Creating Public Paradise

Book excerpt: Result of a conference organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Netherlands Public Library Association, on the occasion of the Dutch presidency of the Council of Europe on the 18th and 19th of March 2004 in The Hague and Apeldoorn. New functions and forms of public libraries in the 21st century were the central theme about which more than 150 participants of over 35 countries discussed. It was an expert meeting of governmental policy makers as well as professionals from the library field, and it includes library building and city planning, new public library concepts and its reflection in attractive and sustainable design and public library building. Consists of lectures, recommendations to the Council of Europe, seminar, survey reports on the situation of public libraries in European countries.