Public Libraries Section

Country Report: Spain

March, 2002

0. Introduction

Since the ratification of the Spanish Constitution in 1978, Spain has been politically organised as a state comprised of 17 Autonomous Communities. Cultural matters, including libraries, come under the exclusive jurisdiction of these Autonomous Communities.

In the sphere of libraries, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport is only required to cooperate and promote coordination initiatives. It also acts as interlocutor at the European, Iberoamerican and international level in general.

Thirteen Autonomous Communities have approved specific legislation for public libraries. The profession is also organised in a federation of professional associations (FESABID), the presidency of which alternates between the different associations comprising the federation.

1. Study on public libraries in Spain

The study entitled "Public libraries in Spain", carried out by the Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation at the behest of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, was published this year. The study is in response to the proposals included in the "Encouraging Reading Plan" and the "Spanish Public Library Promotion Plan" which have been adopted for the years 2000-2003.

Amongst other things, the study covers: Spanish public library statistical data, the legislative framework within the different Autonomous Communities, information and communication technology and Spanish public library systems and networks, new users and new services.

It can be consulted at http://www.fundaciongsr.es/bpublicas.

1.1. Spanish public libraries: statistics for 1999

• 2,579 public libraries in 5,094 towns. 24,329,976 inhabitants with library services. The total population is almost 40,500,000 (January 2000).
• Half of the libraries cover an area of between 100 and 500 m2. 849 cover less than 100 m2, only 106 cover more than 1,000 m2.
• 26,925,791 documents; 0.88 documents per inhabitant.
• 29% are open less than 10 hours/week. 32% are open between 10 and 20 hours. 28% are open between 20 and 40 hours. Only 11% are open more than 40 hours a week.
• 33,610,048 visitors.
• 21,871,156 loans; 0.75 documents per inhabitant.
• 862 public libraries computerised.
• 5,101 posts.

Data from: Anuario estadístico de las bibliotecas públicas españolas 1999. Madrid: Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, 2001.

• Application of information and communication technology in public libraries.

Automation

-Libraries with some automated function or service: 862 (33%)
-Libraries with an automated catalogue: 665 (77%)
-Libraries with OPAC consultation: 364 (42%)
-Libraries with automated loans: 356 (41%)


Internet

-Libraries connected to the Internet: 467 (18%)
-Libraries with Internet catalogue consultation: 417 (16%)
-Libraries with Internet for internal use: 397 (15%)
-Libraries with free public access to the Internet: 123 (4.7%)
-Libraries with paid public access to the Internet: 69 (2.6%)


Data from: Anuario estadístico de las bibliotecas públicas españolas 1999. Madrid: Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, 2001.

• A library automation plan integrated into the Burgos provincial library service has been launched.
• The Directorate General for Culture in La Rioja has launched the SIBLA project (La Rioja Computerised Library System). The main aim of the project is the creation of an automated library network.
• Over the last five years, the State Public Libraries (BPE) have been providing their users with free Internet access. At present 28 of the 52 such libraries have adopted this service.

Launch of the service "Pregunte, Las bibliotecas responden" ("Ask, the libraries answer") http://pregunte.carm.es/pregunte/pub06.html aimed at establishing a public information service through the Internet via electronic mail and Web site administered jointly between the libraries of the different Autonomous Communities and coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. The aim of this project is to promote the active role of the public libraries in the information society as centres of information available to all and based on reference collections, be they of the traditional sort, or in multimedia format or network resources.

• The State Public Library (BPE) Union Catalogue is accessible and can be consulted either by Autonomous Community or a general search can be performed. http://www.mcu.es/bpe/bpe.html.
• The Local Studies Union Catalogue has been launched in Castilla-La Mancha.
• In September, the Union Catalogue of the Valencian Public Reading Network became operative.
• On 17 December, the Murcia Municipal Public Libraries Catalogue, (RBPM) which includes information from the 75 public libraries in the region, was launched
.

3. Cooperation regarding library services between the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Autonomous Communities

• The library cooperation working groups established by representatives of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Autonomous Communities are continuing their work. There are a number of different working groups: public library statistics, document procurement service, library busses, cooperative Spanish bibliography, collective catalogue of Spanish periodicals, digitalisation and microfilming, guide lines on public library services, study and development proposals for urban library services, manuscript cataloguing and the creation of cooperative Spanish bibliography for audiovisual documents.
• On 16, 17 and 18 June, the Library Cooperation discussions between the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Autonomous Communities for 2001 was held in Granada.
• In March, the Anuario estadístico de bibliotecas públicas, 1999, (Public library statistical annual, 1999) containing data collected by the Autonomous Communities for this year, was published.
• On June 11, a discussion on mobiles libraries, organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport in collaboration with the Autonomous Communities and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces was held in Madrid.

• "Book bridge: helping the libraries of Iberoamerica". A book-collecting campaign supported by Barcelona Provincial Council library service and other bodies. As a result of this campaign, some 20,000 books were sent to the libraries of Iberoamerica.
• The non-governmental organisation "Libros para el Mundo" (Books for the World) has continued to develop a number of programmes in Iberoamerica with the aim of bringing culture and education to the most needy towns and strengthening the bonds between the library and the community it serves.
• From 7 to 18 May, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport organised a course, the "Management of public libraries", in Guatemala, intended for the staff of public libraries in the Spanish-speaking countries of Central America and the Caribbean.
• From 2 to 13 July, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport organised a course on "Empowerment for librarians responsible for public libraries" intended for librarians working in the public libraries of the Andes region. This course fulfilled one of the agreements adopted by the 2nd Iberoamerican Meeting of National Public Library Directors held in Antigua (Guatemala) in November 2000 and forms part of the Iberoamerican Public Library Cooperation Programme.
• The 1st Iberoamerican and Caribbean Meeting on Community Information Services took place in September in Medellín (Colombia). It was organised by Comfenalco Antioquia in collaboration with IFLA and other bodies.
• In October, the 5th cycle of the course "The Public Library in the Information Society" was held. It was directed at Iberoamerican librarians and forms part of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport Iberoamerican Library Staff Training Programme. During the same month, six librarians visited Spain for training.
• On 8 and 9 November a librarians' meeting was held in Porto Alegre (Brazil) entitled "The Public Libraries as a Room for Social Inclusion" Cycle of conferences and Brazil and Spain round table. These activities form part of the "Spain in Brazil Cultural Programme" which is promoted by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.

• The Open University of Catalonia (UOC) provides a degree course on documentation via Internet.
• Two universities provide Masters and post-graduate courses via Internet: the Universitat Jaume I, in Castelló de la Plana, provides the "Documentary Information Administration and Organisation" post-graduate course and the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona provides the "Digital Documentation" distance learning Masters degree course.
• From 6 to 9 March, the third cycle of the course, organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, "Quality Management in the Public Library" was held.
• In September, librarians visited Finland as part of the third cycle of the course "The Public Library in the Information Society: Strategy Planning and Service Quality", organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. The aim of the visit by 14 librarians responsible for provincial public libraries, was to learn about the workings of the Finnish public library service.

• The Diputació de Barcelona (Barcelona Provincial Council) has revised, up-dated and approved the new basic standards for the public library and its financial framework. The basic estandards for the public library are established in accordance with the number of inhabitants and whether the library has a central function; the useful available room and the size of the construction and division by areas, the necessary requirements for equipment and furnishings, the initial document collection and maintenance bearing in mind the nature of the material and the various supports, the minimum opening hours and the human resources necessary for administering the service. The financial framework includes foreseen expenditure on initial investment and the annual costs of operation and maintenance according to the kind of library and the size of the municipality.
• The new IFLA guide lines have been translated into Spanish and can be consulted at: . The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport has included this translation in its planned publications for 2002 and the Official College of Librarians and Documentarians of Catalonia (Col·legi Oficial de Bibliotecaris i Documentalistes de Catalunya), will translate it into Catalan.
• IFLA has published the official Spanish translation of "Guidelines for Libraries Serving Hospital Patients and the Elderly and Disabled in Long-Term Care Facilities" in their collection of IFLA Professional Reports N0. 61, ISBN: 90-70916-81-9.
• In December 2000, the Ombudsman of Andalusia presented the Andalusian parliament with a report entitled, "Municipal public libraries: everyone's right to have access to culture", on the situation of the 169 Andalusian municipal public libraries. The report was inspired by the need to redress the unequal access to culture afforded to residents in urban and rural areas. http://www.defensor-and.us.
• In January the Barcelona Library Consortium was constituted to administer the city's public library system and to promote and carry out the Barcelona Library Plan 1998-2010. http://www.bcn.es/icub/biblioteques/info_fr.html.
• On 22 February, the Public Library Working Group was constituted in Madrid within the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP).
• On 23 April, the Andalusian Pact for Books and Reading was signed in Seville with the aim of encouraging and easing access to books and reading for the greatest possible number of citizens of this community while also promoting and consolidating the development of the publishing industry.
• On 3 October, the Library Law of Cantabria was passed.
• In October, a round table discussion was held in Madrid at the International Book Fair, Liber 2001, on "Promoting reading in Spanish public libraries". It was organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport.

7. News from professional associations

• On 12 and 13 December 2000 in Valencia, a series of librarians' meetings were held under the title, "The Public Library: Service and Culture". The meetings concluded with the approval of the Valencia Manifesto in favour of public libraries and culture.
• On 8 June a meeting was held on "Information: the social right of citizens", organised by the Official College of Librarians and Documentalists of Catalonia, the Catalan Archivists Association and the Catalan College of Journalists.
• In November, the 8th Catalan Documentation Meeting, organised by the Official College of Librarians and Documentalists of Catalonia, was held in Barcelona.

The province of Barcelona covers 7,719 km2, has 311 towns (204 with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants) and has a total population of 4,666,271.

Barcelona is the capital and has 1,505,581 inhabitants.

Official bodies

• Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deportes. Subdirección General de Coordinación Bibliotecaria: http://www.mcu.es/lab/bibliote/index.html
• Red de Bibliotecas Públicas del Estado: http://www.mcu.es/bpe/bpe.html
• Diputació de Barcelona. Servei de Biblioteques: http://www.diba.es/biblioteques
• Ajuntament de Barcelona: http://www.bcn.es/icub/biblioteques/

• Biblioteca Nacional: http://www.bne.es/
Biblioteca de Catalunya: http://www.gencat.es/bc/

• Fundación Germán Sánchez Riupérez: http://www.fundaciongsr.es/catalogos/
• Fundación Bertelsmann: http://www.bertelsmann.es/

• Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias: http://www.uma.es/rebiun/
• Red Bibliotecas del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas: http://www.csic.es/cbic/cbic.htm
Consorci de Biblioteques Universitàries de Catalunya: http://www.cbuc.es/

• Directorio de Bibliotecas españolas: http://exlibris.usal.es/bibesp/

• FESABID (Federación Española de Sociedades de Archivística, Biblioteconomía, Documentación y Museística): http://www.fesabid.org/
• Col·legi Oficial de Bibliotecaris-Documentalistes de Catalunya: http://www.cobdc.org/

• Publicas: http://listas.bcl.jcyl.es/publicas/
• Iwetel: http://www.rediris.es/list/info/iwetel.es.html
• Bibcat: http://www.cobdc.org/03grups/grup2.html

Federación de Gremios de Editores de España: http://www.federacioneditores.org
• Gremi d'Editors de Catalunya: http://www.gremieditorscat.es/