Lifelong Learning and Library Services

The Academic Library promotes the entitlement of people to learning opportunities and their right to have access to the learning resources necessary to maximize the benefits from their learning experiences. The Library focuses on the needs of the learner, the skills of library staff, and partnership and access issues. It campaigns within its own membership to promote this role as well as within the learning community as a whole. It also seeks to influence those creating new learning networks, both courseware and content, and those who design human spaces for learning. In this paper we examine the strategic framework for an Academic Library activity on lifelong learning by i) Providing a broader definition of lifelong learning in relation to informal and non-formal learning, ii) Identifying the key issues for library and information services arising from the lifelong learning agenda, iii) Defining the role that the library and information sector should play in lifelong learning