With the adoption of the third Manifesto by UNESCO in 1994, we once again have an international document which expresses the desirable goals for library developments in all member states, even if the roads towards the goals appear to be of varying lengths. | UNET THE UNESCO MODEL LIBRARY NETWORK Trying to make reality of the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto Background of UNET With the adoption of the third Manifesto by UNESCO in 1994, we once again have an international document which expresses the desirable goals for library developments in all member states, even if the roads towards the goals appear to be of varying lengths. UNET According to the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs, the project was to comprise: Testing of new media. Playing a more active role in education. Developing the library as a cultural centre. Developing the library as a local information centre and defining its role in the information society. Becoming part of an international network. Participating countries Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Sweden, Zimbabwe, Canada, Chile and Malaysia these countries have all conducted an independent evaluation of their libraries on the basis of the UNESCO Estonia - Zimbabwe Many ways to get to know . | UNET THE UNESCO MODEL LIBRARY NETWORK Trying to make reality of the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto Background of UNET With the adoption of the third Manifesto by UNESCO in 1994, we once again have an international document which expresses the desirable goals for library developments in all member states, even if the roads towards the goals appear to be of varying lengths. UNET According to the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs, the project was to comprise: Testing of new media. Playing a more active role in education. Developing the library as a cultural centre. Developing the library as a local information centre and defining its role in the information society. Becoming part of an international network. Participating countries Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Sweden, Zimbabwe, Canada, Chile and Malaysia these countries have all conducted an independent evaluation of their libraries on the basis of the UNESCO Estonia - Zimbabwe Many ways to get to know eachother Summary The Manifesto is an extremely useful tool. Even though there are many differences among the participating libraries, they can and do all use the Manifesto as a guideline within their work. In all our evaluations it is clear that all countries in some way fulfil the missions of the manifesto. Libraries reflect their surroundings. UNET has observed how different libraries stress different parts of the Manifesto. For example, in Zimbabwe there is a strong oral tradition which the libraries work hard to maintain. In Sweden, where this tradition is dying out, the Manifesto encourages the libraries to initiate work in this area. Libraries are more and more becoming ”learning institutions”. This has increased in importance even more since the first evaluation reports were written. ”Lifelong learning” is now a reality in all the countries, and it is clear that the libraries participating in UNET are important institutions for lifelong learning within their .
