A national library system without walls that reaches every corner of the country…and the world.

As the role of libraries changes in the world, they can no longer be simply reading rooms or warehouses for books. Libraries in the 21st century must offer a wide range of services using all the tools and advantages offered by high technology. They must be both on-line and integrated, to ensure maximum efficiency in the management of internal resources as well as free access to the world of external resources.

The Latvian National Library Project envisions the development of an integrated on-line nationwide information system - 'Lightnet' - that will link the new National Library Building in Riga with over a thousand other libraries around Latvia - academic, regional, municipal, community libraries. This will maximize access for staff and users to the library collections and resources, and to the on-line data bases and other resources available via the Internet.

In effect, the new Latvian library system will be both a physical library and a virtual one. It will include the over 6.5 million units contained in the new central building in Riga, and the virtual library of resources contained in the Latvian Library Consortium Library Information Network, as well as myriad other information resources to which access is provided by other libraries.

The Lightnet system will enable anyone, anywhere in Latvia, to access the full services of the national library system without leaving their local towns or communities. The goal of the Lightnet system is to provide each public library, regardless of how small, with the necessary computer hardware and software to access the Internet and the unified Latvian Library System.

The public library development project was co-financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, based in Seattle USA. The Foundation donated USD 16.2 millions for the development of Latvia’s municipal public libraries. As a result of the project, 874 Latvian libraries have received new computers and programs; these libraries also have access to high-speed wireless internet free of charge, and visitors can consult with specially trained library employees.