Public Libraries Section

Country Report: Spain

February, 2003

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. Fourteen 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. Public libraries in Spain: statistics for 2000

• The number of public libraries in Spain has increased by 62% over the last ten years, increasing from 2,465 libraries in 1990 to 4,009 in 2000.
• 7,904,273 citizens (19.4%) are enrolled users of public libraries in comparison to the 3,278,154 there were in 1990.
• There were 55.6 million visits to public libraries.
• The number of loans increased from 16.4 million in 1990 to 31.4 million.

Data from:
Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez. Las colecciones de las bibliotecas públicas en España. Un estudio sobre su desarrollo (2002). http://www.fundaciongsr.es/. To be published.

The 1st Spanish Public Library Congress, organised by the Directorate General for Books, Archives and Libraries through the Subdirectorate General for Library Coordination, was held in Valencia on 29, 30 and 31 October, with the slogan: "The Public Library, the Gate to the Information Society".

The scientific content of the congress was organised around three core themes. The public library and the information networks, the public library as a space for citizens’ integration and the public library at the service of the community.

The congress was attended by 650 librarians working in the public library sector. The congress papers and conclusions may be consulted through Travesía, the Spanish public library Internet portal, http://travesia.mcu.es/

3. Travesía Portal - http://travesia.mcu.es/web.asp

Travesía, the public library portal, may be consulted via the Internet. It is the main Web site for and about public libraries in Spain.

Travesía aims to provide librarians working in the public library sector with a range of information resources of relevance in pursuit of their professional activities.

Travesía is one of the projects included in the Spanish Public Library Promotion Plan (2000-2003) which, with the slogan, ‘The public library, the gate to the information society for all’, was drawn up by the Directorate General for Books, Archives and Libraries through the Subdirectorate General for Library Coordination with the aim of contributing, within a framework of cooperation, to the development of the Spanish public library as a public service directed towards all citizens.

Its contents are collated under seven large headings in which Internet resources concerning the public library are drawn together: basic resources in general; the present situation and the organisation of public libraries in Spain; texts and reports; statistics; legislation and regulation and organs of the Administration; the international scene; libraries and catalogues; bibliography on public libraries and links of interest and ideas for librarians.

• The "Ask, the libraries will answer" http://pregunte.carm.es/pregunte/pub06.html service was consolidated. Its aim is to create a public information service via the Internet, through e-mail and through Web sites, administered by the libraries of the various Autonomous Communities working together in cooperation and coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. This project aims to promote the active role of the public library in the information society as a centre of information that is accessible to all and based on both traditional reference collections and multimedia formats and network resources.

• The Reading Guidance Service (S.O.L.) was created. The project is intended for children and young people and aims to help readers find their ideal reading matter with respect to their preferences and to enable contact to be established between readers and books in a variety of different ways. The service is provided via Internet http://www.sol-e.com and there is also a telephone query service.

4.1 Union catalogues and library directories

• 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
• An up-to date version of the Union Catalogue for Castilla y León (CCCL) is available on-line at the following address: http://www.bcl.jcyl.es/CatcolectivosA. It is coordinated by the Library of Castilla y León.
• The Valencian libraries portal http://biblioportal.cult.gva.es, has been available on-line since October. Amongst other information it provides is the Union Catalogue of the Valencian public reading network which encompasses a hundred libraries.

• 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: document procurement service, cooperative Spanish bibliography, union catalogue of Spanish periodicals, digitalisation and microfilming, study and development proposals for urban library services, manuscript cataloguing and the creation of cooperative Spanish bibliography for audiovisual documents.
• The 6th Library Cooperation Conferences (2002) between the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Autonomous Communities were held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria between 22 and 24 May. During these conferences, it was decided to study the possibility of adopting a name and logo to identify them.
• In October, the Pautas sobre servicios de las bibliotecas públicas (Guidelines on public library services) was published by the Subdirectorate General for Library Coordination as part of the Library Cooperation Programme between the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Autonomous Communities. It sets forth a body of recommendations, or guidelines, for the creation and launch of a number of library services.
• In March, the Anuario estadístico de bibliotecas públicas, 2000, (Public library statistical annual, 2000) containing data collected by the Autonomous Communities for this year, was published.

With regard to participation in international forum, the fields of participation are Iberoamerica and Europe. Spain held the presidency of the Iberoamerican Public Library Cooperation Programme (PICBIP).

Within the framework of Iberoamerican cooperation, the following are noteworthy:

• A new course on Public Library Management, directed at librarians working in the public library sector in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, was held at the training centre of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) from 11 to 22 March.
• The organisation of the course represents the fulfilment of one of the agreements adopted at the 2nd Iberoamerican Meeting of National Public Library Authorities, held in Antigua (Guatemala) in November 2000 and which is included in the Public Library Cooperation Programme.
• In October, the 6th 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.
• The 3rd Iberoamerican Meeting of National Public Library Authorities, was held in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) between 26 and 28 November. It was organised by the Directorate General for Books, Archives and Libraries through the Subdirectorate General for Library Coordination with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI). The national public library authorities of 13 Iberoamerican countries attended the meeting.

Within the framework of European cooperation, participation in two meetings was noteworthy:

• The North-South Seminar (Denmark, October), brought librarians from the north and south of Europe together to exchange experiences.
• NAPLE (National Authorities on Public Libraries in Europe), was held shortly afterwards in the same country. NAPLE came into existence in 1999 as a stable group for European cooperation and exchange.

• The seminar, "The Public Library: new challenges and strategies in the information society" was held in Barcelona, from 7-11 October.

From 7 to 11 October, the seminar, "The Public Library: new challenges and strategies in the information society", organised by the Library Services of the Diputació de Barcelona (Barcelona Provincial Council) was held.

During the seminar, the conclusions of a report (concerning the period 2003-2010) were presented. The report had been drawn up throughout 2002 and its aim is to provide a strategic vision of the various spheres associated with the public library and to provide strategic recommendations and proposals for action in order to situate the library service at the heart of the agendas of municipal governments.

The starting point for the report was to draw up a general framework for new perspectives on public services and four thematic studies.

These documents were presented at the seminar which has been the tool for debating the report’s proposals and its recommendations on actions and projects.

The documents and conclusions are available from: http://www.diba.es/cerc/interaccio2002/seminar/s3/marcseminar3_ca.htm

The 1st National Mobile Library Congress was held in San Ildefonso (Segovia) from 18 to 20 October with the slogan: "Mobile libraries in the information society". It was organised by the Castilian-Leonese Mobile Libraries’ Association (ACLEBIM). The texts of the communications produced can be consulted at: http://www.fcnv.es/New/congreso_bibliomov

• Interprofessional conferences: "Public libraries: a space for social integration"

The Interprofessional conferences: "Public libraries: a space for social integration" were held in Salt (Girona) on 15 and 16 March. They were organised by the UNESCO Centre of Catalonia and the Group of Catalan Libraries Associated with UNESCO. Topics debated by speakers included: the function and responsibility of the public library as a space for social integration; the library as a space to reconsider everyone’s place within the city; tools for intercultural dialogue and the function of reading and the multidisciplinary interrelations it involves. More information is available from: http://www.unescocat.org

• "The public library as an element of youth integration"

The 4th conference on the public library and cultural policy was held in Sitges (Barcelona) on 14 and 15 October. It was organised by the Bertelsmann Foundation with the slogan: "The public library as a factor in youth integration". http://www.fundacionbertelsmann.es/index2.htm

• The new IFLA guidelines have been translated into the Catalan language by the Official College of Librarians and Archivists of Catalonia (Col·legi Oficial de Bibliotecaris i Documentalistes de Catalunya).
• The Spanish version can be consulted at: http://www.unesco.org/webworld/memory/basictexts.htm
• Study of the public library collections in Spain. (Germán Sánchez Riupérez Foundation)

Last December, a preliminary report was presented of the national results of the investigation entitled, "The public library collections in Spain. A study of their development". The study was carried out by the Germán Sánchez Riupérez Foundation.

The preliminary results, conclusions and press releases are available at http://www.fundaciongsr.es/. The preliminary results of this study show that the public library collections in Spain are, on average, small, that their stocks are hardly kept up to date and that they hardly incorporate the new information technologies. The public libraries in Spain have, on average, 1.07 books per inhabitant. Ten years ago, this index was 0.53 books per inhabitant. The growth there has been is significant but it is a far cry from the levels recommended by international organisations or the European Union average.

• The city of Barcelona plans for the future central library

In accordance with the provision of the Barcelona Library Plan (English version available at http://www.bcn.es/biblioteques/pagsaltres/pla_98-10_angles.html), progress is being made in the definition of the future central library, the leading library in the network of municipal libraries in the city of Barcelona.

It has been decided to change the location and finally the library will not be built in the Mercat del Born, as had been originally planned.

10. Web sites of interest

• Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Subdirectorate General for Library Coordination: http://www.mcu.es/lab/bibliote/index.html
• Network of State Public Libraries: http://www.mcu.es/bpe/bpe.html.
• Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia). Library Services: http://cultura.gencat.es/biblio/index.htm
• Diputació de Barcelona. (Barcelona Provincial Council) Library Services: http://www.diba.es/biblioteques
• Barcelona City Council: http://www.bcn.es/biblioteques/

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

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

• University Library Network: http://www.uma.es/rebiun/
• Higher Scientific Research Council Library Network: http://www.csic.es/cbic/cbic.htm
• Consortium of University Libraries of Catalonia: http://www.cbuc.es/

• Directory of Spanish Libraries: http://exlibris.usal.es/bibesp/

• FESABID (Spanish Federation of Societies for Archivists, Librarians, Documentalists and Museologists): http://www.fesabid.org/
• ANABAD: http://www.anabad.org
• Official College of Librarians and Documentalists of Catalonia: 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

• Federation of Spanish Publishers’ Organisations: http://www.federacioneditores.org
• Publishers’ Organisations of Catalonia: http://www.gremieditorscat.es/