Expanding librarian competences

Abstract

The Central Library of the University of Public Service organizes a conference each year on the Day of Hungarian Science. In 2013 they chose the theme “The librarian as a personal interface of knowledge transfer". Personal presence and the role of intermediaries is inevitable in library activities even with the dizzying prospects of ICT developments. The content, tools and requirements of the classical knowledge transfer function of libra-ries need rethinking and re-formulation in the Web era.. The article presents, based on the LIS Euroguide as an essential European tool, the competences and aptitudes which guarantee the adequate quality of librarians’ activities. The author demonstrates, against the background of the development of the Hungarian library system over the last halfcentury, how librarians’ competences expanded as a consequence of the changes in functions. The stakeholders must be made aware that the role of libraries has substantially increased in the transfer of and support to knowledge, with a view to lifelong learning and development, thus it has become a must to measure the suitability, competitiveness and performance of librarians.