1. THE ROLE OF LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
Prof. DSc Stoyan Denchev
Chief Assist. Prof. Elisaveta Tsvetkova PhD
Prof. DSc Irena Peteva
University of Library Studies and Information Technologies (ULSIT)
Sofia, BULGARIA

2. STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION
INTRODUCTION
CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
STRUCTURE AND NEW FUNCTIONS OF LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
STRUCTURAL SCHEME OF THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE UNIVERSAL CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION CENTER FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
NEW FUNCTIONS AND ROLES OF LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
CONCLUSION
CONTACTS WITH THE AUTHORS

3. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
INTRODUCTION
Books and libraries are two unique human creations that reflect the historical and cultural development of the human race. Throughout the years of development, people have not only learned to save their knowledge on a variety of materials – clay tablets, palm leaves, papyrus scrolls, parchment codes to paper pages and electronic media today, but also to store and pass them on by hand from generation to generation.
Thousands of years of treasures from the knowledge of writers, philosophers and scholars have come to us thanks to the centuries-long effort of librarians to preserve these riches in carefully maintained libraries.

4. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
INTRODUCTION
In all periods of human development, libraries have enjoyed special respect and recognition. The educated rulers and the aristocracy appreciated their importance for the development of science and culture. Much care was taken to assemble rich and comprehensive collections. The most erudite scientists, poets, writers, and public figures were appointed by the rulers librarians and organisers of the library activities. Librarians made tremendous efforts to collect, multiply, systematized, provide for use, and preserve precious library treasures. Library buildings were some of the most elaborate architectural masterpieces in the most visited parts of the city with an exquisite interior decoration.

5. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
INTRODUCTION
These trends are characteristic of both the ancient libraries and the libraries in the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment to our day. Of course, every new stage in the development of humanity leads to changes in the social, scientific and cultural life of societies, to new functions and activities for the institutions, but the role and importance of libraries have remained unchanged for centuries. Libraries have been and will be one of the pillars of the progress and prosperity of humankind.

6. CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
The modern stage of the historical development of humankind is defined as an information society, a knowledge and innovation society. A number of authors such as A. Toffler, and P. Drucker and others explore the processes of development and change in society, and prove without doubt the emergence of a new civilization – the information one. The reason for these processes are the great technological advances of the last decades of the twentieth century – the creation and rapid development of communication and computer technologies, the emergence and widespread penetration of the Internet into the information environment. The Internet is defined as a “real phenomenon of modern civilization”, which has found a place in every country and in every social system, radically changing the communication between people, making vast amounts of information resources accessible to the public, ensuring globalization not just to the economy, but also all areas of social practice.

7. CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
The nature of the information society has been discussed in numerous studies and publications in recent years. The main features of the information society are the following:
• Knowledge, information and technologies are of utmost importance;
• Intellectual labor prevails in the information society;
• Information and communication technologies are used in all economic and social spheres;
• Employability rises in the sphere of services;
• A constant process of training is needed;
• Globalisation becomes economic, political and social

8. CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
According to modern interpretations, the notion of information society is defined as a society in which the creation and use of information is a basic type of activity, and information is recognized as the most significant resource. The new information and communication technologies and equipment are established as basic and the information environment exists alongside the social one. Knowledge, as one of the additional means of production in the past, is becoming the main and leading means in the process of developing the modern information society.

9. LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
Libraries are one of the key elements of the modern information environment and the unified global information space. An indispensable requirement for building an information society is the right to fair and democratic access to information. Considering that one of the main functions of the library institution is information providing, there is no more appropriate public structure to ensure open access to information resources for the whole society. Operational and quality provision of information requires the modernisation of processes for collecting, processing and providing information in a developed information infrastructure. Many authors note the tendency to limit the activities of libraries in their traditional dimensions under the influence of new information technologies. But in fact these same technologies can provide new, additional opportunities for libraries in the information society to initiate different, up-to-date directions of development and to increase their social status and role.

10. LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
The contemporary information society and the current information environment generated by it pose a number of challenges to librarians. The newly-imposed information structure today challenges libraries in the need not only to preserve their traditional place but also to be an irreplaceable and essential part of the new information and educational social environment. In order to find their place in this information space, a number of constructive transformations are needed in library activities and policies – from drastic changes in technological processes, to organisational and functional structure and experts in libraries.

11. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
STRUCTURE AND NEW FUNCTIONS OF LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
Contemporary structure of libraries is presented with a conceptual model of the Universal Contemporary Information Center and its role in social and information environment in supporting the individual progress as well as the sustainable development of society as a whole. A key role in the concept of the model is the active use of the new information and communication technologies providing a timely and appropriate response to the new information needs.

12. STRUCTURAL SCHEME OF THE CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE UNIVERSAL CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION CENTER

13. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
NEW FUNCTIONS AND ROLES OF LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
In the information society, access to information and knowledge is a basic human right, and information and communication technologies create opportunities for their free use. On the other hand, the absence of modern computer and information technology in a community is an indicator of the problem of “digital inequality“ or “digital divide”. The social disintegration of the individual or of a particular social group leads to serious consequences for the entire public system. Greater saturation with computer and communication technologies creates prerequisites for a bigger gap between information “rich” and information “poor” public groups. In solving this social problem, libraries may have an important role to play. Being one of the most democratic public institutions providing access to knowledge and information for all in society, they can provide opportunities for the equitable use of information and education resources, thus reducing the “information divide”.

14. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
NEW FUNCTIONS AND ROLES OF LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
In the context of all these changes in the modern information environment, the functions and role of the library inevitably change. As a public institution, it must strive to meet all the current needs of society. Library policies must be synchronised with public priority areas and work to help cope with the challenges society faces. Today, with the active use of new information and communication technologies, library institutions can play a key role in the following areas of social development:
• To be active participants in contemporary educational processes by providing new and current approaches to learning, electronic educational resources, digital platforms for education, etc.;
• To participate more actively in the development of science and scientific activities by working on science- metric and statistical analyses at a national level, preparation and publication of bulletins with current scientific information, etc.;

15. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
NEW FUNCTIONS AND ROLES OF LIBRARIES IN CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
• To include actively the new computer and communication technologies in the activities and services of libraries – “virtual” reading rooms, online services, electronic provision of documents;
• To build digital and mobile digital libraries alongside the traditional ones which will ensure a constant provision with resources;
• To create “green“, sustainable and eco-friendly libraries whose activities are also based on eco-friendly principles;
• Libraries to become major centers for social inclusion and effective meeting of all social groups’ needs paying special attention to people with specific needs – immigrants, people with disabilities, visually-impaired, people in prison, etc.;
• Library institutions to become a key information point and centers for the support of e-Governance (e-Government + e- Education + e-Healthcare + e-Business + e-Justice + e-Democracy) of the country, as well as a tool for people’s active participation in social life;
• To be an institution actively assisting in the social and economic development of the country, actively supporting business, entrepreneurship and innovation implementation.

16. Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
CONCLUSION
Libraries are some of the most widespread and popular cultural and information institutions in Europe. They have extremely serious traditions tried and tested in time. They have proven their role in meeting the need for information for various social purposes and have won the broad support and trust of society. Thanks to their mission and service policy, they are some of the most democratic institutions. Libraries play a key role in ensuring and expanding access to information for all citizens, as well as in the development of education, science, culture and economy.

17. CONTACTS WITH THE AUTHORS
          13th annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Valencia, 11th, 12th and 13th of March, 2019
CONTACTS WITH THE AUTHORS
1. Prof. DSc Stoyan Denchev
University of Library Studies and Information Technologies (ULSIT), Sofia, BULGARIA
2. Chief Assist. Prof. Elisaveta Tsvetkova, PhD:
3. Prof. DSc Irena Peteva:
Rector of University of Library Studies and Information Technologies (ULSIT), Sofia, BULGARIA