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Gives an informed account of the authors’ experiences with different Tempus/Phare projects in East European countries. The paper is not therefore a scientific piece of research but a reflection of experiences in dealing with colleagues from Hungary and Lithuania. Emphasises the benefits that Western institutions can obtain from participating in these types of projects and co‐operation. Also points out some of the difficulties. Gives an account of experiences with the East European Library scene and tries to underline the differences and dissimilarities. Overall, the paper is about the joys and the frustrations of international co‐operation.

Lifelong learning is high on the Government's agenda. More than at any other time, there is a need for libraries from all sectors to work together, in particular to exploit the potential of the National Grid for Learning to make information and learning accessible to many more people. In this article, Vilas Edwards describes the distinctive partnership between library services in the City of Sunderland to support learning communities, focusing on IT developments and in particular, the provision of a City‐wide electronic journals service.