Bókasafnið - 01.07.2018, Page 62

62 Bókasafnið
opportunities and are active participants in society in as
many fi elds as possible. Libraries as public institutions are
obligated to reach out to culturally diverse population. Th e
service which should be provided to a culturally diverse
society is expected to address four key missions such as
information, education, literacy and culture.
As the offi cial data shows the biggest immigrant group in
Iceland is the Polish community. In order to review library
services off ered to them, the Reykjavik City Library and
Polish Library in Reykjavik were examined. Th e Reykjavik
City Library should be recognized as a multicultural centre
in Iceland as it implements various types of multicultural
projects, all of them aimed at promoting awareness of pos-
itive multicultural values and cultural diversity in Icelandic
society. Th e Polish Library in Reykjavik was established
in 2008 by the Association of Friends of Polish School in
Reykjavik. At that time the Polish community in Iceland
grew immensely, and the increased demand for Polish
books was recognized by the Polish diaspora. Th e Polish
Library in Reykjavik’s main role is to be a local cultural
centre for the Polish community. Th e library collection is
available to school students, as well as to everybody that is
interested in reading books in Polish.
Based on the review of the services available to the Polish
community, it is apparent that the Reykjavik City Library
and the Polish Library in Reykjavik play an important role
in maintaining Polish culture and language in Iceland. Both
of these institutions try to address the needs of the growing
Polish community. Reykjavík City Library supports mother
tongue learning for immigrant children and promotes
foreign languages used by the ethnic minorities. It off ers
many interesting projects targeting immigrants, and the
Polish minority group can defi nitely take advantage of and
benefi t from the multicultural policy implemented by the
library. However, the multicultural nature of Reykjavik
is not refl ected in the library collection, as the collection
is not suffi cient to meet the reading needs of the Polish
community. Th e Reykjavik City Library is not able to build
an adequate multilingual collection, as it has very limited
fi nancial resources.
Th e Polish Library in Reykjavik is intended only for users
interested in library materials and services in the Polish
language. It should be emphasized that the Polish Libr-
ary works as a school and public library at the same time.
Th is is especially important because the number of Polish
children born in Iceland is increasing every year. Th erefore,
the Polish Library in Reykjavik needs to serve not only as
a library, but also carry out an educational mission as well.
Such an approach is compatible with the guidelines of the
IFLA/UNESCO Public library manifesto and the IFLA/
UNESCO School library manifesto. Th ese documents
state that a library should be a local gateway of knowledge.
Such an institution is expected to guarantee conditions for
lifelong learning and cultural development for local comm-
unities.
Th e Polish Library satisfi es the reading needs of the Polish
minority to a greater degree than the Reykjavik City Li-
brary. However, Polish users can participate in various
multicultural projects implemented by the city library.
Libraries are important cultural institutions which provide
migrants and refugees with assistance and guidance, making
the diffi cult process of adaptation much easier for both
sides. As centres for culture, information, learning and
meeting, libraries have an important role to play in a multi-
cultural society. Multicultural libraries should be supported
and developed in all countries where multicultural societies
can be found. Icelandic libraries as public institutions must
evolve and be involved in multicultural issues in order to
contribute towards social inclusion of immigrants. Furt-
hermore, equal access to library services is a fundamental
human right. Increasing funding is crucial to expanding
collections and services.
Lokaritgerðin mín fj allar um siðferðileg álitamál í upp-
lýsingaþjónustu og ber hún yfi rtitilinn “I want to help ev-
erybody”. Vettvangur rannsóknarinnar var borgin Columbus
í Ohio-ríki í Bandaríkjunum þar sem ég hafði verið búsett
um nokkurra ára skeið. Ég hef mikinn áhuga á siðfræði og
heillaðist mjög af tilkomumiklum almennings- og rann-
sóknarsöfnum í Columbus. Því fannst mér tilvalið að tengja
þetta tvennt í lokaverkefni og kanna eðli þeirra siðferðilegu
áskorana sem fagfólk í upplýsingaþjónustu stendur frammi
fyrir og hvernig tekist er á við þær.
Einnig skoðaði ég formlegar
siðareglur stéttarinnar (einkum
siðareglur American Library
Association (ALA)) og kannaði
hvort upplýsingafræðingar teldu
mikilvægt að hafa slíkar reglur -
hvort þeir þekktu þær efnislega og
hvort litið væri til þeirra við úrlausn
“I want to help everybody”
Hilma Gunnarsdóttir er með BA og MA próf í sagnfræði, auk MIS prófs í upplýsingafræði frá Háskóla Íslands.
Hún starfar sem upplýsingafræðingur á þjónustu- og miðlunarsviði Landsbókasafns Íslands - Háskólabókasafns.