"Media wisdom?" Media literacy and the changing position of libraries

The paper will start off with an introduction of the idea of media literacy. Why is media literacy of importance? This question can by simply answered by pointing out the importance of media in modern societies. Our society is saturated with all sorts of media, old and new. On a more theoretical level the importance lies in the connection between media and citizenship. Citizenship is usually interpreted in the political sense of electorate. Citizenship here means being informed and participating in debate. Within this traditional discourse of citizenship, media is predominately appreciated for its information function. By providing us with ‘reality in the raw’ - for instance television - can inform us, and we as citizens can use this information to shape our worldview and opinions. Broadcasting examplifies this idea well: by providing as many people as possible with a broad spectrum of media content, everybody will be included in the public media domain and will be able to establish a well-informed opinion. However, in recent years this rational and instrumental form of citizenship seems to be hard to uphold. Old boundaries - like those between private and public, and high and low culture - have become less sharp. More attention has been given to the personal, daily life, smaller values, and identity. This shift, together with technological changes, changed the role of media in society. This changing role – in which the media user becomes a producer as well as a consumer – has implications for the position of the government in creating an open public sphere through their media policy. The Dutch government used to focus on providing and guaranteeing a pluriform and free media landscape. Nowadays they also develop policies to stimulate citizens to develop skills, knowledge and (critical) attitude which they need to participate in a mediated society. Since 2005 conferences have been held, a new expertise center and a website have been launced. We will discuss the new policy and address the implications for the library. Is the library fit for implementing these policies? How can the library position itself in this field? Their traditional role in teaching information skills has to be expanded. The library can also function as a platform and playground for producing media content. Through a series of interviews with librarians we will examine the chances of succesful adaptation of the new ideas and policy on media literacy in libraries