Historical Milestones of Slovak Librarianship, 1989-2014

LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 63, No. 4, 2015 (Libraries in a Postcommunist World: A Quarter of a Century of Development in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia: Part 2, edited by Hermina G.B. Anghelescu), pp. 704–724. © 2015 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois Abstract Slovakia is a young and progressive country that has undergone great changes since its establishment as a sovereign state. This paper describes the transformation of the Slovak library system after 1989 in the context of the political, societal, and legislative developments in the new democratic state. It highlights the historical milestones of the development of Slovak librarianship between 1989 and 2014, outlines the historical context of Slovak library legislation, explains the preparation and implementation of the new Library Act passed by the National Council of the Slovak Republic in May 2000, and provides an overview of statistical data for Slovak libraries during the last decade.