Art. 1: Henryk Hollender ,
The colours are beautiful, the game is low.

Libraries in Poland are a part of the general culture, and they are not any worse than the rest of the communications scene. Critical opinion does do not work and does not count. We lack a core of common knowledge and widely accepted practice. In the public discourse no links are made from essential social and political issues to the information world. Some examples from the author's experience in academic libraries are given how intellectuals do not value libraries, and cannot use them, thus overlooking equally their weaknesses and their numerous strengths. Living in democracy has not helped libraries, as the general society used freedom not to demand better services, but just to turn their backs on what they came to consider a vestige of the passed regime. Library education is not of much help either, as it does not produce fundamental texts on libraries and follows a discipline-oriented pattern of building of curricula. Most of the research has been in the areas distant from the mainstream library practice. Graduates of information studies do not know about the library practice and cannot tell sensitive issues from what used to be just a detail in their learning. The author wishes he could contribute to the process of evaluation and accreditation of teaching institutions, as the way the process is currently organized deprives practitioners of any voice. Also, he wishes the discussion on the library legislation, which inadequate and superficial, were brought back to life.

Art. 2: Jacek Wojciechowski,
Crisis of the professional consciousness.

t's not true, that Polish libraries are ineffective, but there are plenty of adversities. Some of them are world-wide, but some are not. The main cause of all of them seems to be a crisis of the professional consciousness. On the changes of public communication communications' technology, political and structural (administrative) changes overlaped here. As an effect, there is a lack of general prospective conception for libraries. There's no (really) leading library nor any other central coordinating establishment. Library associations are ineffective, while the academic LIS departments (schools) are irrelevant to the library practice. On the other hand, many librarians are rather poor professionals and there's lack of younger, well trained staff. Among other necessary remedial measures, the professional inertness should be broke down, at first. As well, as transformed mentality of the all library staff.

Art. 3: Jan Wołosz,
A dying act - a dying the organizing idea

The author presents actual legal status of public libraries. He notes decreasing interest of state organs in realizing actual legal regulations that results in loosening the interlibrary bounds. Krajowa Rada Biblioteczna [State Library Council], established according to the library act, does not realize its aims. The author appoints the experience of the other countries where governing bodies involvement is an essential condition to right public library functioning. Clearly specified goals and close relationships with educational system are equally important.

Art. 4: Mirosław Górny,
Does librarianship need library science?

The author wonders about the utility of library science research for practical library activity. The author founds the works published recently slightly influence aforementioned activity and he formulates three hypotheses about this situation.

• library is so schematic institution that it is difficult to conduct a research which will not lead to trivial conclusions;
• library activity has so many aspects that library science do not manage to give a theoretical description of this activity;
• methods used in library science have reached their limits.

Art. 5: Krystyna Wanik,
A mobbing phenomenon in libraries and methods of combating that pathology.

The main goal of the article is to precise the phenomenon of mobbing. The article presents methods used by mobbers and gives practical advises to those who are mobbed. The author describes mobbing in the context of "Labour Code". The article includes a bibliography of works dealing with mobbing.