LISNews: Librarian News

The Times UK has a short Report on library closures in the UK, and the growing protests against these moves.

Nearly 80 per cent of the nation\'s local authorities have cut library
services to save money, rather than because they were being under-used.
Yet the expenditure (the public library service costs 26p per person per
week, the price of a first-class stamp) was minuscule against the benefits,
she said.

The novelist Margaret Drabble was among celebrities who denounced
yesterday the closure of local libraries around the country as nothing less
than philistine. -- Read More

Infodude writes \"On Jan. 24, the National Library of France ( www.bnf.fr ) became the largest single library
available online. While other major libraries are also moving to the Internet, the BNF is the only
national library so far to put entire books online. The British and German national libraries offer only samples of texts on the Net, while other public libraries such as the U.S. Library of Congress and the National Australia Library primarily post images and documents. French officials, flush with their coup, predict it will take other libraries around five years to catch up. In French, of course. Story at http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/feb2000/nf00208b.htm \"

A Thought provocing article from the BostonHearld

The next few years may be some of the most challenging, and exciting, that libraries have ever faced.

Ever since humans first invented them some 5,000 years ago, libraries have been repositories of manuscripts and books. The advent of the Internet and the near-certain likelihood that most of the written word will soon be available on electronic, not paper media, raise questions about the role of libraries in our new, connected world. -- Read More

A story on two local NY libraries moves to upgrade outdated sytems.

Actually, the future\'s here in most libraries, but in Sullivan County, automation has taken awhile to catch on. For these and many rural libraries the move into the 21st century has been costly, with additional hardware, maintenance and staff time required to get books in the system. -- Read More