Water to the Thirsty. Reflections on the Ethical Mission of Libraries and Open Access

The shift to digital information determines a parallel shift in access modes, and digital libraries are called to action by the ethical foundations of their mission. Open Access makes information potentially available not just to researchers, but to everyone, yet there are still barriers to be overcome in terms of technical infrastructures, points of access, digital and cultural divide. The mission of libraries, as stated by IFLA Manifesto for Digital Libraries and IFLA/FAIFECode of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Workers, converges with the mission and ethics of the BBB declarations on Open Access: it is about delivering information to everyone, from scholars to the “curious minds”, and librarians can be mediators in the wide diffusion, at all levels of society, of scientific, scholarly knowledge, to foster “active” and “scientific” citizenship.