"Explore the Truth in Pictures: Miscellaneous Essays on Libraries"

Author: Lin Hancheng, Huang Junquan / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-01-01
Features: Since modern times, libraries have served the functions of developing readers' intellect and conducting social education. The 21st century is the century of knowledge and information, and libraries will further fulfill their social education role, becoming important venues for social and continuing education outside of schools. Education, science, and culture are an inseparable whole. Broadly defined, culture can encompass education and science, while narrowly defined, education is the foundation, and libraries serve as the intersection and mediator between education and science. In 1996, the report "Education: A Wealth of Nations" submitted by UNESCO's International Commission on Education for the 21st Century emphasized that lifelong education should be placed at the center of societal priorities in the 21st century. The report's concept of lifelong education elucidates the four pillars: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to survive. Notably, the lifelong education discussed in the report is explicitly based on compulsory education as its foundation and starting point. As "universities without walls" and social continuing education venues for compulsory education, libraries must closely monitor global education trends, explore the integration of library work with education, and continuously expand their space for survival and development.
Since the 1960s, countries have been implementing continuing education programs (also known as "knowledge projects"). Annual training rates are 80% in the Netherlands, 45% in Denmark, and 43% in the United States. The United Kingdom began establishing a national continuing education system in 1991, and libraries have become an integral part of this system. Some scholars believe that the future of libraries will merge with other educational institutions. Libraries not only directly impart knowledge through various publications, serving as institutions for correspondence education, distance education, and training in various professional skills, but they will also become part of formal school education as the focus of school education shifts from "teaching-centered" to "learning-centered." This is not wishful thinking but rather the current trend of global development. In the early 1990s, British scholars, based on data from 12 European countries, concluded through comparative research that post-industrial societies are characterized by the widespread dissemination and easy accessibility of technological information. At the same time, scientific knowledge is becoming increasingly specialized. The more accessible knowledge is, the more relative ignorance exists, even among those with higher education. In the information society, the public's need for comprehensive knowledge improvement is growing, and the dissemination of knowledge is moving from being disordered to being ordered, making the role of libraries in continuing education increasingly prominent, and improving and refining it will be essential.
It is not uncommon to see libraries integrated into formal education systems or recognized as organic supplements to school education in countries around the world. In Western countries, libraries are generally regarded as integral components of school teaching and research, and institutions lacking libraries and their corresponding standards are not qualified to operate. Community public libraries are considered sacred rights for residents to enjoy continuing education, guaranteed by legislation.
China has a large population, underdeveloped economy, and a significant talent gap due to historical reasons, creating a massive demand for education. According to relevant reports, 10 million junior high school students cannot enter high school each year, 4 million high school students cannot attend university, 12% of the population over 15 is illiterate, and by 2000, 300 million people, half of the national labor force, will need retraining. These dropouts represent a huge demand for libraries, making it a "second hope project." Premier Zhu Rongji stated at the National Education Conference, "To accelerate national modernization and significantly enhance comprehensive national strength and international competitiveness, education must be given top priority in the development strategy."
Today's culture is tomorrow's economy; education is the foundation of economic development, and for economic growth, education must be vigorously developed. In line with China's national conditions, education is undergoing two transformations: one is shifting from an educational cause to an educational industry, and the other is moving from exam-oriented education to quality-oriented education.