The Director’s corner is dedicated to directors and chief executives of national libraries across Europe. In these columns, they provide a brief presentation of the role and position of their respective national library in Europe.

The Director’s corner is dedicated to directors and chief executives of national libraries across Europe. Mr. Bruno Racine, BnF President, gives us a brief presentation of the role and position of the French National Library in Europe.

Embracing The European Library & Europeana

"The BnF joined The European Library in 2004 at a time when the other founder members were deeply committed to building this portal, which aimed to give concrete form to the Europe of national libraries"

"After five years of existence, The European Library represents a real asset for my establishment. By allowing teams to compare their bibliographical, technical and normative choices, it ensures a more effective interoperability of our systems. It enhances the wealth and diversity of our collections by making them accessible to an ever wider public. Finally, The European Library strengthens and underlines the importance of multilingualism."

"The Bibliothèque nationale de France played a significant role in the birth and existence of Europeana by providing its name but above all by making a substantial technical, financial and documentary contribution to it. This commitment will continue and even grow now Europeana has become a major priority of the BnF."

"Everything that we digitise is intended to be accessible via Europeana and represents several million items. This is enhanced by the BnF's intensified efforts to open Gallica to include copyrighted works under an agreement signed, in the general interest, with French publishers. In addition, we actively participate in several projects aimed at making the future European Library a highly advanced technological system. I am therefore very pleased to note that we are reaching a milestone on November 20th with the launch of the prototype in Brussels."

"The French presidency of the European Union will enable the BnF to further strengthen its involvement in the effort to realise a digital offer which represents the diversity of European cultural identity. Ultimately, we hope to meet the needs of users whatever their language."

"This strong conviction, which I would like to maintain and share with other European colleagues, represents my commitment as a recently elected member of the CENL executive committee."

The Director’s corner is dedicated to directors and chief executives of national libraries across Europe. Mr. Lenart Šetinc, NUK Acting Managing Director, gives us a brief presentation of the role and position of the National and University Library of Slovenia in Europe.

"Does the present era of globalisation, international cooperation and the power of the Internet imply the decline of national cultures and multilingualism? Or is it an opportunity for the affirmation of cultural independence and linguistic diversity?"

"“The electronic environment undoubtedly promotes unification, but on the other hand it also confronts the coexistence of different languages and different cultural identities. Such a multicultural and multilingual environment requires awareness. National libraries, for which preserving cultural national heritage is a core aim, can be at the heart of these endeavours."

"Europe’s national libraries are exploring answers to these global challenges through the Conference of European National Libraries (CENL), and, in particular, through The European Library. This service has brought about many concrete solutions, now implemented within a common portal"

"The National and University Library – NUK - is an institution with a long tradition, established during the 18th century. It has been the official Slovenian national library for more than sixty years. Like other national libraries around Europe, the library today faces a number of tasks. They include preservation of the endangered written cultural heritage and development of a digital library, in partnership and co-operation with The European Library family."

"The National Library of Ireland was delighted to become a Full Participant in The European Library, continuing Ireland’s long and proud history of contact with mainland Europe. People have been moving in either direction for thousands of years, ideas and knowledge traveling with them."

"Medieval Irish monks journeyed across Europe, and later migrants served in the armies of European powers, a theme addressed in our wonderful exhibition Strangers to Citizens. In the 20th century, authors such as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett spent perhaps their most creative years in European cities, their writing informed by their experiences both in their native land and their European bases. Irish culture today is being shaped by new arrivals from every country in Europe and beyond."

"The National Library of Ireland has remarkable collections covering virtually every aspect of Irish life, culture and history. Our participation in The European Library provides us with an opportunity to bring our treasures to the attention of the world at large."

"The intellectual treasures gathered by the Russian State Library offer a unique and trusty opportunity to hold knowledge; the Library also offers a new vision of the world by providing permanent access to learning and understanding of the developments within our society"

In Russia, the RSL offers access to the following special facilities and collections:

• The Universal Museum of Book, founded in the 1920s;
• The Central Library of Armed Forces, founded in 1929;
• An All-Russian collection of theses in all the fields of knowledge;
• Exchange-and-reserved stock of 1,5 million items;
• "Informcultura" science and information centre;
• A collection of items on library science and bibliology;
• The Centre of Oriental Literature with its collection of 700,000 documents;
• An electronic collection of theses;
• About 200 virtual reading halls, which have been opened in libraries and educational institutions in around 70 cities up to now.

The RSL carries out the mission of national libraries which is to collect, preserve and give access to a universal collection of items, presenting the knowledge accumulated by mankind."

Victor V. Fedorov
General Director of the Russian State Library
Candidate of Economic Science