Symposium Highlights the Challenges Faced by Libraries in the 21st Century

Sep 05, 2011

A symposium which took place at Trinity College Dublin recently highlighted the challenges faced by libraries in the 21st century and the relationships between cultural institutions and universities.  Organised by the National Library of Ireland / Trinity College Dublin Cultural Coordinator Dr Catherine Morris, the symposium entitled 'Creative Cities Symposium: Paris', addressed what lessons Ireland could learn from the mass investment made by the French government and featured a talk by the President of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Bruno Racine along with a panel discussion about digitisation.

During his talk on ‘The National Library of France and the challenges posed by digitisation’, Bruno Racine spoke about the work undertaken in France to digitise the national collections and reflected on the challenges that the library project now faces.  The symposium also featured a talk by Françoise Benhamou, Economist and Professor at the Centre d’Économie de l’Université Paris-Nord on ’Museums and Universities in Paris: Weak Links but Strong Attendance’.

Contributers to the conference included Trinity College Dublin Librarian and College Archivist, Robin Adams, Cultural and Scientific Counsellor at the French Embassy in Ireland, Hadrien Larouche, Economist and Professor at the Centre d’Économie de l’Université Paris-Nord, Françoise Benhamou, Director of the National Library of Ireland, Fiona Ross, President of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Bruno Racine, Professor John O'Hagan, and TCD Vice-Provost for Global Relations, Professor Jane Ohlmeyer.

The symposium marked the first event to bring together the library community of Ireland and the French National Library.  Speakers highlighted how archives are selected for digitisation in France and the difficulties France has faced in moving its library resources forward to meet the demands of the 21st century.  The symposium also contextualised the work that is being carried out in the National Library of France in the broader realm of French national culture and third level education, and explored the possibility of shared library resources and shared cultural connections between the two nations.  The full symposium programme is available online (pdf).