Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T08:51:45.259Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

World Libraries, the Diplomatic Role of Cultural Agencies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2015

Juan Jose Prieto Gutierrez
Juan Jose Prieto Gutierrez*
Affiliation:
Complutense University Library, Ciudad Universitaria, Facultad de Derecho, Biblioteca, Spain. E-mail: jjpg@buc.ucm.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cultural actions are among the best tools for ministries of foreign affairs worldwide. Many countries who choose to work with cultural actions could potentially reach millions of citizens, inclusive of those living in remote areas. One of these cultural actions is that of establishing and opening cultural centres. This paper presents libraries as providing outstanding service in all these centres. Through a historical and numerical analysis of the libraries of The British Council, the Alliance Française’s Institut Français, the Goethe Institut and the Cervantes Institute, it can be shown that libraries are a real tool for public diplomacy that can exceed its remit of social assistance, social services and education. To conclude, this paper will also look at actions that could be undertaken to improve and cater for network libraries.

Type
Focus: A Dialogue of Cultures
Information
European Review , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 361 - 368
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References and Notes

1.Nye, J. Jr. (2009) Get smart- combining hard and soft power. Foreign Affairs, 88(4), pp. 160–163.Google Scholar
2.Signitzer, B. H. and Coombs, T. (1992) Public relations and public diplomacy: conceptual convergences. Public Relations Review, 18(2), pp. 137–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Cull, N. J. (2008) Public diplomacy: taxonomies and histories. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616(1), pp. 31–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Institute of Cultural Diplomacy (2011) Cultural diplomacy outlook report 2011, available at: www.culturaldiplomacy.org/culturaldiplomacynews/index.php?en_cd-outlook-2011_content (accessed 7 May 2012).Google Scholar
5.Ninkovich, F. (1981) The Diplomacy of Ideas: US Foreign Policy and Cultural Relations, 1938–1950 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
6.Arndt, R. (2005) The First Resort of Kings: American Cultural Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century (Washington, DC: Potomac Books).Google Scholar
7.Krause, P. and Van Evera, S. (2009) Public diplomacy: ideas for the war of ideas. Discussion Paper 09-10 (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School).Google Scholar
8.IFLA (1994) The IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto, available at: http://www.ifla.org/VII/s8/unesco/eng.htm (accessed 13 May 2015).Google Scholar