Round Table of the International Association of Metropolitan City Libraries (INTAMEL)

1999 Zurich Conference

Pestalozzi-Bibliothek Zurich
19 - 24 September 1999

A core contribution to the conference came directly from the delegates, with 18 papers or presentations. Some of these papers were in response to the conference themes of Services for Multilingual Populations and for Young Adults. Others dealt with training for librarianship, major building redevelopment, radical organisation and culture change, IT for learners, service development in the face of social, political and economic shifts, promotion and fundraising, national and regional agencies, and collaboration and partnership.

Ensuing discussions lead to the sharing of many leading-edge ideas and experiences. Among these were how Queens works with the Police Department to encourage youngsters into libraries, "Library Grandparents" to support work with children (Houston, Ljubljana and Los Angeles), library staff dealing with driving licences in Hanover, sponsorship of the business information service in Minsk, and a map and guide to 120 libraries open to the public in Paris.

Conference host Christian Relly, (Pestalozzi-Bibiothek Zurich), explained how it is that multilingual Switzerland's seven million people have 3,000 independent municipalities - and independent public libraries to match! He also outlined a pilot project in the system of financing PBZ: the new three-year contract with the City specifies how the subsidy is dependent on output and performance in terms of membership, visitors, circulation and income. "I like it", Christian says, "it makes our work, strategy and management more effective."

Adapted from INTAMEL Metro 17 Conference report

Conference Papers

The outline Conference Papers, printed in INTAMEL Metro 17, follow. Copies of most of the full texts can be obtained from the speakers or from INTAMEL/IFLA Information Co-ordinator Stuart Brewer.

Services for Multilingual Populations

Public libraries in Sweden are significant for many recently arrived immigrants. Open to everyone free of charge, the library becomes a sanctuary and a place for meeting people of their country. There are newspapers and magazines, to keep in touch with the homeland, and books to borrow in one's mother tongue. Since the 1960s, Swedish libraries have developed ways of acquiring material in many languages. This required solid, durable contacts, time and knowledge, much of it impossible without the participation, often voluntary, of representatives of the various language groups in the community. Libraries also co-operated with child care centers, pre-schools, adult education services and others in providing information and promoting library visits and outreach.

With more refugees being received, and increased pressures on libraries, the Immigrant Lending Center (ILC) was established in 1991 as a national library service for those with non-Swedish mother tongues. State-funded, and regulated by the National Culture Board, ILC is attached to the Stockholm Public Library. ILC's tasks include: developing a multilingual collection that meets actual requirements; agreed distribution of responsibilities with public libraries; co-ordinated collection management; advice and information. A reference group comprises representatives from public libraries.

ILC collections are integrated with those of the Stockholm County and the Public Library into a common collection, totalling altogether 220,000 volumes in 122 languages. The central media supply plan for immigrant and refugee languages represents an agreement on co-operation and partnership between the public libraries and ILC. The plan has aroused interest abroad since no other country has such a formal and well established division of responsibility in this area.

Although the common collection is not open to the public, the libraries aspire to an open "International Library". The development of the Internet could revolutionize the potential for providing library users with news from their homeland, eg. through newspapers and library catalogues worldwide.

New Americans Gary Strong, Queens Borough, New York E-mail: gstrong@queenslibrary.org

Queens, New York, is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse counties in the United States. More than 120 countries and 100 languages are represented. Of a two million population, 36% were born in a different country, and 44% speak a language other than English at home. Each of Queens 63 libraries serves a distinct neighborhood with a unique, diverse international community make-up. To respond to these communities, the Library established The New Americans Program, working closely with ethnic community organizations to assess local needs, link residents with neighborhood and system-wide library services, and create new services. "What we do is just good service . . . people respond to what we do . . . it is just good customer service".

NAP covers three categories. Collection development includes collections of popular books, magazines, CDs and videos in branches, all based on community need, language demographics and the need to help immigrants to learn English. Service to immigrants, the core of NAP, includes: the largest library-based ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program in the US, taught by trained teachers; a Mail-A-Book Program, sending non-English materials to new residents, introducing them to the Library; WorldLinQ, access to the Web for non-English speakers; an online catalog with vernacular search strategies; and coping skills programs. Cultural arts programs celebrate the cultural heritage of Queens' 100 nationalities and attract newcomers to the Library.

Building on the NAP, the International Resource Center is a library of international studies for students, scholars and general readers. Housed in the new (1998) Flushing Branch, it is a citywide service of multicultural, multilingual materials, providing information and referral for anyone wanting to know about the peoples of the world or to explore issues of race and ethnicity. The International Relations Office, newly established by the Library, will coordinate professional exchange, international agreements and visits from foreign librarians, seeking to establish on-going mutually beneficial relationships with public libraries - including INTAMEL members.

Professional Training

In the economically and politically changed Russia of today, much importance is attached to training in librarianship and to the computerization of libraries. Professor of Library Science at the Russian Academy for Cultural Sciences, Tatiana Kouznetsova described her collaboration with the Moscow Nekrasov Public Library on a program for the professional training of public librarians.

The course in librarianship is organized on four levels of knowledge, and teaching is on the module principle. Modules include library management, marketing in the information and library sciences, organization and technology of library services, and library-related cultural and leisure activities. Each module consists of several programmes (55 in all) and after a year and a half's training, participants possess the theoretical and practical knowledge required. Specialized courses in youth work and literature for young adults are also offered.

Moscow Invitation

Contact Tatiana Kouznetsova o Nekrasov@mtu-net.ru
Fax: +7 095 970 02 84

Services for Young People

"Millions of young people nationwide are hampered in developing their skills by a serious lack of educational support at school and at home, particularly in the crucial after-school hours." With this quote from John P. Bailey in American Libraries, Barbara Gubbin launched a discussion of ASPIRE (After School Programs Inspire Reading Enrichment).

For many years Houston Public Library (HPL) had provided homework support for thousands of young people, but there was no young adult service program nor systemwide plan to address their study needs. In 1996 HPL, having made a high-level commitment to youth services, established ASPIRE at two branch libraries as a pilot, supported by the City's Mayor and Council, in mainly Hispanic and African American neighborhoods. Key goals included: target audience of 11 to 15 years; homework assignments completed, and improved reading skills, achieved with Library support; volunteers providing one-on-one tutoring and role models; to make learning fun; to gain private funds to match and build on City start-up funds.

Six ASPIRE centers are now operating, with more to come. Benefits of the Program include the opportunity to appoint more staff with a youth focus, building collections for young adults, and installing more computers which can also be used by other customers. Among the challenges are: staffing; finding volunteer tutors; planning and executing programs; evaluation; funding and the need for increasing amounts of private dollars; adequate space.

ASPIRE has enabled HPL to strengthen working partnerships with the major school districts; and schools have played a critical role in HPL's successful Power Card Challenge, through which HPL has doubled the number of children holding library cards and increased juvenile circulation by 21 per cent. ASPIRE has also enabled HPL to participate in special programs eg. the Mars Millennium Project in which young people were challenged to design a community to live on Mars in 2030. For those who participate in ASPIRE, HPL would now affirm: After School Programs (Do) Inspire Reading (and Learning) Enrichment (for Young Adults).

The Child's Best Present Neda Isakovic, Ljubljana-Bezigrad E-mail: neda@lj-bez.sik.si

"Reading is important for a child's health and development. We create foundations for a healthy personality by everyday reading and talking to the child from birth onwards, especially in the first years of life . . . children whose parents read them stories in the first three years of their lives and who talk to them have a stronger foundation for successful reading later in their lives." With these opening words, Neda Isakovic introduced the programs used by the Bezigrad Public Library, in Ljubljana, aimed at promoting reading from the earliest age.

To promote awareness of the importance of reading for children before kindergarten, a leaflet The Cradle of Reading was issued, aimed at reaching every new-born child in Slovenia - or at least their parents, explaining that through the network of public libraries reading is within reach of all parents regardless of their level of education or financial situation.

Grandma and Grandpa Tell Stories is a more recent project which unites children, grandparents, senior citizens, kindergarten teachers and public librarians in reading and storytelling. The project stimulates intellectual activities of the elderly, and helps children to get to know about old age and elderly people. It enables children without grandparents to experience a grandpa and grandma, and gives lonely elderly people the opportunity to be involved with young children.

Grandmas and grandpas tell stories and fairy-tales, talk of their own memories, play instruments or share an activity with children. Meetings are arranged in the kindergarten, library, pensioners' club, community premises, or old persons' home. [In discussion, successful Library Grandparent schemes were also reported from Houston and Los Angeles].

The Reading Badge competition, a national movement in Slovenia for the development of the reading habit, began in 1961. 140,000 children of school age take part annually in activities that include literature classes, exhibitions and discussions with writers. More recently the scheme has spawned the Ecological Reading Badge and The Pre-School Reading Badge, involving children, parents, kindergarten teachers, and librarians.

A Place to Hang Out Susan Kent, Los Angeles E-mail: skent@lapl.org

Commitment to serving young people was one of the goals set down seven years ago by the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). It was decided that libraries must become places for young people "to hang out", to feel welcome and comfortable. Staff felt it was critical that Library buildings offer the right kind of space for teenagers. Los Angeles teenagers face the same or similar problems that teens face around the world in other large cities: they are not achieving their educational goals, they speak many languages, and the "digital divide" exists, leading to the information rich and the information poor. The Library had a responsibility to respond.

LAPL responses include reading enrichment programs, electronic information educational programs, a young adult librarian at LAPL's Central Library and each of its 67 branches, and a Young Adults Services Manager - all with the aim of making the library a destination of choice for young people. The concept of the "virtual library" triggered a decision to establish a network of electronic homework centers. This now extends to every LAPL facility, with more than 1,800 terminals accessing the LAPL catalog, databases of electronic information and access to the Internet.

Each branch has established a Young Adult Advisory Council which makes suggestions for services and appropriate space for teenagers such as study facilities, computer centers and lounge areas. The "Teen'scape" at Central Library will move from its present 1,800 square foot space to one that's twice as big in early 2000. The new "Teen'scape" will be an up-to-the-minute young adult library and resource center with areas for a cybercafé, lounge reading area, study room, displays and audio-visual programming.

Young Adult Librarians work hard to attract LA's more than 300,000 teenagers to the Library. With backing from LA's Mayor Richard Riordan and the City Council, the Library has seen several years of budget increases because elected officials see LAPL as a force for positive change. Generous support has come from the Library Foundation of Los Angeles as well, including a gift from Leonardo DiCaprio to establish a computer center in a new branch library constructed on what was the site of his boyhood home.

New Directions Inta Virbule, Riga E-mail: rcb@latnet.lv

Faced with recent political and economic changes in Latvia, Riga's 47 public libraries are finding it difficult to develop a serious and systematic approach to updating their services for children and youth. Current debate turns more, therefore, to how best to improve the use of traditional reading methods, expand co-operation with cultural, educational and other public sector organisations, and respond to the changing interests of children and youth.

Several initiatives are in hand. One under discussion is the family library model, where children's departments are located "under the wing" of adult libraries, where the experience of foreign models shows that both parents and children can be satisfied: parents do not need to worry about where to leave their offspring, while the children can move about freely.

"Theatre-Library-School" is a project where the integration of non-Latvian children into the Latvian cultural environment is assisted through reading and seeing a play in the Central Library or in school and being introduced to relevant literature. This co-operation with a theatre company is important because, in a situation where not all parents can afford to visit the theatre, libraries are perceived as acceptable cultural places - and free of charge.

At the library Teen Club, teenagers come together to discuss problems, interests and reading preferences. There is also a developing flora and fauna group, attracting children and young people with the opportunity to see environmental videos from the library and to meet specialists. Library co-operation is a topical issue because it diversifies the library service and helps to attract new readers, especially co-operation with schools through library visits, literary competitions and project weeks. Initial attempts have also been made in co-operation with radio and TV.

Riga's librarians are keen to compare their concerns with librarians from cities in other countries, and have begun a dialogue about exchanging experience with colleagues from Sweden and Finland. But the most important factor is the professional preparedness of librarians in researching user needs. A librarian should be an analyst of research data

Radical Changes

Major expansion and renovation is taking place at the downtown Main Library of this metropolitan area in the State of Ohio. The $35 million project, scheduled to be completed by spring of 2001, is expected to provide enough shelf space to allow about 80% of the one million-item collection to be displayed - currently it's only 25%.

Several departments have been moving out of the 60-year old Main Library during the Fall, prior to the Library closing for renovation in January and a new 85,000 sq ft addition opening for public service in February 2000.

The "roof" of the addition will be a Civic Plaza, containing the McMaster Family Lifelong Learning Center, along with half an acre of lawn, landscaping, benches and pathways as a relaxing retreat. As part of the renovation, the Children's Area will increase by 400% to 13,000 sq ft, and the Local History and Genealogy Department more than double to 16,000 sq ft plus a new Rare Book Room. The renovated building will also house a new Popular and Teen Department, Audio Visual Department and Business, Technology and Society Department.

Project architect is the Toledo, Ohio firm of Munger Munger & Associates, and the Library Legacy Foundation of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library is conducting a $4 million capital fundraising drive to provide important enhancements to the project. "While the 'new' Main Library will be a great hub for the system into the next century", Clyde Scoles said, "a total of c. $15 million is being invested in capital improvements at the Library's 18 branch libraries throughout Lucas County."

Culture Shock Claudia Lux, Berlin E-mail: LUX@ZLB.DE

Ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the differences between East and West have still not disappeared. After reunification in 1990, Berlin's libraries were quick to establish common bodies, but it was only in 1995 that unification of the two central libraries of the City came about. Then, the normal conflicts which arise when two institutions are merged was overlaid with the East-West conflict, affecting the way the merger of the libraries developed and making particular demands on management.

When the authorities decided to unite the two libraries (the Municipal Library and the American Memorial/Central Library) to become the Central and State Library, each began to work on its own ideas of what the library service should be, in order to attract for itself finances and opportunities for development. A common path thus became hedged with mistrust.

As in Berlin generally, the feelings experienced by each side went through five phases: euphoria, visiting and getting to know each other; disillusion and mistrust, everyone becoming conscious of the differences in speech, behaviour and concepts; mutual recrimination, criticism and hardening of attitudes; the first phase of understanding, where misapprehensions are recognised and attempts made to alleviate misunderstandings; and the second phase of understanding, not really in effect yet.

However, 12 elements in the merging of businesses from differing commercial cultures have acted as models for measures taken in unifying the two libraries: external leadership appointed; strict neutrality; common long-term goal (in this case a shared new building); short-term improvements in service with mixed staffing; understanding of different points of view through working together; different clienteles requiring different responses; clear decision making; improving the information culture; conscious fostering of changes in behaviour; changing the nature of discussions eg. decisions not delayed by the opinions of those not directly involved; delegating responsibility to the shop floor; unanimity is neither achievable nor necessary - acceptability will do.

The new Library thus began to turn the disadvantages of the conflict into a new strength, and to profit from the respective capabilities of colleagues from East and West.

All in the Same Boat Wiebke Andresen, Hannover E-mail: Wiebke.Andresen.42@Hannover-Stadt.de

A radical experiment in building a network of municipal services is taking place in the Municipal Administration of Hanover. The idea of a Public Services Network arose a few years ago, when a merger of Youth and Social Services into a single Directorate was not working well. Three Directorates are partners in the new Network: Health, Youth and Social Services (with four Divisions); Arts and Education (with four Divisions including Public Libraries); and Construction and Civil Engineering (including the Housing Division). After lengthy discussions, the Network structure was created, supported by the Trades Unions.

Major decisions are taken by a steering group, supported by Network management and the networks at district level. The steering group, probably unique in Germany, comprises the Directors of the three Directorates, Heads of Divisions, and local Staff Representative Councils. Network management comprises two Network Co-ordinators and an office. The 13 District networks each comprise one Co-ordinator per Division, and working groups with team co-ordinators. The Network also has an Informal Network of Heads of Divisions and local Staff Representative Councils to hold meetings, when needed, to sort out problems.

In one District, partial co-operation has been established between the Civil Registration & Public Order and the Public Libraries Divisions: the Bürgeramt (driving licences, passports etc.) and Branch Library share premises, with one entrance, one service desk, some co-ordination of opening hours and sharing of duties by staff of each service. In another District, wider integration is taking place at an Arts and Community Centre, a new building with a new public library but housing a single organisation. The Divisions involved are Community Services, Arts and Culture Activities, Libraries, Service for Children and Young People, and Service for Senior Citizens. This integrated network entails a single budget, co-ordinated services and shared premises, equipment and offices.

Again, long discussions preceded the integration, and the model has challenging implications for organisation cultures, staff training, budgeting, centralisation of the library system - and for the clients.

National Focus for Libraries

The mission of the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) is "to provide leadership and act as the primary focus, co-ordinator and promoting agent for all library and information services in Scotland, and to support their work for the benefit of the nation and the development of its cultural life".

All 32 local authorities are members, as are all the Scottish universities, colleges and related arts, cultural and information organisations - 109 in total. Funded by membership subscriptions and by the Scottish Executive, SLIC's primary tasks include: providing leadership to library and information services (LIS) and facilitating co-ordination; promoting understanding of the contribution of LIS; monitoring standards of LIS provision; advising Government on LIS matters; research, information and advice; and grants for innovation and development.

Recent publications, often in partnership with other organisations, include school library standards, a toolkit for public library performance management and benchmarks, Enabling access to the knowledge base of health care (supporting LIS in the National Health Service), and Enabling seamless access: making the case for a National Information Strategy for Scotland.

SLIC has regular meetings with the Scottish Minister with responsibility for library and information services, and with the UK Library and Information Commission (LIC), and participated in the recent LIC/British Council conference to develop a policy framework for a UK information strategy. http://www.slainte.org.uk

IT for Learning

In September 1998, the Schilderswijk Library, a branch of The Hague Library (INTAMEL made a visit there during the 1995 Conference), opened the first Telematics Centre. The Centre has been a runaway success for this district of 40,000 population, and the programme in which all its primary schools take part has been fully booked. The Centre is now seen as an effective experiment for other libraries in The Hague, and for public libraries throughout the Netherlands.

Users of the Centre learn to use information and communications technologies independently. Examples are new media such as the Internet, which they can use to acquire the tools they will need to function effectively in society. The scheduling includes:

• library classes in the morning for primary and secondary school pupils and for adult education students,
• individual visitors in the afternoon, receiving assistance from recruited specialists with eg. CD-ROMs and the Internet,
• evening sessions for women's groups, adult students, business people, the elderly and residents in general.

The Department of Public Libraries is seeking to create a distinct profile with Telematics Centres, as an information and knowledge intermediary for residents of The Hague. Besides the use of traditional library printed matter, the aim is to provide incentives for everyone to use the new media and actively to support these efforts.

A second Telematics Centre has recently opened in the Bouwlust district, and the Library is planning to add Telematics Centres at all branches, phased in over a maximum project period of three years. The actual sequence will be determined by such factors as individualisation, independent learning, the school population, and the potential for collaboration with the education sector.

Education Partnership Larissa Oulianova, Moscow E-mail: nekrasov@mtu-net.ru

A major partnership Program with the education sector is being developed under the UN and UNESCO World Culture Program and the Russian national program "The world culture in Russia - the year 2000". It follows a survey of the readers of the Moscow Central Municipal Public Library after N. A. Nekrasov (CMPL) and of the resources available. The survey was the basis for a reorganisation of the library service system, and for the creation of information and document resources.

The gap between readers' requirements and the resources available is increasing, and general public libraries are having to acquire educational functions. So the main goal of the Program was to create a financial and organisational model for a system of close interaction between libraries and educational institutions. Full implementation of the Program will give a new image to libraries, which have always been important for sustaining the knowledge necessary for educating and forming the attitudes of young people.

CMPL's partner is the Modern University of Humanities (SGU) which has 137 branches in big cities and the regions of Russia, and in the former Soviet republics. Factors taken into account for this choice included use of the latest technologies of tuition, a studio for creation of educational audiovisual materials, and the technical facilities for distance education.

The partners agreed to organise centralised purchase of educational literature by SGU and its free transfer to regional libraries, special equipment for the libraries for distance education, and development of new library service technologies and inter-regional interaction of libraries using an Internet system installed by SGU. The 137 biggest libraries are now involved in the experiment.

The second stage of the Program, "Moscow - regions" is in preparation. CMPL is preparing electronic databases for partner libraries' use on the basis of the survey. Many editions that are in great demand are transferred on to microfilm, with the facility of providing copies of microfilmed texts. Two hundred educational videos will be given to libraries. Lectures and language lessons are being recorded on audiocassettes. Educational programs are being broadcast on a satellite TV channel linking Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Cambridge.

The overall goal is the creation of equal conditions for receiving education across Russia. The technical know-how emerging is of great importance. While many libraries do not have room for technically equipped educational centres, we hope the Program will gain governmental status and achieve effective co-operation between libraries and the educational institutions.

Spreading Wings

Public libraries in Belarus need to go through rapid changes, especially towards openness and diversification, as well as to strengthen their self-confidence. In the new situation, librarianship needs new thinking and new knowledge, although the majority of Belorusian public libraries are lagging behind the technological developments needed to fulfil the potential of digital technology.

Minsk Yanka Kupala Central Public Library, with its 21 branches in a city of nearly 2 million people, is adapting to new technologies, demands and customers. A development plan was adopted in 1998, with the goal of providing sound, consistent and friendly information and documentation support for the public by 2005. The plan signals librarians' recognition that "they have to fight for their place in the sun" and need to pay attention to the role of the public library as a social institution. Hence the Library slogan: We are listening to our city, we are working for you!

The Library is keen to participate in programs for the younger generation; these include Education in the metropolis, Family, and Live and be healthy, as well as organising cultural events, learning opportunities and clubs. It works with people who have lost their job and want to get new knowledge and skills. Much attention is paid to aged people, veterans, large families, orphans and people with disabilities.

The Library is committed to developing partnerships with many organisations for exhibitions and other activities to support the cultural and economic development of Minsk. The Business library service gets continuing financial support from a local business, a partnership that "inspired us and allowed us to understand our library's new importance under new economic and social conditions".

A new program on ecology is especially important following the Chernobyl explosion in Ukraine. The Library works to help immigrants to adapt to a new life, and to teach people to live in harmony with nature.

Fundraising Strategy Lynn Allen, LISWA E-mail: lallen@liswa.wa.gov.au

LISWA, the Library and Information Service of Western Australia, is funded by the State government, and we have no history of bequests or philanthropic donations. Options were to: manage with what we have; start charging for some services; charge more for what we charge for now; establish new fee-for-service activities; ask the community for money; ask government for more money; ask business for money.

Challenges to starting any fundraising included staff attitudes, political attitudes, lack of skills, limited networks, community attitudes, and business attitudes. LISWA's response was to establish medium- and long-term fundraising activities, targeting business, community and government partners, in seven phases.

First, The Western Australian State Library Custodians was set up, an incorporated body whose sole function is to support LISWA's activities. Membership is limited and by invitation. The Custodians is a business community network, not a Friends group. Second, we recruited an experienced investment and sponsorship officer and transferred some staff with collections expertise to work with her. Third, the Save Our Century Fund was invented as the Custodians' project for 1999-2001, aiming to touch the heart of the community in fulfilling our statutory responsibility to collect and preserve the documentary heritage.

Fourth, in 1998, with partners and sponsors, we launched a three-year campaign to raise $A5 million. Fifth, for campaign projects with business targets, prospectuses have been developed telling the stories of eg. gold and wool, to seek funding for, say, a CD-ROM, an exhibition, or other format negotiated with the investor. Sixth, the community: several projects focus on ways in which the individual or community groups may become involved. Seventh, Government: we will target specific grants at national level, we will approach departments at State level for assistance, and at local level we hope to enlist the support of public librarians.

The project was a risk but is a success. We've had incredible support. Our profile has never been better, the staff are really on side, and $A50,000 was pledged in the first six months.

City-wide Collaboration

Libraries open to the general public in Paris are faced by the question of specialisation versus service: they have to meet all kinds of public demand, to structure services and create new ones to meet increasing demand. This lead to the creation, in 1994, of OPLPP, the Observatoire Permanent de la Lecture Publique à Paris (Permanent Observation Group on Libraries Open to the General Public in Paris) to promote co-operation and exchange.

OPLPP members are the City of Paris (public libraries service) and seven other public sector organisations (see chart). They represent 63 public libraries, a reference library, the national library reference department, a university library open to the general public, a science and technology general library, 15 academic and major research libraries, and Government bodies. The objectives are to encourage common thinking, to help members to define their specific objectives in relation to the common goal, and to suggest to decision makers practical co-operative action and conduct feasibility studies.

OPLPP has no legal status. Its projects are managed by representatives, meeting every other month, with activities validated by higher managements. An annual plenary session reviews progress, sets priorities, and agrees budgets. Action lines are financed by members. OPLPP activity is co-ordinated through the City of Paris public libraries office.

Projects include: a map and guide to more than 120 libraries selected for the quality of collections and access for the public; in-depth survey of public usage of libraries, followed by a conference for the library community; and a feasibility study, due this November, for a single access pass for Paris libraries' users. Specialist groups are working on a common spreadsheet to help members evaluate the quality of services, and an information file on digital and multimedia services. A conference is planned for January on the urgency of improving services to disabled persons, and Allo bibliothèques, an "800" freephone service is being considered.

OPLPP facilitates members' involvement in shared projects appropriate to the development and improvement of libraries serving the public in Paris. However, its objectives and projects will become reality only if the political authorities apply to it their consistent and strong will.

Multi-Authority City Marija Kobal, Ljubljana-Bezigrad E-mail: marija@lj-bez.sik.si

Following the secession of Slovenia from Yugoslavia in 1994 and a reorganisation of local government, the five local authorities in the capital city of Ljubljana merged into a joint municipality, with a regional population of 330,000, of whom one third are registered library members.

Each of the five authorities already had their own public library network, each with central and branch libraries, together with a joint mobile library service financed by all five. However, the public libraries of the five former municipalities are independent organisations, with their own financing and acquisition; but they co-ordinate their services, co-operate with each other and form a joint library policy with the City government and the Ministry of Culture.

Co-operation between the library managers and librarians includes: periodic meetings on current problems; local history librarians co-operate in shared cataloguing; youth librarians do joint presentations for school librarians; and public library statistics are collated and published annually. Main developments in the last ten years include computer software for circulation, cataloguing, statistics and local functions; furniture renewal to provide for IT; promotion of public libraries and open debates about the service; and new services for young users and the elderly.

Ljubljana-Bezigrad is one of the five former local authorities in the City, and this year celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Public Library. Co-operative factors include: the Library Board, comprising three from local government, three library users and three librarians, the Professional Library Board of heads of departments and the four branch libraries, producing "concrete solutions to concrete problems", and meetings of all the staff two or three times a year.

This year the City Council ordered the Cultural and Research Department to undertake research on public libraries: their economics, legal framework, organisation, management and services. The results should initiate proposals for the future organisation of the public library network in Ljubljana.