IFLA's 11th International Seminar: 
Library Building in a Changing Environment.
August 15-19 1999, Shanghai, China.

Seminar outline:

1. Development of Library Architecture and Its Future Trends.
2. Socio-economic Impact on Library Buildings and Equipment.
3. Library Buildings in a Network Environment.

Seminar exhibition "New Library Buildings of the World".

Published for the seminar:

New Library Buildings of the World, Editor-in-chief: Wu Jianzhong.  Shanghai, 1999, 250 pages.

Including the following libraries from Denmark, The Royal Library,m Danish National Library of Science and Medicine, State and University Library, National Library of Education, Library of Frederikshaven, Hinnerup Library & Cultural Center, Ringsted Public Library, Tingbjerg Library, Aalborg University Library, Aarhus Business School Library, Danish Veterinary and Agricultural Library of the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Roskilde University Library.

British library

• Guest speech. Dr. Brian Lang, Director, British Library: Library Buildings for the New Millennium.

Excerpts:

"So do we still need buildings to store library materials, now that we can digitize them? The answer is yes, because I am certainly not intending to make digital copies of Magna Carta and the manuscript of Alice in Wonderland, and then throw away the originals. One of my responsibilities is to care for a substantial historic collection of books and manuscripts, and not simply copies of these, electronic or otherwise.

But the point is that the relationship between a library building and the library's collections is changing. We do not necessarily need a building to house a collection. It is also the case, though, that the building is needed for reasons other than simply to store a collection of manuscripts and printed books. Readers still flock to library buildings. They come to consult books, and catalogues and so on, but there is more to a visit than just that. As I said earlier, libraries have always been successful social spaces. Libraries are regarded as ideal location for intellectual encounters of many kinds. The intellectual encounter is not exclusively with the books and manuscripts they consult in the reading rooms. The library building should recognize the desirability of those other kinds of encounter, and provide opportunities for them. It is essential that a library have a decent restaurant and other locations to let people meet and exchange ideas."

"The electronic library is well on is way, but I am confident that buildings will still have a role to play. Traditional and electronic media will continue to sit side by side, so to speak, and users, in consultation with librarians, will decide which is the more appropriate for a particular purpose. No new technology has ever totally driven out an earlier one. Libraries will involve library buildings, some of the time, for some purposes.

The British Government's Department of Culture, which funds the British Library and is responsible for national policy on libraries, has put libraries higher up the political agenda than they have been for generations. More money and, just as important, political backing, has been put behind libraries. Our government sees libraries as a key resource for education, and as our Prime Minister Tony Blair has said, the political agenda is education, education, and education.

Personally, I firmly believe that libraries are the most important institutions ever created. If the book is the most potent artefact ever invented by humankind, than - let me repeat - libraries represent and define humanity. Virtually every new invention, virtually every new thought, builds on existing knowledge. That is why librarianship is a key profession. We are the gatekeepers for scholarship, research, for learning and for any sort of real understanding of what the world is about.

The buildings that house libraries should reflect the central role these institutions play in our societies. They should stir the eye as well as the mind. They are the most important centres for scholarship and research and for creating a better future than nations have ever possessed. They should be housed in great buildings which are appropriate to the role, to the ideas they contain, and to the futures they help create.

Thank you."

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt.

• Architect Craig Dykers, Snøhetta, Oslo: Building the Universal Library: The Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt.

Excerpts:

"The topic of libraries is one of great interest to my architectural practice. Since winning the competition for the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt in 1989, we have been asked to participate on many levels for the planning of many different types of library projects, many of which have been public or university libraries. Over the past 10 years I have become intimately familiar with the many aspects of library planning. I have had the opportunity to meet many various kinds of librarians and library specialists. Any finally I have become all to familiar with the idiosyncrasies of library planning and librarians. I have been told not to put toilets in libraries, since they can be seen as space for vandalism. I have been told to remove all natural light from rooms to subdue the aging process. I have been told to use this type and that type of fire control system. I have been told to use this kind and that kind of cataloguing system, or avoid using carpeting to minimize insect infestation. I have explored desires to use existing buildings or new buildings for growing libraries, and I have listened patiently for hours while experts argue the future of libraries and books in the new age of the Internet and the computer. For every topic there is a counter argument. For every expert there is a non-expert, the user."

"A library is not solely a resurrection of historical interpretations of learning. Nor is it purely a functional machine. It is a multi-dimensional exhibition of human identity. It is a source of understanding our place in the world and our changing dialogue with knowledge. To fulfill this level of meaning the resulting building should express and interpret its position as a human institution. For myself, I see the library as a timeless expression, a flickering light; a frozen moment of solidity and depth. It is rhythmic and dynamic as the seasons continuously alter its facades with shades of light and dark, cool and warm. It is a building process that manifests itself in a wide range of specialists and generalists. Ultimately it is nothing without the respect of its users."

e-mail: craigd@snoarc.no

Homepage:  www.snoarc.no

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