The article reveals the role of a university library in forming the united information-educational space. The higher institution library is considered as a backbone element of the information-educational space. A qualitative change in the library activities is emphasized by its ability to interact with other subjects of the educational space both within the university and beyond it.

The university library has an integrative function providing the effect of the integrity of the information-educational space in two directions: internal and external ones. The emphasis is placed on the disclosing the integration external direction, that ensure the library access to the global information-educational spaces of the city, region, country, and world. Early forms of realizing the integration external direction are shown. First directions on the resources sharing are marked in organizing libraries interaction.

The involved item modern state supposes using both traditional and electronic information resources, and new information technologies allow opening new forms of implementation of the integration external direction. Among them are consortia and corporations of university libraries of cities, regions, as well as other levels and departments. Libraries, becoming resource centers of universities and regions, create research-educational orientated resources; serve the university, municipal and regional circle of users, providing them with direct and remote access to all available resources. The integrative function content of university libraries is connected with creating a uniform information-educational space of the region, namely the unification of library activities of territorial entities (a region, a city) and libraries of other regional systems and departments (education, science, culture, etc.).

The next form of implementing the integration external direction is participation of education institutions in development of the existing electronic library systems, i.e. interaction between electronic resources created by the universities of culture and arts, and external electronic resources available to students. Thus, integrative function of the university libraries includes supporting to fill external electronic library systems with the profile content (both educational and scientific character).

The third form implementing the integration external direction is an integrated electronic library. It allows organizing the united information-educational space with the whole set of information-educational resources such as bibliographic, abstract, reference, analytical, full-text ones, etc., and the university library ensures its integrity thanks to its integrative function.