Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to review UK government policy on public libraries since 2003, and to examine its relationship to other forms of demand for public libraries Design/methodology/approach – The published literature from government and professional bodies is reviewed,...

“Social”, in terms of EC policy, covers areas from “youth” to health and safety. This, and the many non‐EC organisations involved in this field, means that any comprehensive overview of published material on the social dimension to Europe would fill a whole issue of Aslib Proceedings !

Surveys the immediate background to, and establishment of, the European Commission supported European Public Information Centres (EPICs) operating in UK public libraries. Current structures for support and cooperation are outlined, and the author suggests that, although the network has been...