Библиотека как социальный институт сохранения и устойчивого развития культур и культурного самовыражения коренных народов Севера= Library as a social institution for conservation and sustainable development of cultures and cultural expressions of the North indigenous peoples : международная научно-практическая конференция, 20-23 ноября 2012 г. : сборник материалов / сост.: Михайлова Е. Р., Иванова С. В.

for performances, a place where tradition and experiences can be presented, and a conveyor of events. The library provides a spatial, information technological and digital operational platform on which contents of collections, traditional knowledge and the narrative tradition can be produced and forwarded. Sustainable development was used as a guideline in libraries already long before the term was coined. Lending books is an ecologically sustainable activity; it is recycling at its best. Libraries are uncommercial, provide online services and build networks with each other, and all this enhances sustainable development. The ethical guidelines, the range of activities and the flexibility of the library give it a good basis for promoting indigenous cultures and languages. In Finland, we now have a national project that works on the guidelines of sustainable development for libraries. In the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland, there is a sustainable development research group in which Sami researchers participate. Libraries present and pass down the cultural heritage and record it for future generations. Information technology provides us with the facilities for serving the outlying districts and sparsely-populated areas in which indigenous people live and practise their livelihoods. The new methods of recording, digital services, the Internet and remote connections convey events and lectures as well as information and experiences across distances and time. The library is a practical player. The power and strength of the library lies in its uncommercial modesty. Library work on and by the Sami and in Sami in Finland At the moment, there are several forms of library work that serve the Sami: the public library, the mobile library, the Sami Special Library and the Sami Library of Inari. The Sami Special Library of Finland is located outside the Sami Area, in 104