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(Title: A brief introduction to the Mexican public libraries). This is an academic non-peer reviewed research paper submitted at the end of the course of Public Libraries to the lecturer Ms. Elvira Castro. It was written in the fifth semester of the undergraduate degree of Library Science at the College of Library Science at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (Autonomous University of the state of Nuevo Leon). It introduces the reader to the composition of the Mexican national system of public libraries on the following aspects: a) the National Network of Public Libraries, b) Funding, c) legal agreements between states and municipalities, d) governance, e) selection and acquisition of library materials, f) promotion of the reading habit. It also includes a synopsis of the library services of the Public Library "Balcones de los Puentes" (Balconies of the Bridges) of the city of San Nicolas de los Garza, of the state of Nuevo Leon whose librarian in charge of that time was Rodrigo Garcia Pinales.

This article describes the way of access to the services of Journals at the Public Library of the State “Azorín” of Alicante (Valencian Community-Spain) and explains its contents.

The article analyzes the situation of the Biblioteca Pública Municipal de Pego (Valencian Community-Spain), the renovation of the services, funds and activities.

The article analyzes the situation of the Onda’s public municipal library (Valencian Community - Spain), its funds and its services.

The article analyzes the situation of the Carcaixent’s public municipal library (Valencian Community - Spain), its funds and the services.

The article analyzes the history and the formation of Biblioteca Pública Provincial de Alicante (Valencian Community -Spain), the process of automation and the services that it offers.

This article explains the process of organitation, cataloguing, classification, and information dissemination related with the poet Miguel Hernández in Biblioteca Pública de Orihuela (Valencian Community. Spain).

This article summarizes the statistical panorama of the year 2000 of the Valencian Libraries (Spain) that reflects clearly the increasing importance that our centers of public reading and of information are acquiring in the society. The global evaluation of the information sent to the Department of the Books Records and Libraries registers a numerical increase in almost all the parameters (readers, activities of reading animation, loans, etc.) and in the three provinces of Valencian Community.

This article gathers the current situation of the Libraries System of Elda, Valencian Community (Spain). It describes brief each of the libraries that compose the Net of Elda's Public Municipal Libraries.

The study observes that for an average Indian villager a primary school is two kilometers away, a high school sixteen kilometers away, a post office five kilometers, and a telegraphic office eighteen kilometers away. But a villager has to travel for more than 150 kilo meters to reach a library. Any institution which can provide him necessary support for continuing education is more distant to him than all these. The paper argues that culture and science must be distributed universally. Only people educated and properly informed of new advances can ensure sustainable development. It will not be possible without the help of very large sectors of population living in villages not understanding the mechanisms of development and taking active part in it. The two instruments which supplement the work of education to this end are on the one hand libraries with resultant dissemination of information and on the other, information designed for the popularization of different fields of knowledge. The study stresses the need for ensuring these two aspects in villages.

(National Library of India: An Evaluation) The study opines that a National Library should be responsible for acquiring and conserving copies of all documents that originated in the country as well as all documents about the country produced elsewhere. It should act as reliable and authentic bibliographical information centre on the above mandatory areas. National library's collection and services should also be organized in such a way that the people throughout the length and breadth of the country can use it without any difficulty through service outlets near their residence. The National Library of India (NLI) is evaluated on the basis of the above specified objectives. It is observed that the NLI is not fulfilling even the above basic functions. It is building up huge collections without a specified plan. Developing a reliable collection with the whole universe of knowledge as its area of coverage is impracticable for a developing country with limited financial resources and is also a diversion from the objectives National Library. NLI should limit its collection to documents from and on India. Even for that purpose it need not be one that duplicates all documents available in other libraries in the country; but it can entrust building up national collections of specific areas to specialized libraries in the country concerned with that area. Together they should form the National Library System. A national library need not be a single physical entity located at a place. It can be a group of libraries, if the existing condition of the country so requires. India being a federal country with language based States the study advices regional centres specializing in documents produced in the region as well as in the concerned language in each State. NLI should specialize in some common areas/languages as well as coordinate and control the regional activities to together form an integrated whole. The NLI, which is maintained by very huge expense from the county’s national budget, remains one, which is useful to only very few persons mostly belonging to Calcutta where it stands and its surroundings. The library’s set up does not consider the 99% of our population as coming under its expected users. India’s national library should not be allowed to continue as such any more. The study recommends decentralization of NLI subject/region/language wise as well as establishment of a National Public Library Network and extending service through it to the whole country to make it useful and easily accessible to all the citizens of India including those living in remote villages.

Traces the history of organized document collections of India from very ancient times, the contribution of Europeans especially the British rulers of India for systematization and conservation of such collections, and the origins of public library systems that culminated in the establishment of the National Library of India. Critically evaluates the National Library system of India as well as its present set up, resources and services. The paper argues that the main characteristics of a national library, which distinctly delineate it from other types of libraries is its specialization in a particular geographical area for its content. It should achieve maximum reliability of the collection in that mandatory area. The paper points out that in coverage and reliability in the mandatory areas as well as in extending services to the expected users including those living in remote villages; Indian National Library has failed. The study suggests decentralization of the resources by physically spreading it among the regions of concerned languages, establishment of subject specific divisions and other measure that can enable the National Library of India to fulfill its objectives.

We discuss the role of the library in development, touching on many dimensions, from being a contributor to the educational process to an agent promoting equitable distribution of wealth. Libraries constitute a network that supports both developing and developed countries and assures respect for fairness, the general quality of life for all people and the environment. At present, we see how the society has changed from manufacturing to the provision of services, and later to an economy based on knowledge. Indeed, the knowledge available in documents has followed a long process before arriving at the informative production and consumption that characterize current society.

The Public Library of Aranjuez carries out an activity “La radio en la biblioteca” where it makes a book recommendation on the Public Radio of Aranjuez.

In the Information Society, public libraries must be local centres of information. This paper analyses the relations between the community information policy and public libraries, and the state-of-the-art of available community information services. At present, links between public libraries and community information policy in Catalonia are weak; librarian should assume greater responsibility and should cooperate with other community information services. Community information needs should be studied and local information policies should be stated.

In India more than eighty percent of the people live in villages. So development of the country is developing the villages. Any development initiative which is not giving due consideration to the villager can not be morally and materially on the right direction. The most important ingredient for development is information. So in villages government has to give priority in ensuring availability of information freely and efficiently. Village library is the only institution which can serve as a reliable and accessible source of information for the village community. So library development in villages is very important. It has major role in villager’s formal and non formal education as well as on fulfilling information needs on health, hygiene, agriculture and trade. Village library is a community centre to be accessed by the people for guidance on all matters as well as on the support they may get from government for various activities and projects. An efficient public library system and network extending to the villages can make democracy real by enabling the people; to adjust with the current trends, to develop correct attitudes, and to be aware of the consequences of wrong policies. This can enable their participation in the government. The paper argues that an adequate system of village libraries is an absolute necessity in India which is wedded to socialism and parliamentary democracy.