Societal developments and libraries

Evolutions are synonymous with changes. When these developments concern society as a whole, ruptures, fractures, discontinuities are linked to the emergence of new cultural, intellectual and ethical values whose repercussions are felt in both political and civil organizations.

Libraries, like all organizations, are immersed in an environment; it is the environment in which they are founded, which assigns them a cultural and social role and function. In a context that is changing rapidly, libraries are adapting, but how can we measure what they must now do to assume their duties in the city?

Between external injunctions and professional questions, libraries are opening up to expanding fields of intervention. So how does this diversification of actions affect duties? What are the social, civic and even ethical duties for libraries, towards the public community, towards all regular and occasional publics, and those potential constituted by all those segments of the population who do not know or use libraries?

Professionals are invited to think and debate, events conducted as part of days within professional associations and organizations. During our day, we will therefore put the most recent issues into perspective in order to identify guidelines that can help to set up committed libraries.