Strategic investments can make a big benefit for the entire library community

today, only one-third of all the country's schoolchildren access to a skolbibliotekarie. Skolbiblioteksverksamhet is a responsibility of the municipal and private principals who run schools. With respect for the local self-government and finansieringsprincipen have therefore the authority of the Royal library, KB, in one of his reforms for the library community, proposed government initiatives for skills enhancement and medieförsörjning for skolbiblioteken.

But behind the KB's proposal for a national library strategy is several years of concerted effort, with analyses of post-doctoral researchers, professors and other experts. The royal library, trying to balance between the state's requests for action and local autonomy, and economic conditions.

the Government has allocated sek 250 million per year during the 2018-20 for temporary project grants to public libraries. It is a bet that has not yet been evaluated. The arts council is concerned that this money, which the authority benefits to the municipal library for various projects and purchases of mobile libraries, bookshelves, and other things, to disappear.

The KB claim is that a reformambition 250 million in the form of a permanent increase in the level of state appropriations to consolidated library is a reasonable and modest approach – not least for school libraries, national minorities and digitisation. Others already think it is too little.

But the strategic and long-term initiatives can make significant benefits to the entire library community. That should please also the arts council, which is making extensive and important contributions, not least for the promotion of reading. Folkbibliotekens need of support to the barcelona premises or mobile solutions – which is basically a municipal responsibility – need not stand in contradiction to sustainable structures and common national solutions where they are possible and useful.