From Lending to Learning

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Public libraries lost in the learning landscape

Education, like society, is full of contradictions and paradoxes. It is called upon to reconcile divergent aims and trends, to embody both continuity and renewal, to encourage conformity and innovation at the same time. Furthermore, like much human endeavour, the practice of education is always a blend between a long-range vision and the urgency of day-to-day practice. Neither can be sacrificed, neither can be entirely satisfied, at any time. (UNESCO, 1998)

Education, however tightly structured, maintained or developed by whatever institutions, be they public or privately funded, colleges or universities, remains a key instrument of national governments’ economic policy. In this chapter some ...