Free access to information is the right of every human being. Public libraries provide that access, as well as experts to guide visitors to the information they need. Public libraries provide children with tools for learning, scholars with research materials, craftsmen with how-to information. Public libraries make available the materials necessary for life-long learning, an important goal of the European Union, and the basis for a higher quality of life for all. Public libraries are essential to the future of our children, nations, and humanity.
Public libraries are crucial in the Age of Information. They are the best example of democracy in
action. Because public libraries are accessible to all, regardless of race, age, gender, economic or political considerations, they offer freedom of access to information in ways no other institution can.
Public libraries remain above political differences and controversy. Such differences have been the main barriers to the creation of a network of public libraries in Greece. As additional public libraries are created by local action, government ministries will be encouraged to contribute their support more fully and consistently.
Ninety percent of people in the world do not have personal computers. Public libraries provide free access to computers and the World Wide Web, as well as the information experts who can guide users through the Web's indiscriminate and chaotic maze.
Public libraries allow a community, a city, a nation, to preserve what is most valued in their culture.
Public libraries collect, house, and share the thoughts and history of all of humanity. Therefore critical decisions about our individual and national futures can be made with wisdom, rather than by uninformed reactions to local and global events.
Thea Montandon
