In August this year the Norwegian
government presented their white paper
on culture. An important document,
which states the premises for the
cultural sector for the next decade,
2004-2014.
Three main principles are emphasised:
- Quality-based funding of the arts and
cultural expressions
- Cultural diversity as a counterbalance
against the increasing commercialisation
of society
- Securing the needs of a broad range
of user groups.
The library sector
According to the government the main
challenge within the library sector is to
continue the ongoing process of making
the National Library a centre of
excellence and an accommodator for
research. Another important goal is to
develop “the seamless library services”,
a term and an objective introduced by
the white paper Sources to knowledge
and experience. Archives, libraries and
museums in a society based on information
technology (1999-2000). The
overall goal is to establish a co-ordinated
network of integrated services
meeting the needs of the users, offering
the same service regardless of which
library she or he visits, thus combining
access to actual and virtual collections
and services. A major step in developing
the seamless library services is the
Digital Library of Norway. Finally, the
government will initiate a major report
on several important issues and challenges
within the library sector covering
public, academic and special libraries.
The task of writing this report will
be assigned to The Norwegian Archive,
Library and Museum Authority, and is
considered very important and challenging.
Hopefully, such a report may lead
to a major library reform.
The field of literature is of great interest
and importance to the libraries.
For more than 30 years the purchase
programmes for literature have been
the main instrument to ensure the
existence and increase of Norwegian
literature. Annually, several hundred
titles are purchased by the Norwegian
state and distributed to the public
libraries. Until now these programmes
have mainly been limited to fiction.
However, the government considers
this a very successful instrument and
therefore recommends an extension in
order to include essays and non-fiction.
For the library users this means
improved library services.
