This Review highlights the continuing relevance and significance of public libraries, but emphasises that they will need to adapt to new ways of delivering the service and to work together with national bodies to meet the challenge of the next millennium. The Government will legislate to combine the functions of the Library and Information Commission and of the Advisory Council on Libraries to provide a single source of public library advice in England. Public and other libraries should continue to co-operate to maximise their efficiency and effectiveness. Public libraries will play an important part in the Government's 'IT for All' programme, which aims to raise public awareness of the benefits of information technology. Public libraries will benefit from that part of the 300 million a year of National Lottery funding that the Government plans to direct towards the wider introduction of information and communication technology after the millennium.
Public libraries can deliver the benefits of new technology to the wider population.
The digitisation of material is already under way for many texts. The Government has asked the Library and Information Commission to report by July 1997 on how public libraries can together respond to the challenge of new technology. The Government is consulting on the future of legal deposit requirements, including their extension to electronic media. Public libraries should be open when their users want them to be. Public libraries provide opportunities for learning and self-improvement, for businesses, the local community and in developing young people.