48. évfolyam, 2002. 3. szám

Archívum

FEHÉR Miklós

Hungarian librarianship got new foundations with act CXL. of 1997 on public libraries. The Library Institute started to investigate the state of library provision of small settlements in Hungary in Spring, 2001 upon the request of the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage. The profession, the cultural administration must have a clear idea of how the framework of provision, included in the act, and the expectations come through in the daily practice of the library provision of small settlements. This is indispensable from the point of view of the development of the library system, and from that of ensuring equal opportunities to get quality services, and to access documents and information independently from the place of living. The survey report is complete with two literary reviews. One shows the international practice of library provision for small settlements (see the review by Alíz Mihály in the present issue), while the other compilation offers a historical perspective of the problem based on articles issued between 1960 and 2000 in two leading journals of Hungarian librarianship. The article based on the study discusses the issue as follows: demographical characteristics of Hungary (settlement structure, distribution of population; statistical data on the provision of small settlements); the present practice of provision; characteristics of settlement libraries; librarians (their education, conditions of employment, motivation); collections (size, composition, sources of acquisition, processing); library use; double-function libraries in operation; their role in the provision of small areas; provision for national minorities; technical equipment of small settlements’ libraries; opening hours (duration, frequency, scheduling); role of provision systems and county libraries, their role in the provision for small areas. The problems of library provision for small settlements are the same all over the world (long distances, poor communication and infrastructure, limited resources, lack of trained personnel), the differences can be detected rather in the ways of solving these problems. At the time of the survey, 1948 libraries were registered in the list of public libraries (a fact indicating operation), while there are 3135 settlements in Hungary. This shows the need to know what kind of library provision is offered for the 1200 settlements "missing" from the list. 80% of the existing small libraries does not have a separate building, and the rate of registered users does not reach 10% of the population in many cases. However, there are positive examples, but in the majority of cases the overall picture of the use of these libraries cries for urgent intervention. The motivation of the librarian is always determining the situation, since the role of the librarian seems to be more important than any other factors (collection, financial status, level of processing). Provision systems perform only certain library processes (collection development, processing) centrally, which are offered to the members of the same circle of cooperation. The legal background of their operation is not clear. County libraries have better opportunities in provision, but practice shows great differences here as well. The last chapter of the study gives proposals and possible ways of solving the problems.

Országos Széchényi Könyvtár Észrevételek