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.