Library development necessities in Hungary. Thesis of a strategic plan

Abstract

The present status of libraries in Hungary is characterized by too many libraries with diverse -mostly minimal - output that hardly cooperate wirth each other. Libraries fearing of their discontinuation can, in the electronic age, face the challenges by their profitoriented competitors only if they can provide a variety of services for users according to their needs, services which are precisely defined and with guarantied continuity. A necessary condition of such services is the system of cooperation. Within this system, the cost sensitivity of both the total system and its component libraries should be enhanced, and multichannel financing should be introduced, inevitable also because of the longterm decrease of government support. The earlier organization-oriented financing will become gradually project-oriented financing by the central budget. To cope with these dramatical changes, legislation must provide an appropriate legal back-groundfor libraries.