Hopes for new chapter in library services

The recent spate of letters and articles referring to public library services in Malta in general and to the National Library in particular have served to focus some well-overdue attention to this mostly ignored albeit fundamental aspect of any nation’s cultural and intellectual development.

Our public and national library system has been crying out for a thorough overhaul for ages; yet we as a nation never seem to be able to devote the required attention and resources to this sector. The published and manuscript treasures held at our national library – a cultural and financial patrimony of the greatest importance – have been sustaining damage for decades, not just during the last few months or so.

Equally serious, problems relating to poor service all-round go that far as well. It simply seems that, with few exceptions, services provided have got stuck somewhere in the 1960s both where the public and the national library are concerned. The National Library in particular – that institution which should be preserving and making accessible our nation’s intellectual output – lacks even the most basic services which one expects from such an institution.

Professional online cataloguing of the collection’s published and manuscript holdings remains a dream, as does an online and regularly-published national bibliography and decent electronic records readers. Even more glaring is the total lack of facilities for people with special needs.

One hopes that the legislation in the pipeline will aim to address such shortcomings; above all, by attracting much-needed qualified and enthusiastic professionals to work in the sector. The Division of Library, Information and Archive Studies at the University of Malta has been – since 1986 – holding diploma-level courses in Library Studies. Scores of students have thus graduated; yet only a fraction of these are to be found working within the public/National Library sector. This year, another four students will be obtaining a degree in Library, Information and Archive Studies, following a demanding five-year evening course. We currently have 14 students following the diploma in Library Studies course and another six following that in Archives and Records Management. Given the rather bleak situation in the sector, such numbers are indeed encouraging and would certainly increase once concrete positive developments start revamping it.