Right now a major reform of the public sector is
being carried out in Denmark. In the following I
have asked the chairman of the Association of
Library Directors, who represents the directors
of the municipal libraries, to give us a general
picture of how the process of change affects
the libraries.
A number of municipalities have concurrently
with or in connection with the structural reform
initiated new partnerships. One example of
suchpartnerships is cooperation between the
municipality’s libraries and municipal civic
service. Aarhus municipality has i.a. chosen to
integrate the two functions in one institution.
The example is described in a short article.
In connection with the structural reform the
Danish Library Agency has encouraged the
municipalities to rethink their library services
and has in fact provided financial means
towards the fusion process in the municipalities.
From the new municipality, Guldborgsund,
we present an example of how such funding
has encouraged innovative thinking with a
profiling of the local libraries under the fairytale
title of Snow White and the seven dwarfs.
