This issue of SPLQ will be published prior to the World Library and Information Congress, which this year takes place in a Scandinavian country – in Oslo 14.-18. August 2005. The theme of the congress is “Libraries – a voyage of discovery. Curiosity and imagination push the limits of your knowledge towards the unknown and the unexpected. Libraries help you get there!”

The theme of the present issue of SPLQ we have called ‘New strategies for public libraries’. Our hope is that SPLQ will foster greater knowledge of the Nordic libraries and at the same time serve to support the theme of the conference, and perhaps arouse a certain amount of curiosity with regard to the library of the future.

From Norway we bring an article on how the library inspires young people to tackle literature, Sweden contributes with an article on a project that forms part of the country’s special focus on lifelong learning. Finland introduces you to their libraries’ site for children and from Denmark comes a theoretical discourse on the challenges the libraries face in their work with new strategies.

Jonna Holmgaard Larsen
Editor-in-chief
jhl AT bs.dk

Legally responsible publisher:
Jens Thorhauge, jth AT bs.dk
Editor-in-chief: Jonna Holmgaard Larsen, jhl AT bs.dk
Assistant editor: Vibeke Cranfield, vhc AT bs.dk

Co-editors:
Sidsel Hindal, sidsel.hindal AT abm-utvikling.no
The Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority

Barbro Wigell-Ryynänen, barbro.wigell-ryynanen AT minedu.fi
Finnish Ministry of Education, Dep. for Cultural Policy

Helena Kettner Rudberg, helena.rudberg AT kulturradet.se
Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs

Lay-out: Stæhr Reklame & Marketing
ISSN 0036-5602
Electronic ISSN: 1604-4843

Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly (SPLQ)
is published by the Nordic Public Library Authorities