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.

Access to scientific literature for research and teaching is a problem that researchers constantly face. In the globalization of the academy, as well as political developments in the world, the conditions for the receipt of new books in library collections and bookstores are changing. Many publications exist only in electronic format, which also affects the possibility of their inclusion in library catalogs and databases. In view of the information flow, they are often simply not aware of the publication of new publications, especially those prepared in small regional universities. Obviously, the most acute question is what publications scientific libraries have the opportunity to acquire in these conditions. This book plans to present a series of materials on the state of scientific libraries. The current state and prospects for the development of academic libraries is a problem. Undoubtedly, over the past two decades, there have been significant changes in the logistical support of libraries, the information approach to library activities, and the professional level of staff. These changes occur on the general background of all accelerating technological progress and colossal transformations in the information space. At the same time, in the academic environment, all of the above is significantly behind the world trends and standards. One of the most important parts of a library is its doctrine because the library is a central institution, the totality of which constitutes a more complex system called librarianship. This book provides insights into not only an understanding of the library as a key production unit of library service system, but also library science, the developed system, and forms of libraries of different types. The question of what a library is, when, how and why it occurred, what are the ways of the past, its contemporary social functions, structure, mechanism of action, and its main types, are fundamental to a proper understanding of a library. In order to just answer it, one can make a full and clear understanding of the mission of libraries in modern society, the main round of the librarian profession and how to implement them . The historical aspect of this issue is considered an important professional discipline of history of library work in the world. Currently, there is no targeted recruitment. This is partly due to the funding of libraries. Often, the collection of library funds occurs at the expense of gifts, as a result of one-time, unsystematic exchanges, which leads to a chaotic replenishment of the fund. There are problems with subscriptions to professional periodicals because of their high cost and delivery problems. Most libraries have both basic and exchange funds in their composition. The latter is in active movement, as one of the main sources of literature for the past two decades are book exchange and gifts. Primarily these are unsystematic and uncontrolled processes, the only stable receipt among them is the international non-exchange book exchange, through which the NBUB academic libraries receive foreign profile literature. There are different standards for bibliographic description. This complicates the library interaction between various countries. In the developed countries of the world at one time, the bibliographic description standard, developed, and was adopted; the IRBIS software was built on the same standards. The lack of domestic standards, and work on software that supports foreign standards, will entail a huge resource problem. This lack of a common vision and coordination within the Academy and has resulted in the existence of different programs or their complete absence. There is no universal system of corporate cataloging. The problem of funding a scientific library is always relevant . Usually this state ranges from bad to very bad and is an integral component of almost any library problem. On the other hand, inadequate funding is often simply written off unwillingness to move and do something. The premises reserved for library collections are often crowded and do not always correspond to the conditions necessary for storing the fund. The problem of safety of funds has several aspects: physical safety, observance of necessary temperature regimes, as well as a lack of areas for the placement of funds. Often the problem can be solved only by changing the room or location to another, which is a large project. Often, libraries are not priority units in the distribution of computer equipment or peripheral equipment within institutions. It takes a lot of serious effort to justify the need to supply both the technology and the purchase and payment of technical support for the library. In the rapidly changing information space, the task of lifelong learning is topical. At the same time, there are few Free State educational programs, and the number and variety of paid ones is limited. The range of offers is small, considering both the specifics and low demand, since paid programs are almost inaccessible due to lack of financial support for potential participants. More often, professional development is limited to several one-day seminars a year, organized by the Library Association. Even in a more difficult situation there are the employees working outside the capital without access to these seminars, for webinars are still not widely distributed, and business trips are associated with additional costs and other problems. There is no information network within the academic environment. Most likely, non-established horizontal communication links are an interlibrary problem, which, if desired and with the availability of today's opportunities, is simple enough to solve. Perhaps it is not yet fully understood? All these problems exist, of course, in a complex and interrelated way. It is possible to count on positive changes in the situation with academic libraries with the active participation of three sides of the process - librarians, administrations and scientists. In our opinion, these fluctuations within the general trend depend primarily on the personal component, both on the staff of the library itself and on the institution's administration and on the researchers themselves. However, cardinal changes, successful solutions to tasks that go beyond one institution, such as: changing the structure of funding, creating the conditions for attracting new young cadres, implementing joint scientific and technical projects aimed at building a corporate network within system, a consolidated electronic catalog of the academic network, creating proprietary electronic resources and digital libraries, provision of unified software search superstructures, etc., are in the sphere of opportunities for more global and institutional unity. And here, in turn, the direction of the state's cultural strategy, the reform of the academy of sciences system is important. As a result, a change of priorities and focus not only on satisfying the needs of science and maximizing the effective use of its potential, but also on the disclosure of its potential (especially in the humanities) to create an accessible scientific and popular resource, is needed.