Quality Library and information services are fundamental to the success of our society

CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals has published its Manifesto, calling on the next government to commit to making information fundamental to the success of our society.

Biddy Fisher, CILIP President, said: "Quality library and information services make unique contributions to the success of our society; they underpin education, social mobility, and community development; they provide the information that assists the rebuilding of the economy, informs research and puts content into technology; they contain and preserve cultural identities. The next government must take action and adopt CILIP's six priorities within policies designed to meet the challenges of the future."

CILIP states in its Manifesto that the government must:

• Make school libraries statutory
• Promote and protect the rights of users within copyright law
• Build a successful knowledge economy
• Preserve the UK's digital cultural heritage
• Fund and enable the effective co-ordination of health information
• Develop a set of library entitlements for public library users

The CILIP Manifesto was developed to focus on making library and information provision better for users and society. If the government implements these six practical priorities our library and information services will both benefit and improve.

For full details about the Manifesto see www.cilip.org.uk/manifesto