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The purpose of this paper is to study the cultural integration, the role of national libraries in regional and international cooperation, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) national libraries’ barriers of cooperation and drivers of their cooperation and to propose a framework (conceptual and operational) for their cooperation.

Data collection tool of this survey was a researcher-made questionnaire, sent to 30 individuals and experts involved in cooperation of ECO National Libraries from eight institutions. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha. It was 0.91. In this study, for awareness of activities between ECO national libraries and extraction of drivers, some documents were studied, and preliminary data were collected by informal interviews with meeting stakeholders and participants.

The lack of stability in management positions was one of the major barriers in cooperation of the ECO national libraries. Other major obstacles in this context were lack of continuous communication, lack of common protocols and standards, lack of planning, lack of a central coordinating organization, bureaucracy, etc. Geographical proximity, common history and heritage, common resources, Islamic and cultural factors, importance of information and knowledge, requirements of the international system and political and security requirements were considered as drivers. An information centre was proposed for their active cooperation. Iran is better to host the information centre.

National libraries as the scientific and cultural memory of nations and heirs of written heritage should cooperate and share their valuable scientific and cultural heritage to the future generations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the results obtained from a study on cooperation, collaboration and partnerships between academic libraries in Romania.

The study is limited to the answers received from interviews with 11 of the 15 invited directors/heads of academic libraries from Romanian universities, but the findings can be extrapolated to assess the overall situation in this country.

The results’ analysis indicates that 73 percent of the participants (8 participants) consider cooperation in the activities of Romanian academic libraries as being at a low to medium level. National cooperation can be found only in relation to access to electronic information resources. Collaboration between libraries and other departments and services within universities exists, but collaboration with students and the teaching staff is less developed. Despite the small number of partnerships and collaborative projects in which Romanian academic libraries are involved, there is a desire to further develop such activities.

The study is the first of its kind undertaken in Romania and paves the way for further research on this issue.

The paper explores library cooperation in Zimbabwe and gathers views from librarians on the need for a library consortium model to underpin national development. This study aims to investigate the development of library consortia in Zimbabwe and then propose a model that will both accelerate their development and support the country’s national development agenda.

The paper opted for an investigative study using a multi-method research design. Data on existing library consortia, namely, Zimbabwe University Library Consortium (ZULC) and College and Research Library Consortium (CARLC), were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The data were complemented by documentary analysis including primary sources of information, for example, annual reports and brochures. Data were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively.

The paper provides empirical insights on how ZULC and CARLC are transforming the provision of library services in several ways, for example, providing for the dynamic needs of users and strategizing on overcoming rising costs of scholarly content through resource sharing. The proposed model effectively elevates the fundamental library consortium principles of cooperation and sharing onto the national development stage, and it is novel and pioneering. The gestures and general remarks made recently by Zimbabwe Library Association and some ZULC members about national development and ZIMASSET are given rigorous and scholarly expression in this model.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability beyond Zimbabwe. It is therefore imperative for researchers to test the proposed propositions further.

The paper includes implications for the development of a library consortia model to underpin national development in Zimbabwe. The existing academic sector library consortium still excludes other types of libraries from participating in resource sharing and promoting access to information on a national development scale. The proposed library consortium model providing for nation-wide access to information is critical in realising national development goals in Zimbabwe. Currently, academic library consortia are contributing immensely through supporting learning, teaching and research in their respective institutions. Such benefits can also be extended to all institutions through a national library consortium to support development in Zimbabwe.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how the development of a nation-wide library consortium model can be realised. There is relatively little researched information on library cooperation and library consortia and national development in Southern Africa with specific reference to Zimbabwe. The paper seeks to close the gap by providing information on library cooperation and library consortia and national development in Zimbabwe.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the sustainability of cooperation models within research libraries networks in the humanities.

Changing research environment and budget constraints currently are the main challenges of research libraries networks: to cope with this pressure libraries need to build collective capacity through a strong model of collaboration and partnership and foster closer interaction between actors both from the library and the external world. In order to build effective and efficient cooperation models research libraries networks will first need to share a common vision and a well-focused organisation. Nevertheless, a multi-level approach should help them to identify their core functional requirements, the specialised needs of their users and a flexible cooperation structure able to maintain the financial sustainability of the system.

After illustrating the current challenges in the research libraries world, and how cooperation and collaboration issues have been connoting library management and activities, this work presents the methodology and the preliminary results of a research project which surveyed the URBS network, an international consortium of 12 libraries from academic and research institutions of several nations (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA) based in Rome, Italy.

This paper will be of interest and value to other research library networks or consortia with an interest in the development of new organisational models, and in the evaluation and assessment of their sustainability.

Library service to youth in detention faces many challenges and difficulties. Results of an exploratory study suggest that cooperation among libraries and other service agencies within juvenile correctional facilities is associated with effective library service on many levels. Using definitions of cooperation and collaboration compiled from the library and information science, public administration, and social services fields, the author draws evidence from interviews with librarians in the field that helps define the nature of cooperative aspects of library services in detention. Information uncovered in this study highlights areas where cooperation appears to influence the effectiveness of libraries, such as (1) working with complex administrative policies and structures for housing, educating, and treating youth, (2) understanding the various roles of corrections staff and in communicating with them, (3) sorting out differences in expectations and understanding of basic library purpose, and (4) integrating library services into educational and other programs.

This paper seeks to analyze the different forms of library cooperation and the different types of relations that can be established for collaboration among libraries.

The paper attempts to show how cooperation as an application of the social intelligence is a tool to improve library services. For that, the paper uses the situation of Spanish university libraries between 1980 and 2005. Adopting an evolutionary approach, the study shows how cooperation has affected library organizations, and concludes that the current situation shows an intelligent adaptation to the needs of society.

Using the evolution of the academic libraries in Spain between 1980 and 2005, the paper analyzes six different forms of relation or cooperation that can be established by libraries. Those are: companionship, collaboration, association, cooperation, alliances and fraternization. The paper attempts to provide some guidelines for cooperation that may be of value to university libraries in their path towards the future. The approach is global, systemic and evolutionary. It is global in the sense that Spanish university libraries are taken as a model for exemplifying trends that are applicable to all types of libraries all over the world. It is systemic in the sense that it sees the Spanish case as one of a wide range of processes that do not occur in isolation in a world in which libraries – even at an international level – form part of a whole. Finally, it is evolutionary in the sense that it considers that the future will be built on our current achievements, which in turn depended on those of the past.

The paper is of interest because it reveals that the development of individual living beings and species depends to a large extent on their ability to cooperate. Similarly, the development of organizations and groups of organizations depends on their ability to work together and to establish a framework in which individual goals are attained thanks to external achievements or situations. Libraries are no exception to this, and may in fact serve as a paradigmatic example. Throughout history they have tended to develop powerful mechanisms of cooperation.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse a Finnish model of cooperation between universities – a joint university library.

The paper is a case study. The vision for the joint university library Tritonia, the reality when the libraries of three universities merged in 2001 and the new merging in 2010, when two more universities joined the library cooperation, is discussed. Key factors of quality management in a joint bilingual library are analysed.

The synergetic effects of such a library are numerous when it comes to: the access to printed collections; the role of the library as a social place and meeting spot for students, staff and the public; the available services; and the networking between languages and universities. No synergetic effects have so far been achieved when it comes to e‐resources.

The paper is based on experiences of one joint library.

The paper presents an existing model for cooperation in a joint multilingual library.

The paper focuses on a new model of library cooperation between universities.

The chapter “Books Open Worlds for People Behind Bars” by Gerhard Peschers gives an insight into library services in correctional facilities in Germany on different levels, ranging from local best practice examples (e.g., Berlin, Bremen, Dortmund, and Würzburg) via regional experiences – focusing on longstanding experiences in North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular the outstanding former Münster prison library which was awarded the German national Library Prize “Library of the Year 2007” – and nationwide subjects to grown internationality based on long-term integration into the library community. Fundamental issues include history and the legal basis of prison libraries as well as practical experiences on various levels of responsibility and its diverse scope of tasks, such as collection development, data processing, interior design, events, and cooperation with city libraries.

The outlook provides the state of play and the challenges regarding digitalization for the development of prison libraries.

Finally, the author’s dream of the book tree on the prison wall, which found international resonance, invites you to share the vision of dialog and tolerance across dividing walls.