The nationwide network of public libraries operates a strong professional tradition, with coordination and guidance of the Library Institute within the Széchényi National Library. The services of small settlements of less than 5 000 inhabitants are overseen and assured by the county libraries. Local libraries have adapted to the current protocols of European public libraries: they run programmes for the inhabitants, with children a priority and librarians are active on social media and thus pose a challenge to the network of houses of culture. The digital shift of library operations has advanced, profiting also from EU funds. At the same time librarians complain about restricted resources on salaries, running costs and acquisitions.
A burning issue is the location of the National Széchényi Library. Its main building in Buda Castle is increasingly inadequate for its needs but no decision and plans have emerged about the future of this national institution.
The Law on Archives merged the 19 county archives into the structure of the National Archive. This initiative, among others, means that they can be accessed through one common website. Budapest and a few more cities have their own archives. Operations of the libraries have been streamlined and become increasingly more open and user-friendly.
Re-drawing the Canon of National Culture is taking place. Literature is one sphere where conservative and/or nationalist authors of the interwar period are being promoted by the authorities, including in school curricula.
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