VITAL PROBLEMS OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARIES
| Date | 01 April 1965 |
| Pages | 248-251 |
| Published date | 01 April 1965 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026372 |
| Author | A.C. BREYCHA‐VAUTHIER |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
VITAL PROBLEMS OF INTERNATIONAL LIBRARIES
A. C. BREYCHA-VAUTHIER*
Librarian
Emeritus,
United
Nations,
Geneva
LIBRARIES grow in an ever-increasing number around international
organizations. New buildings arise and existing ones are adapted. Great
sums are spent out of
the
budget of organizations or by foundations in order
to put better working facilities at
the
disposal of international organizations.
But if we compare what
is
being spent for national and international libraries
it is striking that the results achieved at the international level, at great cost
in many cases, do not come up to expectations. As the means needed have
been made available—though often, it must be admitted, not in good time
—it
is
the organizations themselves that carry the blame for the often poor
results; there again it
is
largely
a
problem of
staff.
Many of us think that it is
primarily the librarians, and not the books, on whom finally the value of a
library depends. If this analysis also applies on an international level, the
questions we need to elucidate here are: Are the right people chosen for
international libraries and, if one has found them, does one facilitate their
work?
All such librarians are international officials, and I have described else-
where1 what an international official is and what he should be. But our
librarians are professional specialists as well as international officials. This
fact is accepted in many countries, but the number of member countries
for whom the post of librarian is simply one for persons of their nomina-
tion, irrespective of real training, is increasing. Officials, professors, and
other perhaps less suitable candidates are forced on international organiza-
tions for library posts and cannot
always be
refused. This danger
is
especially
evident for libraries in the field of
the
social sciences, such as the UN lib-
raries in New York and Geneva and the Unesco
Library.
Libraries in special
fields such as WHO seem
less
affected, and FAO tries—until now not too
successfully—to hold a middle line.
In the course of my long international career, various organizations of the
United Nations have honoured me with requests to inquire into the opera-
tion of their respective libraries. The resulting reports can be consulted by
* I offer these thoughts to Barbara Kyle, whose kindness and energy continue to inspire
those who worked with her on the improvement of international social science documenta-
tion. (Austrian Embassy, Beirut.)
248
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