Public Libraries – Facilitators of Information Society and e- Inclusion in Latvia

The economic growth and national competitiveness is closely correlated with the development of information society. In the last few years the role of public libraries has significantly increased and libraries have greatly contributed to the improvement of information society in Latvia. The usage of library services had never been as high as they were in 2011 – 42% of the population were active library users and 90% of them used the Internet. Nowadays, the public library network in Latvia provides a powerful network of information, knowledge and community centres and they are highly demanded by society.