BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS - THE PROVISION OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE TO CHILDREN BY BRITISH PUBLIC-LIBRARIES

Reports on the first comprehensive national study, funded by the Arts Council of England and the University of Wales Aberystwyth Research Fu nd, to investigate the provision of European modern language books for children in UK public libraries. The aims were: to investigate the na ture of European modern language book and non book publishing for chil dren; to examine the relationship between the publishing of European l anguage and translated materials; to explore the supply of these mater ials by bookshops and library suppliers and to examine library collect ions; and to produce an evaluative bibliographic listing of materials currently available for use by teachers. The survey had the effect of creating a greater awareness among young people's:librarians about the issues surrounding foreign language materials and their place in chil dren's collections. Results show clearly that a low priority is given to these materials by local authorities and this is reflected in the s ize, nature and accessibility of their library holdings and fragmentar y nature of their services. Whilst many local authorities expressed th e opinion that there was little demand for this material, that percept ion was seen to be conditional. The UK's partnership within the Europe an Union was not seen to be a highly prioritized motive for the provis ion of European modern language library materials.