgets are based on a four-year
policy plan, adopted by the Parliament. NBLC's national tasks include: quality
care, innovation, professionalism, central foreign language collection and IT.
For
various projects from national schemes: National Action Plan Electronic
Highways, (connecting public libraries to Internet), portal site and content
creation (NAP II and III), digital content on literature, children's books,
reading promotion; Connecting to AudioVisual Archives; E-Culture;
(Education/KnowledgeNet), NBLC /the public library sector has received about 30
million Euro in recent years.
Extra
national funding is sought and found in smaller and larger projects including
for IT-implementation, often on the condition that NBLC is involved in the
project and that results of the project are turned into models for wider use by
other public libraries. There is no formal way of seeking financial support or
project money from NBLC. For the content of Bibliotheek.nl NBLC increasingly
involves local libraries and PBC’s in content projects.
For its
association work (advocacy, promotion, representation, licensing, research)
NBLC receives membership income from all public libraries (0,4 million Euro).
NBLC is the representative and negotiates on behalf of the public libraries
about the Public Lending Rights Scheme.
Professional development
In the
period between 1994 and 2000 the NBLC Association carried out some research
projects on the professional practice of librarians in the public libraries.
The following groups can be discerned amongst those who work in public
libraries:
·
office
workers (clerical staff) or non-library educated employees
·
professional
staff, divided in two levels of education:
·
librarian
with education on hbo-level (hbo=higher professional education)
·
librarian
with education on mbo-level (mbo= medium professional education)
·
management:
library directors are mainly recruited outside the library sector. This process
started with the provincial library centres in the eighties and continues in
the bigger city libraries. It seems to extend to average city libraries. Their
background can be in municipal departments, academic researchers (psychology,
history, law) and policy makers, health and welfare sector. More seldom they
come from the profit sector.
The
general library education (HBO) is offered by five professional schools which
are larger educational (polytechnic) institutions in which former library
schools have merged. There is no library education at academic level, except
for 'documentary information' and ‘communication science’. A private
institution, formerly set up by library organisations, offers various training
modules, mainly for special and academic professionals (GO).
Librarianship
training programmes include:
·
A four
years HBO-training information service and information management
·
A two
years MBO-training employee information service and libraries
·
A
three 3 years academic training Information Science at the University of
Amsterdam
·
Part-time
training and courses at different levels from individual training institutes.
From which professional groups are library directors recruited?
Courses
and training related to the library branch and staff development are organised
by the NBLC (Netherlands Public Library Association) in general, although the
provincial library centres (PBCs) and some training institutes do organise
courses and training as well. The branch-formula is to spend 3% of the annual
turnover on staff training. The NBLC Course Bureau develops courses on new
items and for sector wide implementation. Beginning in 2003, NBLC organises a
one-year management course in cooperation with the Business University
Nijenrode. Courses are sold for in-company training or regional implementation.
Increasingly,
clerical staff are trained on a middle library level to execute various routine
library functions, including desk services. An official education programme
(medium professional education, MBO) has now been accepted and adopted for
financing by the Ministry of Education and has started in September 2002 in two
locations.
In order
to support the development of similar local services and activities, the NBLC
presents a branch-wide programme including activities in the fields of: Quality
systems, Professional training, Communication and promotion, Research,
International exchange, National partnerships and IT services. Staff
recruitment and training have become crucial as 10-15% staff will retire in the
coming decade, while hardly any students from the higher professional library
education apply. A Staff Strategy Plan for the public library sector will be
implemented.
By virtue of the collective labour agreement, employers have to draw up a plan for training possibilities and career policy for their employees, focused on their present and future position in and out of the institute. NBLC and WOB trades union members adopted a policy Paper for Strategic staff planning and a common plan of action 2001-2004 in June 2001. A committee for labour market problems has been established, financial support from the ESF, Equal programme has been found. One of the issues is the set up of a centre of expertise for staff and organisational development related to IT-effects, now called: LAURENZO. Methods, instruments and people will converge in this national centre and work in co-operation with experts.
Government policy
The
government started to stress the double role of public libraries in the field
of public information services in its long-term plan 1997-2000 for the cultural
sector: giving a broader audience access to public information, but also to
guide citizens in getting acquainted with new technologies, applied in modern
society.
The
government policy was also expressed in the National Action Plan Electronic
Highway in which libraries are considered to have a central position in the
concept of 'universal reach' and should serve as easy access points to
electronic services. In order to fulfil this role, all public libraries were
connected to the internet by 2000, realising the project: 'Government, an open
book'.
The
government policy is to invest in new infrastructure for libraries and support
IT-projects. The public library sector itself has draw up a long-term plan
related to infrastructure, implementation of new technology, development of new
services, realising the virtual library in connection with the physical local
library. Increasingly, the focus is also on investments in staff development.
In order
to facilitate co-operation, the Minister asked for advice. The Meijer-report Open gateway to knowledge (April 2000)
recommended a new structure for the public libraries, based on
‘base’-libraries, improved infrastructure, support services, co-operation
between governmental levels, quality control system and IT impulses leading to
new virtual services. The transformational process will last 4 years and total
costs are estimated to rise from 926 to 1233 million guilders. Through
cost-effectiveness of the network of base libraries, the number of staff is
estimated to increase with 17%, opening hours increase as well. Stocks can be
improved. The average costs per inhabitant will grow from: 26 to 33 Euro, based
on 80% subsidy, this will require an extra subsidy of 5,6 Euro per inhabitant
from all three government levels together. The main funding has still to be
found.
All
government levels have agreed to cooperate in the restructuring of library
service, and signed an agreement in December 2001. As a consequence, a
Governmental Library Consult Group has been set up, for supporting the new
Process Bureau (budget 680.000 Euro a year) to facilitate library co-operation,
service improvement, staff training and IT-impulses. 5,5 million Euro is
available for the first start. NBLC serves as adviser on the programmes and has
entered into a close cooperation with the Project Bureau for Library Modernisation
‘Bibliotheekvernieuwing’. (www.bibliotheekvernieuwing.nl)
The
Process Bureau aims at clarifying the basic concept of the Meijer- report: the
Basic Library Organisation, and facilitates local and regional attempts to
cooperation. The role of provincial library centres is somewhat unclear and
undergoing changes. In general, all provinces create their own variation of
networking and library support service.
Cultural
Council
Policies
related to the Public library Sector are formulated under the Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science. Since 1987, when national funds and
responsibilities were decentralized, limited scope remains for central policy
making. An official advisory task is performed by the Cultural Council, which
includes a small committee on library matters. Advice is given on request and
on a voluntary basis: Future library structure, Cyberpolis, constitutional
rights.
Netherlands Public library
strategy plans 1995-2005
Decentralisation prompted the need for renewed
legitimisation and profiling of the public library at the local level. At the
same time, the public library sector as a whole had to argue and present the
importance of the public library in modern society. The basic principles were
laid down by the Charter for the Public
Library, a sector-supported statement based on the UNESCO/IFLA Public
Library Manifesto. The statement was followed by NBLC Strategy Papers.
On the road to 2005 (1995), outlined the future image of the
public library as the centre of information, culture and education. In this new
paradigm, public library services are extended and adapted to the new media,
electronic resources and digital services. The information function is strongly
reinforced. Services have to become demand-focused. The library must seek new
partners and alliances with social groups and institutions in order to
establish an efficient public information service with a large network. Key
words for action became: reinforcement of the branch structure, marketing and
innovation of products.
The
Strategic Plan was updated on the occasion of the new Cultural Plan of the
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2001-2004. The NBLC presented its
long-term plan under the title ‘Public Square’ [Plein Publiek]. The
image of the public or open square is used to draw attention to the public and
the broad function of the public library. The square encompasses three circles
of activities: information, culture and education and relates them to each
other in a unique way. The three roads of information, culture and education
converge in the library square. It not only supports these domains but has its
own role and added value. This ‘extended library’ enlarges the cultural range
of activities and the social reach of library services. The library is a
reliable partner of the local government, public and private institutions.
The
library user can enter the Public Square in two ways: physically by visiting
the local library and virtually by logging into the virtual public library. The
local and the national (virtual) services compliment each other. A number of
actions are detailed in relation to the three domains: the information square,
the education square and the culture square. Each of the action lines is illustrated
by examples.
The main
strategic plans are now based on further development of the library portal and
strategic partnerships for content and value added services. Other programmes
such as reading promotion, lifelong learning and children’s services are part
of innovation strategies.
Legislation
The
present legislation about public libraries is limited. The legal framework is
the Act on Specific Cultural Policy, adopted in 1993, amended 1994.
There are only two articles which refer to public libraries. This legislation
no longer guarantees the existence, identity and values of public libraries,
including free access and freedom of membership charges, at least for children,
but has become instrumental to politics and cultural policy. In order to support
co-operation between the various levels of authorities the Act prescribes a
division of tasks and the necessity to make arrangements and agreements, also
with other sectors of education, culture and information.
The Act
contains the following principal points:
Article
11a is concerned with the contribution fee of young people.
"For
the loan of printed materials from the public libraries to persons below 18
years of age, a fee or other financial fee is required, if the provincial
authority or the local authority, which maintains the public library, has
decided to do so. The fee or financial contribution can only be half of the
contribution fee which is required from persons of 18 years and older."
Article
11b is concerned with the efforts of the authorities at the national,
provincial and local level to promote co-operation among public libraries.
1. Our Minister, the provincial authorities and
the local authorities promote that a provision of public library services
maintained by them participates in the interlibrary loan with other provisions
of library services and that networks are formed, according to what is
established in this article. (….)
(Paraphrase)
A local network consists of public libraries financed or maintained by the
local authority. a provincial network consists of a provincial library centre
and the local networks in the areas of its activities; the national network
consists of the national provisions of library services and the provincial
networks.
The
formation of a network consist at least in making agreements, confirm them in
written documents and co-operate in the execution of them as far as the
financing authorities have put means at disposal, on: collection, central
catalogue, acquisition, services to specific groups, automation, public
government information.
Local and
provincial networks should also co-operate in the field of education of a local
or a School library services; co-operation with cultural and educational
institutions; and, in the case of a provincial network also on provincial
services, services to higher professional education or adult education and the
eligible aspects of regional cultural and welfare policy; including the
services which the provincial library centre will execute for the public
libraries, which are financed or maintained by local authorities.“
History
It was not until 1921 that state
responsibility for public libraries was acknowledged and `Conditions for
Government Grants' were formulated. These stated that the state would grant the
same amount when local government provided subsidy, related to the number of
inhabitants. However, public libraries were forced to require contribution from
users/members. The higher the number of inhabitants, the lower the
state-granted subsidy. Therefore there was a slow development of branches and
no special funds for children's services until 1956. Towns and cities were
gradually reasonably well provided with library facilities but services in
rural areas lagged far behind.
The
Public libraries Act of 1975 was primarily concerned with planned, structural expansion of services,
although standards of staff, media and opening hours never reached their
intended establishment. Draft-standards had, however, a normative effect on new
library developments. The number of libraries rose sharply, particularly in
rural areas, due to the activities of the Provincial Library Centres (PBC's),
which had the legal task to support libraries in municipalities under 30.000
inhabitants. Large numbers of new users joined, notably young people were
exempt from membership charges. Both government and local authorities made the
expansion possible by an increase of subsidies to libraries.
The
Library Act recognised the public library as a basic service; its quality had
to be guaranteed by the government. The financing of the public libraries was
the common responsibility of the state, provinces and local authorities. The
state financed 100% of staff costs and 20% of other costs. 80% of the other
costs had to be provided for by the local government or, - in the case of
smaller communities < 30.000 inhabitants - by the province. Libraries in
these smaller communities had to sign a service contract with the PBC in order
to receive subsidy. The PBC's offered management, (financial) administration,
automation, mobile services, block loans, collections and inter-library loan,
expertise and training, and most of all: the staff of the local libraries was
part of the PBC-organisation. The local authorities and the provinces supported
the explosion of new libraries with funding for collections and buildings, but
the State could not cope with adequate funding for staff. Many plans for new
libraries therefore had to wait.
Following
the general tendency in Western administration, the responsibility for public libraries
was decentralised to the provincial and municipal authorities under a new,
Social Welfare Law, 1987. This was primarily an administrative measure
which regulated funding for all kinds of institutions and provisions in the
field of social welfare. The main part of the state subsidy (210 million
guilders) was transferred - after serious budget cuts (!) -to the Local
Government Fund, a smaller part, 40 million guilders, to the Provincial Fund.
The central government remained responsible for quality, innovation,
co-ordination and efficiency of the national system of public libraries - a
task performed by NBLC - while the provincial authorities were accountable for
support services to the local libraries - a task performed by the PBC's which
also continued the management and administration of smaller libraries - and the
municipalities were responsible for the realisation of the local library
services.
Most
public libraries have remained private foundations and are not part of the
local government or council services. But they are not private enterprises.
They are mainly (78%) funded by public means and as such public institutions
accessible to all. In order to support the co-operation between the various
levels of authorities, the Act prescribes a division of tasks and the necessity
to make arrangements and agreements, also with other sectors of education,
culture and information.
Legislation
on Public Lending Right
In the
Copyright Act, a new regulation has been included (in force since 1996)
regarding the remuneration which the public libraries have to pay for
exercising lending rights, as effect of the EU Directive on Lending Rights. The
amount is set through negotiations in which the Public Library Association
participates, increasing from 10 million Euro upwards , based on 0,10 Eurocent
per loan to 2005, with inflation-correction added since 2003. Remuneration has
to be paid for books, video, CD, DVD (0,23 Euro with 0,68 Euro extra for hits),
CD-rom and CD-I (0,45 Euro). is under discussion Dutch and foreign authors, but
mainly publishers are benefiting from the Lending Right. University and
Research Libraries have their lending rights paid by the Ministry of Education,
Culture and Science, under which also the public libraries resort. The way in
which the public libraries deal with their payments differs; either they pay
the amount (becoming 0,10 Euro per loan) themselves, which is an implicit
budget cut, or they charge the library users extra. Loans by children are
included in the final remuneration, but some libraries have requested adults to
pay a solidarity sum. Evaluation has taken place at the end of 2002 and showed
an decreased in number of borrowed items, especially where lending rights were
charged separately.
Constitutional
Rights
Consultation
recently took place on necessary changes in the Constitution, especially the
articles on freedom of information, including access to (government)
information. But the focus was mainly on the role of the public broadcasting
organisations, rather than libraries. The Cultural Council has pleaded for a
reference to libraries in this respect, to safeguard access to the public
information domain.
Forms
of Self regulation: Covenants
The
general tendency is to use forms of (self) regulation instead of legislation. In
the field of government, covenants are a frequently used format, also for the
cultural sector. But libraries are not necessarily included in these cultural
covenants, which interpret 'culture' (in the broad sense) very often as arts
(culture in a more narrow sense). The three government levels formulated a
covenant on co-operation and support for the public library network, signed 20
December 2001.
Charter
The
public library sector itself has also created forms of self-regulation. In
absence of a real Library Act, a Charter for the Public Library (based on the
UNESCO/IFLA Public Library Manifesto was adopted by NBLC-members in 1990. The
existence of public libraries is an accepted fact in Dutch society;
nevertheless the organisations which represented their interests felt that the
time had come to define the ideals of public libraries and their role in the
community in the form of a charter. The Charter does not mean to be a
satisfactory replacement for legislation. Proper legislation will still be
advocated as the only way of safeguarding the identity, democratic role and
quality of public libraries. On 13 December 1990, at a meeting of NBLC, Dutch
public libraries unanimously decided to adopt the charter as the basis for
their activities and to make it available to society.' The Charter contains 15
articles referring to basic principles of collections, access, networking,
legislation, professional staff, funding, target groups, rights of users and
international aspects. With regard to legislation it claims library legislation
in a modest way.
Sector-agreements
- NBLC
A
follow-up are the so-called sector-wide agreements (branch-formules) to
guarantee the quality of the network and the library services. Propositions are
discussed and agreed upon in the NBLC annual assembly of all public libraries.
Adopted formulas include: level of services, standards on digital information,
professionalism in services, common marketing and promotion. New agreements are
presented on Quality care, and standards for library systems. (See: Key
standards and guidelines)
Collective
Labour Agreements
Public libraries have mainly the legal format of non-profit private
foundations, which are subsidised by the municipalities. The library board is
the formal representative of the library organisation and therefore the
employers of the library staff. The employers of libraries have established
their own association WOB) which deals with representatives of trade unions to
formulate and adopt a collective labour agreements (CAO) for all their library
staff for one or two years. The library boards are generally represented by
their library directors. The number of staff, which are members of a trade
union (there are two or three to chose from) is very low. The CAO does not
apply to library staff working in a public library, which is a part of the
municipal administration (mainly the big cities). Recently, a new article in
the CAO was adopted, which aims at reducing the number of volunteers still
working in some public libraries on core functions.