What May Be Expected from the OMC Work on Libraries (2023–2026)

Abstract Sovereignty is a social construct based on the elements of authority, identity, and territory. Sovereignty in the cultural sphere is a much more liquid concept – supranational authorities conflict with national/local authorities, exclusive authority may overlap with the subsidiarity principle, and national frontiers are felt more as a limit to cross than a bordered territory. The European Union’s cultural work plan aims to define a European library identity across the territory of the European Union from 2023 to 2026. The selected method is OMC (Open Method of Coordination). After a short history of Work Plans for Culture from 2008 to 2026, the article sets the building blocks of a European library identity. It describes the institutional architecture of European programmes and, in particular, transformative policies in the cultural and social fields taking place in the form of Partnership Agreements between the European Commission and the Member States. The article enquiries on the state oh health of European public libraries. Some iconic buildings have been erected, for instance in Finland, Denmark, and The Netherlands; nevertheless, funding for libraries has decreased tremendously during the 2011–2021 decade. Social innovation in libraries is being thoroughly reviewed by the LibrarIn project and the number of new library services is impressive. All these activities are performed within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Library work within the SDG framework can only be linked to local public policies that are part of the European Social Pillar through the Social Scoreboard indicators maintained by Eurostat. Since libraries are part of the local cultural infrastructure, they have all interest to benefit from the European Structural and Investment Funds. Europe is not the same everywhere and so are European libraries; an OMC action should therefore explore the sunny, but also the dark sides of the European library planet, where the fault lines of regional disparities are singled out and filled by making reference to the European financial instruments enabling to bridge library gaps.