Librarians as Facilitators of Democracy and Partners in International Relations

Abstract

The end of the 20th century has been marked by unprecedented political and economic restructuring world-wide. The collapse of the communist regime in Central and Eastern Europe transpired into formation of new democracies and caused irreversible changes in the life of the global community. Despite the traditional perception of librarians as politically passive information specialists, due to a new world order, librarians are playing an increasingly important role in fostering international relations and collaboration in business, education, and culture. With the availability of Internet, librarians can strengthen democracy and economic development by facilitating access to international information and stimulating communication, critical thinking, and cross-cultural skills of their clients. This article presents a library networking case study between the U.S. and the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. It shares outreach methods applicable to diverse projects targeting emerging democracies, and encourages greater participation by librarians in local and international cooperative initiatives