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Bill Gates Foundation to Assist Romanian Libraries

Romania`s public libraries will undergo major change and become fully computerized thanks to an initiative by the Bill Gates Foundation. Microsoft`s founder`s Foundation will provide free access to computers and the web, according to the culture ministry in Bucharest. A spokesman said that the foundation was given specific details about Romanian`s library network so a thorough study can be preformed, and then applied. The foundation will study the needs of the Romanian network, and help take their technology level a few steps higher.

The new project will introduce new technology and equip the libraries in Romania. However, it will not digitize the content of the books. The idea is to help the Romanian public access computer and the web more easily, and has nothing to do with the content of the Romanian libraries. The project is part of the Foundation`s Global Libraries initiative, where the Foundation helps library networks throughout the world and offer computer and internet access to the public.

The foundation has already worked with library networks in Chile, Latvia, Lithuania and Mexico. The initiative has nothing to do with Microsoft and Google`s plan to digitize the world`s prestigious libraries, and comes as a separate and independent project. Upon completion, the Romanian public will have free access to the internet and to general computer applications through the libraries. The foundation believes that libraries, as a place that stores knowledge, should offer internet access and give the public a change to browse all aspects of human intellectual.