Searching for a Lost Identity: Serbian Librarianship at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century

There are three related aspects of the problem of identity that beset Serbian librarianship after 1991: 1) identity as survival during the war crisis and subsequent sanctions; 2) identity as change during the time of a global information and communication revolution; and 3) identity as self-awareness during a time of change in status, social responsibility, and professionalism for library personnel. Judging by the difference in the conditions under which libraries operated in Serbia during the 1990s and 2000s, the two decades can be characterized as the antipodes of each other. At the same time, they are also two sides of the same whole, in that the old system of librarianship collapsed and has not yet been replaced with a new one. This paper offers a survey of the situation in Serbia through an analysis of the present state of the difficulties currently besetting the various activities of Serbian libraries: automation, digitization, communication, scientific research, and continuing education. The need to develop a new discourse on librarianship in Serbia is crucial so that librarians may have a voice in the processes of formal and public education and the acceleration of economic, scientific, and cultural growth in Serbia.