Convocation on Providing Public Library Service to California’s 21st Century Population   [Contents] [Next]

Preface

California’s public libraries are at a crossroads.  As we face the 21st century, dramatic forces are impacting public libraries: immigration is rapidly changing the composition of California’s population; public funding has fallen; the gaps in educational attainment are widening; and new information technologies are redefining how we access and use information.    Fundamental changes in the California environment – from how libraries are funded to how the electorate views immigration and diversity – pose tremendous challenges for libraries and librarians in the 21st century.  Despite these challenges, the outlook for California’s public libraries is bright because support for public libraries runs wide and deep.  Public libraries are places where people help people get closer to their potential. This is, perhaps, the most human of endeavors.  Despite the value libraries bring to Californians – both individually and as a society – libraries must change if they are to meet our future education, information and recreation needs.

The California State Library convened the Convocation on Providing Public Library Service to California’s 21st Century Population on May 22-23,1997 with the goal of  creating a vision of public library service in California.  Over 100 library leaders and supporters gathered for two days of meetings and work sessions. Their purpose was to assess the state of library services to diverse populations and develop recommendations for new statewide programs that respond to the needs of California’s population in the 21st century.

The recommendations contained herein reveal participants’ ambitious dedication to redefining the role of public libraries in their communities. Their recommendations also prescribe new directions for the California State Library in how it develops and supports public library services. The California State Library could not have fulfilled the Convocation’s purpose without the support of each library professional and library supporter who participated in this convocation.
I thank them, and you, for your concern and dedication to helping public libraries meet the education, information and recreation needs of California’s 21st century population.

[Contents] [Next]