This century has been called the information age and information is
regarded as a symbol of progress, the dynamic development of a
society. It has become a major component of a growing number of
products; it is gradually turning into an independent product and
more confidently crowding out other products and services, gaining
a leading position on them. Every year, many people in the
information field engage in the collection, processing, transfer
and storage of information, and the production of hardware and
software required for the smooth operation of information systems.
Politicians, economists and sociologists confidently use the phrase
"information rich" and "information poor." These terms are used
characterize not only individuals and social groups, but also
entire countries. The well-being of citizens and peoples, along
with the presence of wealth in recent years has been increasingly
determined access to information resources. The explosive growth of
information flow and related technologies has led to a global
change in the communication system. Its appearance, along with the
traditional series of new social institutions, has involved meeting
the specific information needs of society; however, this includes
the more rapidly growing amount of information and with it the
social costs of its handling and transportation. More relevant is
the question of determining the nature of institutions, ensuring
its functioning in society. The library is one of the oldest public
institutions, aimed at meeting the information needs of society. At
different stages of history, the understanding of the library's
social status has changed its role and importance in public life.
However, the main influence on the development of libraries
provided the information needs of users, structure document-flow of
any age, political, socio-cultural, economic and technological
features of the development of society. The present stage of human
history is characterized by globalization, information and
democratization of all spheres of public life. The new type of
society has ensured the rapid development of electronic technology,
along with the collection, processing, storage and use of various
types of information, and access of representatives of different
social groups to national and global information resources. That
is, these resources define the intellectual, economic, political
and even military power of the state. These factors contribute to
the resumption of the debate on the place and role of libraries in
modern society and the prospects for their development. The
progress of computer technology and information technology has led
to the emergence of theories predicting their functions and
restrictions, turning them into institutions designed to meet the
needs of only the disadvantaged sections of society. Even their
gradual extinctions and increasingly discussed question concerning
the role of libraries in providing information freedom and security
of citizens, thus revealing the essence of the library as a modern
social institution. The definition of the principles of its
activities and functions of the interaction between the external
and internal environment, problems and prospects of development are
important and relevant today. The emergence and development of
libraries has always been associated with the need to transfer
accumulated information from individual to individual, from
generation to generation. For thousands of years, the library was
needed for the development of science, education, culture, industry
and agriculture. Thanks to libraries, we have kept many priceless
treasures of human thought throughout the history of civilization.
Accumulating the wisdom of the ages, libraries contribute to the
preservation, development, and growth of knowledge. Despite the
fact of the library as a phenomenon, throughout several thousands
of years of study of its essence, specialists have paid
insufficient attention. This is largely because library scientists
have worked to identify the potential of libraries to solve current
problems, and the consideration of their internal, necessary and
stable properties and relations, causes, identity and
characteristics of development have been sidelined. To really
understand the essence of the library, as well as other social
phenomena, not only on the surface, it is necessary to move from
the empirical level of knowledge to the theoretical.
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