The Norwegian Library Act, together with
directives from the Ministry of Cultural and
Church Affairs, constituted the basis for the
former Norwegian Directorate for Public
Libraries. The establishment of the Directorate
in 1949 was a direct result of the
Act, first introduced in 1935. Amendments
to the Act were last passed in 1985, but
some selected sections of the legislation
have now been under review.
Library Act for a new millennium?
This is a revision caused by the establishment
of ABM-utvikling, Norwegian
Archive, Library and Museum Authority.
Since The Norwegian Directorate
for Public Libraries actually was mentioned
in the Library Act, the Act needed
some minor amendments. At this point
the Ministry of Cultural and Church
Affairs found it appropiate to recommend
a larger revision. A public consultation
document was sent out for
comments last autumn, creating quite a
riot in the library sector in Norway.
The recommendations were mainly
based on the political strategies of the
Norwegian government who are in favour
of giving local municipalities
greater freedom in how they organise
their public services. A majority within
the library sector did not applaud recommendations
to remove the legislative
requirement that each municipality
shall have a public library of their own,
and to remove the obligation of having
trained staff in public libraries. In May
this year the final document for
amendments in the Public Library Act
were presented, now with only minor
changes, and the new, revised law was
passed June 16, 2003.
The need for new library legislation has
been a hot issue for some time in
Norway. Both in connection with the
first public consultation document and
the presentation of the final document
for amendments, the Ministry of Cultural
and Church Affairs has indicated
that a major report needs to be undertaken.
This report should describe the
needs for and the consequence of entirely
new library legislation, covering
both public libraries and academic
libraries run by public means. A discussion
on a library act covering both
public and academic libraries involves
the Ministry of Education and
Research and ABM-utvikling. Most
likely the task of writing a report will
be assigned ABM-utvikling. If we get a
library act covering both library sectors,
this will be a very important
means to achieve seamless library services
in Norway. The Norwegian
Directorate for Public Libraries had a
minor report made on this issue last
year. Professor Ragnar Audunsson at
Oslo University College stated in this
report that a joint law would
- tear down the barriers between different
libraries
- achieve better services to students,
lifelong learners, and not least of all:
- such changes in the library legislation
will also make a necessary
impact on the people managing and
administering the libraries - namely
the librarians themselves.
