Norwegian municipalities are,however,
undergoing a change. There is a significant
population migration from the
more remote municipalities to the larger
towns and their surrounding regions.
Even within the individual municipalities
there is a growing trend towards
living nearer the municipal centres.
Communications are also under
constant development with bridges and
tunnels connecting islands to the main
traffic network.Where previously there
were mountains to be crossed and the
danger of possible landslides, tunnels
are being built and the overall road
standard continually improved. Consequently
a greater concentration
within each individual municipality is
taking place. School districts combine
and pupils are transported by bus.
Small neighbourhood shops disappear
as the stores in more central areas
expand.
A similar trend is evident in the public
library sector. During the period 1991
– 2000 the number of public libraries
fell from 1218 to 1005, and this development
has accelerated during the
past 4-5 years. This is to be regarded as
a necessary and natural development.
If libraries are to be more than just for
the lending of popular books, efforts
must be concentrated on fewer units.
This concentration of services within
each individual municipality must be
considered a step in the right direction,
but if Norway is to offer modern library
services to all parts of the country,
there must also be a readiness to consider
solutions across municipal borders.
It is true that some municipalities have
merged in recent years, but by and
large there has been little change in the
overall structure. One of the challenges
of today is to achieve more inter-municipal
co-operation. In many places an
improvement in communications in
recent years and the changes in population
distribution have opened up the
possibility of several municipalities solving
their problem by sharing their
library services.Elsewhere it might be
advantageous for a large municipality
to sell its library services to one or
more smaller, neighbouring municipalities,
thus enabling the latter to retain
their own libraries in the form of
branch libraries. These ideas are not
new to Norwegian library policy but
previously there was only limited
interest. Nowadays there is much greater
pressure from users, who expect a
comprehensive and well-developed
library service. In other words the public
today demands that libraries should
be much more than a mere collection
of books. Such libraries, however, require
an adequate population basis and
they need considerable resources.
Two choices
Municipalities have in fact only two
choices. The first is to maintain today’s
decentralised library structure with
many small libraries offering only limited
services with regard to their collections,
opening hours, qualified staff
and access to new media and the latest
technology. The second alternative is to
co-operate with other municipalities in
the development of large regional
libraries, centrally situated and providing
all the services one expects nowadays
from a well-equipped library.
Both alternatives will have their supporters
and their critics among the
general population. Provided, however,
it is made quite clear that these are the
only two choices available, I believe
that the majority will prefer a wellequipped
library with a wide range of
services, even though many inhabitants
may have to travel quite a long way.
Nowadays the question of greater intermunicipal
co-operation is high on the
political agenda, both within local and
central government. I therefore believe
that we are entering a period of considerable
change in the lib rary sector.
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