Despite obvious and fundamental differences, contemporary library issues strikingly familiar to those of the west also beset the Soviet library world--issues that so far have been bridged in only technical apolitical areas. Governmental insistence on the centrality of ideology to library service remains an international stumbling block.…

Compares the philosophy of librarianship in the Soviet Union, where libraries are subordinate to the goals of the Communist party, and Scandinavia, where libraries maintain political neutrality. A brief history of library education in both countries is given and the current state of library education and research is described. (CLB)