diff -Naur libxml2-2.5.7/include/libxml/threads.h libxml2-2.5.7.carlo/include/libxml/threads.h
--- libxml2-2.5.7/include/libxml/threads.h	2002-03-12 18:34:44.000000000 +0100
+++ libxml2-2.5.7.carlo/include/libxml/threads.h	2003-07-01 21:17:31.000000000 +0200
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+xmlGlobalStatePtr	xmlNewGlobalState(void);
+void 			xmlFreeGlobalState(void * state);
+
 xmlMutexPtr		xmlNewMutex	(void);
 void			xmlMutexLock	(xmlMutexPtr tok);
 void			xmlMutexUnlock	(xmlMutexPtr tok);
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@
 int			xmlIsMainThread	(void);
 void			xmlCleanupThreads(void);
 xmlGlobalStatePtr	xmlGetGlobalState(void);
+int			xmlSetGlobalState(xmlGlobalStatePtr, xmlGlobalStatePtr **);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff -Naur libxml2-2.5.7/threads.c libxml2-2.5.7.carlo/threads.c
--- libxml2-2.5.7/threads.c	2002-12-10 16:09:42.000000000 +0100
+++ libxml2-2.5.7.carlo/threads.c	2003-07-01 21:17:29.000000000 +0200
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@
  * xmlFreeGlobalState() is called when a thread terminates with a non-NULL
  * global state. It is is used here to reclaim memory resources.
  */
-static void
+void
 xmlFreeGlobalState(void *state)
 {
     free(state);
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@
  *
  * Returns the newly allocated xmlGlobalStatePtr or NULL in case of error
  */
-static xmlGlobalStatePtr
+xmlGlobalStatePtr
 xmlNewGlobalState(void)
 {
     xmlGlobalState *gs;
@@ -398,6 +398,52 @@
 #endif
 }
 
+/**
+ * xmlSetGlobalState:
+ *
+ * xmlSetGlobalState() is called to set the global state for a thread.
+ *   0 - is returned on failure
+ *   1 - is returned on success
+ */
+int
+xmlSetGlobalState(xmlGlobalStatePtr new_state, xmlGlobalStatePtr ** old_state)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_PTHREAD_H
+    if(old_state)
+      (*old_state)=(xmlGlobalState *)pthread_getspecific(globalkey);
+
+    if(new_state)
+      pthread_setspecific(globalkey, new_state);
+
+    return 1;
+#elif defined HAVE_WIN32_THREADS
+#if defined(HAVE_COMPILER_TLS)
+    int retval=1;
+
+      /* If state was not initiated, no
+       * need to copy it in old pointer */
+    if (!tlstate_inited) {
+	tlstate_inited = 1;
+       if(old_state)
+         (*old)=NULL
+    } else
+      if(old_state) {
+        (*old_state)=(xmlGlobalStatePtr)xmlMalloc(sizeof(xmlGlobalState));
+        if(*old_state)
+          memcpy(*old_state, &tlstate, sizeof(xmlGlobalState));
+        else
+          retval=0;
+      }
+    
+    if(new_state && (!old_state || *old_state)) {
+      memcpy(&tlstate, new_state, sizeof(xmlGlobalState));
+      xmlFree(new_state);
+    }
+
+    return;
+#else /* HAVE_COMPILER_TLS */
+    if (run_once_init) { 
+	run_once_init = 0; 
+	xmlOnceInit(); 
+    }
+
+      /* I don't think we need to arrange for
+       * cleanup: the new_state state supposedly will 
+       * be freed by whoever
+       * set it - in contrast, the _default_ state
+       * should be freed (the one created by default
+       * by libxml) */
+    if(old_state)
+      (*old_state)=(xmlGlobalState *)TlsGetValue(globalkey);
+    TlsSetValue(globalkey, new_state);
+
+    return;
+#endif /* HAVE_COMPILER_TLS */
+#else
+    return;
+#endif
+}
+
 /************************************************************************
  *									*
  *			Library wide thread interfaces			*