Following elections among incoming members of IFLA’s new Regional Division Committees, the identities of the people who will lead their work over the coming two years is now known.

These Committees – a key innovation in IFLA’s governance review – have a mandate not only to strengthen the voice of regions within IFLA, but also to make the voice of libraries louder within decision-making around the world.

Responding to regional priorities, they will work to develop and deliver action plans that strengthen capacity and add value for IFLA’s Members and the wider library field, around the world.

We are therefore happy to announce that the following candidates have been successful:

 

Asia Oceania
Chair: Winston Roberts (New Zealand)

Vice-Chair: Debal Kar (India)

 

Europe

Chair: Stuart Hamilton (Ireland)

Vice-Chair: Frédéric Blin (France)

 

Latin America and the Caribbean
Chair: Alejandro Santa (Argentina)

Vice-Chair: Georgina Torres (Mexico)

 

Middle East and North Africa

Chair: Imad Bachir (Lebanon)

Vice-Chair: Abeer Al-Kuwari (Qatar)

 

North America

Chair: Julius Jefferson (United States)

Vice-Chair: Christina de Castell (Canada)

 

Sub-Saharan Africa

Chair: Sarah Kaddu (Uganda)

Vice-Chair: Ayanda Lebele (Botswana)

 

I congratulate all of the successful candidates, and thank all those who stood for election for their commitment to IFLA.

Kind regards,

Gerald Leitner
Secretary General
The Hague, Netherlands
4 August 2021

Discover the full lists of members of IFLA's Regional Division Committees 2021-2023.

​

If innovation drives the future, what drives innovation is the crossing of ideas and perspectives.

This year’s World Library and Information Congress, by bringing together expertise, insights and energy from around the world, provides a unique catalyst for the innovations that will shape the future of our field. In this newsletter, find out more about the exciting opportunities to set the agenda at WLIC 2021.

In our latest newsletter, read about our President-elect’s session, where we will work together to define priorities among with trends for the future identified by the people who will lead it – the new professionals of today.

Find out more about one of our keynote speakers, Professor Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, who will look at the evolution of these rights over time, and how libraries can ensure that everyone benefits.

And be inspired by the insights from reading champions around the world on books that have changed lives.

So don’t hesitate – get your tickets, check out our programme, and start planning for the most exciting, inclusive event on the international library calendar!

Read on in the WLIC Newsletter, Issue 6, 4 August 2021.

Kind regards,

Gerald Leitner
Secretary General
The Hague, Netherlands
4 August 2021

In the third and final story in our series focusing on reviews of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2021, we hear from libraries in four countries about their experience of engaging in this process.

The presence of references to libraries in Voluntary National and Voluntary Local Reviews provides a welcome affirmation of the role of our institutions as partners for development.

As highlighted in the two previous stories in this series, focusing on the national and local levels respectively, we are seeing a growing share of official reports do just this. Moreover, they highlight clearly the range of ways in which libraries contribute.

However, almost equally important is the possibility that Voluntary National Reviews in particular play in providing an opportunity to engage with new parts of government and other potential partners.

Through this, there can be the possibility to build new contacts and alliances that strengthen library advocacy into the longer term.

To find out more about this, we asked libraries in Denmark, Norway, Zimbabwe and Iraq about their experiences.

Not every VNR is alike

First of all, it is clear that each country will tend to make its own choices about how to run its Voluntary National Reviews. As highlighted in IFLA’s guide, the United Nations does produce a handbook setting out best practice, but countries remain free to decide how far to implement this.  

As such, it will not always be the same type of ministry in charge. In Denmark, the Finance Ministry was responsible, while in Zimbabwe the Ministry of Social Welfare was in charge. Meanwhile, in Iraq, the Ministry of planning led the process.

Interestingly, in Norway, engagement with civil society organisations (such as libraries) took place through an NGO platform which coordinated all inputs.

Furthermore, a different process may be followed in each case. In Denmark, the ministry simply made a call to all organisations around the SDGs, while in Norway, the coordinating NGO platform reached out directly to specific organisations.

Similarly in Zimbabwe, there was no public call, and in fact libraries needed to approach the ministry proactively, building on contracts made previously at the 2020 African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development.

In Iraq too, it was possible to access the process because of previous meetings between libraries and the ministry in order to talk more broadly about the SDGs.

Finally, the type of contribution expected also varied from country to country. In Denmark, Zimbabwe and Iraq, libraries submitted full papers, highlighting examples of how libraries are contributing to achieving the SDGs. In Norway, however, a much shorter summary paper was requested.

A chance to expand networks

At least in some cases, engaging in VNRs did open up new contacts within government. For example, in Denmark, the coordinating ministry is not a regular partner of libraries, but is one that could usefully be contacted in future.

In Zimbabwe also, the coordinating ministry was a new contact for the library association. Thanks to this engagement, the association has been able to create new synergies and receive key new information.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, given that links already existed, the preparation of the VNR served rather to consolidate this relationship.

Looking beyond government contacts, work around VNRs appears to be paying off in Zimbabwe, where other NGOs are starting to understand the potential of libraries.

VNRs have also helped mobilise wider networks of libraries. In Denmark, the DB 2030 Network brings together institutions committed to working towards the SDGs, while in Iraq, the VNR helped bring together a number of university libraires.

Early signs of impact

The work of libraries in each country to engage around Voluntary National Reviews, and the wider SDGs, does seem to be paying off.

The most obvious indicator is the inclusion of references to libraries in Reports. For example Zimbabwe’s report celebrated the work of the association around open data, while Norway’s cited libraries’ contribution to inclusion.

In Denmark in particular, the government even announced a new initiative, through its VNR, to strength libraries’ work to disseminate information about the SDGs, and run a Global Goals certification programme.

There is also evidence of closer links with governments, with officials in Zimbabwe and Iraq alike underlining how much they welcome library engagement, and looking forward to further cooperation.

Lessons for the future

Clearly, the diversity in the processes implemented by governments means that libraries in each country will need to do the detective work necessary to find how best to engage.

Sometimes this will be a case of making sure that you are checking the right websites or are on the right mailing lists. Other times, it will be a case of ensuring that you are well known in general in the NGO community.

Nonetheless, making the effort to identify and get to know the team responsible in general for implementing the SDGs clearly helps in general, not least in ensuring that even if there isn’t a public call for contributions, you will not be trying to engage as strangers.

A second lesson is around the value of having evidence and case studies already prepared in order to submit. This work isn’t just helpful at the time of a Voluntary National Review, but can also support your advocacy at other moments.

Finally, as seen in Iraq and Zimbabwe in particular, working around the SDGs – and in particular VNRs – can be a great way to expand networks, ensuring that a wider range of ministries know about the work of libraries, and so – ideally – can be ready to support our institutions when decisions are made.

With six countries already having expressed an interest in carrying out a VNR in 2022 (Djibouti, Eritrea, Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka and Tuvalu) – and likely around forty in the end again undertaking one – these are helpful experiences for libraries in each to bear in mind.

We are grateful to colleagues from the Danish Library Association, the Norwegian Library Association, the Zimbabwe Library Association and the Al-Abbas Holy Shrine Library and Manuscripts in Iraq for their support in writing this article.

Read IFLA's guide to Voluntary National Reviews.

​

​

​

​

Closely aligned to the IFLA Key Initiative 1.4 “Shape public opinion and debate around open access and library values, including intellectual freedom and human rights”, IFLA's Africa Regional Section has been delivering exciting and impactful webinars and panel discussions related to the ever-changing digital landscape we all live in. Digital fatigue, the Infodemic, Meta literacy and Fake News Disruptions on Media are just a few of the hot topics debated.

Upcoming Webinar: "Fake News Disruptions on Media: Library Convergence: Critical Reflections"

As part of this work, the Section will proudly deliver a webinar looking at actions journalists and librarians can take together, and the role that media literacy education plays in combatting fake news. Through this, they will help realise the potential of collaboration with journalists as a route to increasing media literacy within library communities.

Join this exciting webinar on 30 July.

• IFLA website: https://www.ifla.org/node/94001
• Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/98783913915

 

 

Panel Discussion: Digital fatigue, the Infodemic and Meta literacy

In May of this year, IFLA’s Africa Section hosted a panel discussion on the subject of “Digital fatigue, Infodemic and meta literacy”. Impressive results and critical reflections came out of this discussion from the African library community. Read below and learn more about those emerging subjects and the role of librarians in the ever-changing digital landscape.

Watch an excerpt of this panel discussion and the Q&A at the end

What is the Infodemic?

The word ‘infodemic’ is a combination of "information" and "epidemic". It refers to the idea of a sweeping information disorder affecting users’ capacity to find answers to their information needs. Many African governments have responded to this situation, for example using laws to curtail fake news peddling and launching awareness campaigns encouraging users to evaluate content before sharing it. 

What is Meta-literacy?

Another key concept – meta-literacy – recognizes that meta-literate “learners,” must learn continuously, given the constantly evolving information landscape. This includes the importance of new literacies such as digital literacy, as well as of metacognitive reflection as an empowering practice for learners. 

What is Digital Fatigue?

Meanwhile, digital fatigue is a state of mental exhaustion and disengagement that occurs when people are expected to use numerous digital tools and apps to solve their information needs in a changing information landscape.

Today's learners and users communicate, create, and share information using a range of information technologies such as social media, mobile devices and apps, and virtual worlds. Librarians should continuously learn, so that they can cope with the ever-changing information landscape with varying learners and users with unique literacies.

In particular, in the context of the pandemic, they need knowledge and skills to promote information hygiene practices that can usefully contribute towards building safe digital spaces.

Rachel Fischer, one of the Panel Discussion speakers shared with us her views on digital fatigue:

Perhaps now it is prudent to include social responsibility and digital well-being in the various roles of the information professional. The information professional should promote healthy boundaries, a balanced routine, and regular breaks to offset screen time."

 

Read more about the IFLA Strategy 2019-2024

How is your library or library association engaging with the IFLA Strategy? Let us know! Post on your social media, using the hashtag #IFLAStrategy and #WeAreIFLA or send an email to Despina Gerasimidou, IFLA’s Strategic Development Officer at despina.gerasimidou@ifla.org.

      

The Serials & Other Continuing Resources Committee (SOCRS) is pleased to invite the IFLA community to our programme during IFLA WLIC 2021:

How Open Access Affects Serials Assessment

The rise of Open Access, especially in the publication of serials, has been one of the greatest changes in sharing information and learning in the modern world. This is especially true as it affects the vital work of serials assessment, an ongoing process undertaken continually by organizations and institutions around the world. How this process works and the variables that need to be taken into consideration as part of it have been impacted deeply by the rise of Open Access publishing. Managing successful and productive assessments of serials requires a holistic knowledge of publishing which fully encompasses Open Access and its position within scholarly communication; furthermore, it requires a global perspective, as Open Access publishing spreads and adapts across national boundaries. By sharing thinking and experiences about how Open Access publishing is affecting serials assessment across regions and across subjects, this programme will provide a view with both the depth and the detail needed to benefit the global library community.

Moderated by SOCRS Secretary Gaelle Bequet (France, ISSN International Centre) we're pleased to have presentations from the following speakers:

• Ana Maria Cetto (Mexico) – How Latindex assesses the quality of online journals in the free-and-open access environment
• Mathias Astell (UK) – Focus on community needs: how and why Hindawi closed ~250 Open Access journals
• Leena Shah (Singapore) – How DOAJ is improving the coverage of non-English journals in its index and fostering best publishing practices
• Kate Snow (South Africa) – The JPPS framework and how it is implemented at AJOL

Visit the WLIC Programme to find the programme time in your location. Presentations will be followed by a live Q&A session with the presenters.

The recording of the SIG's session for IFLA’s WLIC 2021 is completed. The session is titled "Librarians learning from the past to inspire, include and sustain" and is scheduled for Day 3 (19 August 2021) of the conference.  You will need to check the schedule for the time in your part of the world.  The underlying theme is oral histories and the 4 speakers are:

• Dr. Mary Muldowney who works at Dublin City Council’s Historians in Residence, Dublin, Ireland and her talk is titled “Decades of Change. Remembering the Library at Trinity College Dublin, 1950-2000”.  Mary is an historian who has used oral history interviews extensively in her research and publications.
• Peymaneh Salehi who is a Researcher at the National Library and Archives of Iran and her talk is on “Narratives through dialogue: A report based on Iran’s Library and Information Science Oral History Projects”.  Peymaneh is the retired librarian of the National Library and Archives of Iran and has worked for 28 years interviewing, editing, cataloging, classifying, and publishing oral history resources.
• Cara Setsu Bertram who is the Archives Program Officer for the American Library Association Archives, at the University of Illinois in the USA and Cara will speak about “Preserving the Voices of Librarians at the American Library Association Archives” where she has managed them since 2013.
• Dr.  Marica Sapro-Ficovic, from the Dubrovnik Public Library in Croatia who will tell us about “Life of libraries under siege in the war: an oral history research” the topic of her recently completed PhD.  From 2001 to the present, Marica is the Senior librarian at the Dubrovnik Public Library, and Head of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County System for public and school libraries.

 

Dr. Kerry Smith, FALIA, AM
Convenor IFLA Library History SIG
http://www.ifla.org/library-history

https://www.ifla-wlic2021.com/events/sessions/librarians-learning-from-the-past-to-inspire-include-and-sustain

 

Library Services to People with Special Needs is pleased to announce the publication of the July 2021 issue of its newsletter.  Inside you will see announcements of upcoming LSN programs, meet the new LSN Standing Committee, view the annual report, and read articles about the various activities of LSN.  We thank the outgoing Chair, Nancy Bolt, and outgoing Secretary, Helen Chan, for their dedicated service.  Click on this link for full contents:  https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/lsn/publications/newsletter_3_july_2021.pdf

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Closely aligned to the IFLA Key Initiative 2.3 "Develop standards, guidelines and other materials that foster best professional practice", IFLA's Library Services to Multicultural Populations (IFLA MCULTP) is focused on raising the standard of inclusivity for meetings and virtual events. They have developed an infographic with tips for inclusive meetings. With the global library community preparing for an inclusive virtual IFLA WLIC 2021, IFLA MCULTP's work is as relevant as ever.

When the IFLA MCULTP Standing Committee planned their Action Plan for 2019-2020, they wanted to align their working focus area "Empowering people from ethnic, cultural & linguistic minorities to become experienced library workers and grow" with the IFLA Strategy 2019-2024 and more specifically with the IFLA Strategic Direction 3 “Connect & Empower the Field”. 

The committee adopted the IFLA Key Initiative 3.1 “Provide excellent opportunities for face-to-face networking and learning” as their focus area.

Lan Gao, IFLA MCULTP’s Chair and Senior Subject Department Librarian at the Youth Services Department of the Cleveland Public Library in the United States highlighted the importance of MCULTP’s Tips for inclusive meetings infographic:

We started to develop tools for including non-native speakers of the working language, so they can build networks and strengthen their professional skills. Therefore, we created a guide with tips for inclusive meetings for use by IFLA’s Professional Units, and an infographic which can be used for meetings of any kind. 

This initiative is to not only achieve the goals of empowering minority library workers to connect with other library professionals, but also to bring cultural diversity awareness to non-minority library staff."

To allow for more committee members to participate fully in meetings and to contribute to the committee, different strategies for business meetings at the World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) to become more inclusive were discussed and adopted during WLIC 2019 in Athens, Greece.
 
After WLIC 2019, Leslie Kuo, Intercultural Affairs at the Pankow District Public Library System in Germany and Teona Shainidze Krebs, Chief Public Services Officer at the Pikes Peak Library District in the United States started to compile recommendations on how to remove barriers during business meetings for those whose working language proficiency skills are limited. 

With the input from the wider MCULTP community, the recommendations were developed and later fine-tuned in May 2021. Based on this document, a summary infographic on “Methods for Meetings and Webinars – Including people with a variety of cultural and skill levels in the working language” was made in July 2021 by Lan Gao and Adjoa Boateng, IFLA MCULTP’s Information Coordinator and Head of Information Management of the BirdLife International in the United Kingdom. 

These documents will be included in the updated version of IFLA Virtual Events Handbook to reach to a wider audience.

With such tools developed and shared, the IFLA MCULTP Section would like to see library workers from cultural, ethnic, and linguistic minority groups become more empowered and have their voices heard. 

The IFLA MCULTP Section would also like to see non-minority library workers become more aware and appreciative of the linguistic variety and culture differences in the workplaces.

These tips were edited and compiled in 2021 by Leslie Kuo and Teona Shainidze Krebs, with suggestions and contributions from the IFLA MCULTP Standing Committee and the larger MCULTP community, including the Berlin Public Libraries Working Group on Diversity, Lingua Pankow (a coalition of immigrant organisations in Berlin), and the Pikes Peak Library District (Colorado, USA).

Embed these suggested practices into your meetings today.

Download the Tips for inclusive meetings infographic

• in pdf
• in jpg

Read more about the IFLA Strategy 2019-2024

How is your library or library association engaging with the IFLA Strategy? Let us know! Post on your social media, using the hashtag #IFLAStrategy and #WeAreIFLA or send an email to Despina Gerasimidou, IFLA’s Strategic Development Officer at despina.gerasimidou@ifla.org.

 

      

First, we will be holding a SIG Case Studies Session with a slate for speakers from Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe who will discuss projects on the theme, “Better together: Creating solutions to the challenges of data use, reuse, and sharing”. We hope that you will join us to learn more about the implications of data challenges for our individual users, our organizations, and our own roles as library professionals. This session will provide an overview of multiple case studies showcasing synergies in data use, reuse, sharing, documentation, description, access, and archiving among and between various communities.

• Introduction (Cory Lampert)
• You May Like - How NLB uses Machine Learning to recommand books (Wen Sze Tan)
• How to Help Clean Your Local Library: A Case Study in Library Data Scholarly (Sara Wingate Gray)
• Diversifying Collaboration: Network Complexity and Big Data (Ingrid Mason)

 

The second session is a Presentation Session in partnership with the Science & Technology Section and Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section on the topic of, “Library Carpentries: A 360 Degree Review of Supporting Data Science Skills”. This session will introduce what Carpentries are and how libraries have established programs to teach coding and offer data science skills to researchers and users globally. The goal of Carpentries is to empower users to use software and data in their work and to build capacity for librarians to feel empowered in data-centric roles and partnerships. Four speakers will address themes related to offering and supporting Library Carpentries and will share case studies and relevant experiences.

• Introduction to Library Carpentries (Sandy Avila)
• An Online Library Carpentries Workshop in Africa (Benson Muite)
• A participant's Perspective on Library Carpentries (Cheryl Loo)

 

We look forward to seeing you this year online 17-19 August 2021.

The third issue of the IFLA IT Webinar Series gave the occasion to hear Dr. Edmund Balnaves, a director at Prosentient Systems Ltd in Autralia, higlight some current best practices in academic library research data management services with special references to various RDM systems (see the presentation slides here). Dr Lynn Kleinveldt, a lecturer at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa, presented her reflections on library research data services (see the presentation slides here). The last part of the one-hour session consisted in an open discussion on the topic of library RDM services, facilitated by François-Xavier Boffy (Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1).

You can access to the video recording of the webinar on the IFLA online video channel.

IFLA’s Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Centre hosted at the International Center for Research and Documentation on African Languages and Traditions (CERDOTOLA) will deliver an international conference on the topic, “Conservation and preservation of documentary heritage in Central Africa: pillars of reconciliation and peacebuilding”.

This programme was accepted for funding from UNESCO’s Participation Programme 2020-2021, through cooperation with IFLA. We are honoured to have the opportunity to further align the work of library and documentary heritage professionals with the goals of UNESCO. 

This conference, to be held 28-29 July 2021, confronts the reality of armed conflict and associated challenges in the Central African region. It seeks to share strategies for safeguarding documentary heritage collections during times of conflict, and as well to share ideas and create plans to engage local communities with heritage collections, with the goal of promoting peace and reconciliation.

Conference Activities

Over two days, participants from libraries across Francophone Central Africa and from the different regions of Cameroon will come together to learn more about the UNESCO Memory of the World programme, become familiar with existing standards and instruments for the preservation of documentary heritage and the safeguarding of cultural property during armed conflict, and exchange ideas for engaging the public in peacebuilding through engaging with collections.  

The conference and accompanying interactive workshop will guide participants to:

• Reflect on a strategy for the preservation and conservation of documentary heritage in countries in conflict;
• Propose a strategy for the preservation, accessibility and promotion of heritage in danger within their contexts;
• Propose strategies for the involvement of their communities and local populations in the process of preservation and conservation for peacebuilding and reconciliation.

By the end of the conference, participants will have gained a greater knowledge of the regional context for conflict risk preparedness, and how their institutions can have a role. Further, they will have created their own plans and strategies based on the topics discussed during the conference and with feedback from expert facilitators. 

UNESCO Participation Programme

This conference is made possible through the generous funding of the UNESCO Participation Programme 2020-2021. This programme helps UNESCO Member States and partner NGOs facilitate national, sub-regional, inter-regional and regional projects that support the goals of UNESCO.

This conference will work towards UNESCO’s overarching goal of education and culture for peacebuilding, with a focus on the Central African region.

This will be accomplished through building capacity for preservation and conservation efforts among information professionals, especially in the context of conflict zones, and developing strategies to work within their institutions for the promotion of cultural heritage as a tool for peace.

​

​​IFLA Journal is an international journal publishing peer reviewed articles on library and information services and the social, political and economic issues that impact access to information through libraries.

The Journal publishes research, case studies and essays that reflect the broad spectrum of the profession internationally.

Volume 47, No.2 (June 2021)

Contents:
Editorial

Publishing in IFLA Journal: Balancing between the global and the local
Steven W. Witt

Review Article

Knowledge and skills for accessing agricultural information by rural farmers in South-East Nigeria 119
Ugonna B. Fidelugwuowo

Original Articles

Research methodology practices among postgraduate Information Studies students in Tanzania 129
Esther Ndenje-Sichalwe and Emmanuel Frank Elia

TETFund intervention in the provision of library resources in academic libraries in Nigeria 142
Cajetan Onyeneke and Ihunanya Lovelyn Ahaneku

Channels used to deliver agricultural information and knowledge to smallholder farmers 153
Tumpe Ndimbwa, Kelefa Mwantimwa and Faraja Ndumbaro

Benefits of crowdsourcing for libraries: A case study from Africa 168
Renee Lynch, Jason C. Young, Stanley Boakye-Achampong, Chris Jowaisas, Joel Sam and Bree Norlander

Awareness, anchor and adjustment factors in the use of institutional repositories by Nigerian lecturers 182
Alice A. Bamigbola

Privacy practices in academic libraries in Ghana: Insight into three top universities 196
Bright K. Avuglah, Christopher M. Owusu-Ansah, Gloria Tachie-Donkor and Eugene B. Yeboah

Effects of service quality on satisfaction in Eastern University Library, Bangladesh 209
Md. Jahangir Alam

Role of Lebanese public school libraries in the changing information environment 223
Patricia Rahme, Gladys Saade and Nohma Khayrallah

Faculty–librarian administrative structure and collaborative activities supporting teaching and research at Vietnamese universities: A qualitative study 236
Thi Lan Nguyen and Kulthida Tuamsuk

Collections and services of public libraries in West Bengal, India: An evaluative study against the backdrop of the IFLA guidelines 250
Shamim Aktar Munshi and Mehtab Alam Ansari

Abstracts 263

IFLA Journal is an international journal publishing peer reviewed articles on library and information services and the social, political and economic issues that impact access to information through libraries. The Journal publishes research, case studies and essays that reflect the broad spectrum of the profession internationally. IFLA Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

To submit an article please visit IFLA Journal on the SAGE platform.

• Editor: Steven W. Witt
• Frequency: Quarterly
• ISSN: 0340-0352
• eISSN: 1745-2651
• List of previous issues

Sign up for Email Alerts from Sage!

2021 has not just ben a record year for libraries in Voluntary National Reviews – it has also seen the highest share yet of Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) recognise the contribution of libraries to delivering the SDGs.

VLRs, like VNRs, look at progress towards delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals, but focus on a town, city, or region. They build on the strong commitment shown by organisations like United Cities and Local Government, as well as the unique insights and ability of such authorities, to drive forwards coordinated policies in favour of stronger, fairer, greener development.

As suggested in research published by IFLA earlier this year, the fact that VLRs emphasise actions taken at the level of cities and regions means that they are often more likely to include reference to libraries.

This can be because of libraries’ status as part of local government, the fact that they are more present in the minds of policy-makers at the city level than they are, necessarily, nationally, or simply that at a more local level, the role of factors like culture in development is clearer.

Following IFLA’s earlier research, showing that 59% of Reviews of SDG implementation at the city level (53% when regional reviews are also taken into account), we’ve looked at the reports published in 2021, as collected by United Cities and Local Governments’ Global Observatory on Local Democracy and Decentralisation.

These show that almost 62% of city and regional reviews – 8 out of 13 – this year highlight the importance of libraries in achieving local development.

Examples this year come from three world regions – North America, Europe, and Asia-Oceania, with a strong contingent from Scandinavia.

A broad-based contribution to SDG success

They highlight a range of themes, many going beyond the most traditional library roles of supporting literacy and reading, as well as research, although of course these remain traditional areas of strength (as in Scotland for example).

Inclusion is a key one, with Bergen (Norway) in particular celebrating the fact that its libraries are the most inclusive facilities the city has. Yet this openness to all is not taken for granted. The review of Helsingborg (Sweden) highlights the efforts of the library to reflect constantly on how to be welcoming for all, and so give everyone the possibility to benefit from public services.

Scotland’s review notes the particular potential of libraries to help groups at risk of marginalisation, for example women living on low incomes by providing access to sanitary products. Also benefitting women is the work of the National Library of Scotland to celebrate their role in history.

Uppsala (Sweden) focuses on the risk of inequality between cities and countryside, noting that library buses, the development of rural school library services, and training provide a powerful way of ensuring that people living in rural areas are not starved of information and culture.

Libraries in the city have worked to support both people at the youngest ages (through cloakroom libraries in daycare facilities) and the oldest (through deliveries and contacts) continue to learn and benefit from being part of the community. They also focus strongly on newcomers to the ity and region, helping them learn the language and acclimatise.

The civic role of libraries is also clear. Guangzhou (China) stresses the importance of libraries and museums in building pride in the city, while Helsingborg notes their role as shared public spaces. Our institutions are understood as sites for promoting wellbeing, especially among children, by Gladsaxe (Denmark).  

A particularly interesting example comes from Malmö (Sweden), which has made the library the focus of a participatory urban development effort, bringing together young people to design a new space there which can attract all members of the community. In parallel, there is a drive to engage citizens in understanding and engaging in the wider work of the library as a public service.

Finally, there are innovative efforts to work through libraries to support wider policy goals, for example in Kelowna (Canada), which lends heat-seeking cameras to users to help them understand where they should improve insulation in their houses, and so become more energy efficient.

Beyond city and regional reviews, some countries have undertaken subnational reviews, looking at the roles of regional and city governments nationally, and how they are helping.

For example, Sweden’s review sets out how libraries contribute to digital participation, while Norway considers them more broadly as a public service, and presents scores for citizen satisfaction as a wider indication of how happy people are with local services.

These approaches – in particular Sweden’s – are interesting, in that they raise the idea of governments working systematically through libraries, via local governments, in order to achieve national policy goals.

Making the case for localising the SDGs

It is also worth taking a look at the broader report by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, highlighting contributions to delivering on the SDGs in 2021.

This underlines in particular the importance of culture and digital inclusion – both of which are clearly areas of strength for libraries – as well as making the case for localising the SDGs in general. With libraries’ emphasis on promoting bottom-up development models, built around targeted and responsible efforts to help individuals become informed and literate, this agenda is closely aligned with our own.

  

As with the results of our analysis of Voluntary National Reviews, the references to libraries in Voluntary Local Reviews are potentially useful tools for advocacy in favour of the recognition of our institutions as partners for development.

By being able to point to what others have done, we can normalise the integration of libraries not just into reports, but also into key strategic planning to achieve the SDGs.

See our article about libraries in Voluntary National Reviews in 2021.

The Zimbabwe Library Association and IFLA have prepared a joint submission for the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review of the country. Drawing on the experiences of the library field, the submission flags important trends and ways in which libraries work to support the fundamental rights to education, work, and access to science in Zimbabwe, and sets out recommendations on how more could be done.

The Universal Periodic Review is an opportunity for UN Member States to track and assess their progress on key human rights commitments and obligations once every 5 years. Since interested stakeholders can submit inputs as part of the review process, this offers libraries a good opportunity to take stock of the ways their work impacts and supports fundamental human rights, and what key trends and developments shape the landscape in which this work takes place.

Zimbabwe

The joint ZimLA-IFLA submission highights the following points:

• A focus on access and equity is a key priority for delivering on the right to education in Zimbabwe. Libraries and library organisations around the country are working to help support equitable access to educational, reading and learning materials, particularly in more remote and rural areas.
• In 2019, Zimbabwe has acceded to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. We encourage the domestic implementation and interpretation of the Treaty (as well as further implementation of practical measures) to support as wide as possible access to information, knowledge, and education for people with disabilities.
• Over the past years, library organisations and libraries have worked to champion Open Access in Zimbabwe, as part of the fundamental right to access and benefit from scientific progress. They have also promoted the use of open data to support the enforcement of rights, especially for women and girls.
• Supporting informal workers, out-of-school youth, and other vulnerable economically active community members is a key task for delivering on the right to work. There are existing library initiatives in Zimbabwe working to support income-generating projects, which illustrate how community-based learning opportunities can help boost employability or gainful activities.

Joint ZimLA-IFLA submission for the Universal Periodic Review in Zimbabwe: [PDF - English]

To learn more about the work of libraries to protect and promote human rights, you can also take a look the stakeholder UPR submissions to Italy, Croatia, the United States, Australia, Georgia, Myanmar, Belgium, Eswatini, Greece, Ireland, and Uganda.

The IFLA Academic and Research Libraries Section, with generous sponsorship from SAGE, has awarded attendance grants to four information professionals through a competitive application process.

The 2021 award winners are:

• Andrew Ojulong,  Uganda
• Nessel Noé,   Argentina
• Gianina Angela Celine O. Cabanilla,  Philippines
• Andrea Doyle, Brazil

The IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) is an annual event that was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic and this year will be conducted virtually from 17-19 August. Registration fees will be paid from a special fund established by the generosity of SAGE.

IFLA ARL is grateful to SAGE for their generosity. 

Congratulations to all the winners of IFLA ARL 2021 awards!

We are pleased to announce the results of the 2021-2023 Continuing Development and Workplace Learning Standing Committee Officer nominations process. 

We congratulate the Continuing Development and Workplace Learning Standing Committee Officers for 2021-2023 listed below and look forward to working with them:  

Co-Chairs: Ulrike Lang and Alan Brine

Secretary: Almuth Gastinger

Information Coordinator: Edward Junhao Lim

Members and Officers of the 2021-2023 Continuing Development and Workplace Learning Standing Committee will begin their term following the IFLA General Assembly on 25 August, 2021. 

We would like to thank our officers Gill Hallam, Heba Ismail and Ray Pun for their service in CPDWL 2019-2021!

We are pleased to announce the results of the 2021-2023 Continuing Development and Workplace Learning Standing Committee Officer nominations process. 

We congratulate the Continuing Development and Workplace Learning Standing Committee Officers for 2021-2023 listed below and look forward to working with them:  

Co-Chairs: Ulrike Lang and Alan Brine

Secretary: Almuth Gastinger

Information Coordinator: Edward Junhao Lim

Members and Officers of the 2021-2023 Continuing Development and Workplace Learning Standing Committee will begin their term following the IFLA General Assembly on 25 August, 2021. 

We would like to thank our officers Gill Hallam, Heba Ismail and Ray Pun for their service in CPDWL 2019-2021!

The IFLA Journal editorial committee and editor are pleased to announce the availability of its summer webinar series on how to publish in academic journals.  Conducted in a series of four events focused on various world time zones, these webinars aimed to provide LIS scholars and practitioners with an insider view of the journal editing process with perspectives from the editor, reviewers, and authors.

view the webinars

The kickoff to this series featured presentations from the Asia and Oceania Region and was moderated by the editorial committee’s Dr. Anne Goulding from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.  Joining Dr. Goulding was fellow editorial committee member Dr. Amanda Cossham of Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, who spoke about the review process.  Jayshree Mamtora, an IFLA Journal author, spoke from her perspective as a scholar and practitioner a James Cook University in Australia.  The second session, moderated by Dr. Perla Innocenti of the University of Strathclyde, featured editorial committee members Dr. Amany Elsayed from Helwan University in Egypt and Dr. Mahmood Khosrowjerdi of the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. The third session featured editorial committee members Dr. Lihong Zhou from Wuhan University and Dr. Diljit Sing an emeritus professor from the University of Malaya.  The session highlighted the experiences of author Dr. Long Xiao, Dean of Libraries at Shanxi University in China. The final session focused on the Americas and included committee members Dr. Egbert Sanchez-Vanderkast from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and Dr. Debbie Rabina from the Pratt Institute in New York.  Joining the group was Cherry-Ann Smart an information consultant and author from Jamaica.

Overall, the webinars offer a unique view of the academic publishing process and provides practical advice to authors on how to approach the academic publishing process from selecting an appropriate venue for your submission, to communicating with the reviewers, and how to best approach the revision process. 

More than 400 members of the IFLA community were able to join the sessions live, and these are now freely available to others that wish to learn more about how to publish in academic journals within the LIS field.

Steve Witt
IFLA Journal Editor
 

A joint submission by IFLA and the Uganda Library and Information Association to the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review outlines key developments and ways that libraries work to support the fundamental rights to education, health, and work in Uganda, and how more could be done.

Universal Periodic Reviews (UPRs) are UN-led mechanisms that help benchmark the progress of all UN Member States towards delivering on their human rights commitments. As part of this process, stakeholder inputs help identify key trends, achievements and good practices – and IFLA continues to work with our colleagues and experts across the globe to offer insights on human rights developments and practices from a library perspective.

Uganda

Prepared in collaboration with the Uganda Library and Information Association (ULIA), a new UPR submission highlights:

 

 

• Key priorities in addressing the impacts of the pandemic on the right to education – particularly through the closures of schools and tertiary educational institutions. Access to learning and educational materials has proven to be a key concern – and, where possible,  libraries have been among the actors working to respond by supporting and expanding such access.

• An inclusive educational environment which further facilitates good learning outcomes is important to help pupils and students catch up after school closures. School library-based interventions can suggest some possible and replicable good practices which can help further boost reading, literacy, class engagement and learning outcomes.

 

 

• The right to information and learning opportunities is an important dimension of the right to health. Interventions in public and community libraries in Uganda illustrate how community-centric models of boosting access to health information and education can be a part of an overarching strategy to deliver on the right to health.

• Defending and delivering on the right to work, addressing economic vulnerabilities – especially among the more at-risk members of society – is key. Public access to the internet and ICTs and upskilling opportunities in libraries in Uganda have shown mechanisms which can be leveraged to further support employment and income generation.

Read the IFLA – ULIA submission for the Universal Periodic Review in Uganda: [PDF- English]

Would you like to find out more about the ways libraries around the world champion human rights? You can take a look at other UPR inputs which highlight the work of libraries in Italy, Croatia, the United States, Australia, Georgia, Myanmar, Belgium, Eswatini, Greece and Ireland.

You can also find out more about the Universal Periodic Review, and how libraries can get involved.

The processes created for monitoring and supporting the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals offer important opportunities for libraries to engage with decision-makers, gain recognition, and shape priorities. In the first of three pieces, we look at Voluntary National Reviews, with almost 44% of reports published referring to libraries – a new record.

The Ministerial Segment of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) starts today in New York and online, with presidents, prime ministers and developments coming together to talk about how to achieve strong, fair and sustainable development in the wake of COVID-19.

A key component this is the presentation of Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs). These provide an opportunity for governments to present what they are doing to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals nationally, as well as priorities for future action.

As set out in the UN’s own guidance, VNRs should look to engage all stakeholders involved in work around the SDGs, with libraries clearly part of the picture.

For libraries, getting involved in VNRs offers an opportunity to build new contacts in government and civil society alike, to ensure recognition of contributions in official reporting, and even to shape priorities for the future.

2021 has been a record year for reference to libraries in Voluntary National Reviews. Of the 42 reports due, 39 have been published, and 17 refer to libraries in different ways.

This is not only a new high in terms of the number of references (the previous high was 12 in 2018), but also in percentage terms (43.5% compared to 26% in 2018). In every world region with countries undertaking VNRs, there was at least one report with a reference. These references covered at least ten of the seventeen SDGs.

Looking in more depth, there was recognition of the role of libraries in supporting education (SDG4), for example in Angola which makes libraries part of its national development plan for education. Egypt highlights the contrition of its Knowledge Bank Library.

In Norway and Paraguay, the importance of school libraries in helping to improve literacy and reading was made clear, with Norway in particular committing to invest more. Clearly, the need for closures has affected possibilities here (as in Uruguay), but of course work has continued.  

Closely linked to this is the recognised contribution that libraries can make to combatting exclusion (SDG 1, 5, 9, 10, 11, 17). Denmark stresses in particular how libraries can engage with older people, while the Marshall Islands gives the example of a library extension aimed to support single mothers and children by providing a safe learning environment.

Cuba too talks about the role of libraries in broader efforts to fight poverty, including through ensuring high quality local services, while Azerbaijan cites libraries as a place where people of all backgrounds can access the internet.

Norway, more generally, sets out the role of libraries in allowing the country to ‘continuously strengthen and secure access to libraries to enable all citizens to empower themselves through free access to information, cultural integration and social inclusion’’

Indonesia, meanwhile, in its report sees rural school library services as a part of efforts to promote greater equality between cities and the countryside, while Mexico establishes libraries – and in particular its new library law – as contributing to work to build a fairer economy for all.

‘The civic role of libraries is also a common theme (SDG11, SDG16). Zimbabwe’s report underlines the work of the Zimbabwe Library Association in promoting open data, in particular around the situation of girls, in order to help them understand and assert their rights. Spain’s report talks in particular about the Library Laboratories project, which aims to strengthen the role of libraries as spaces for meeting, experimenting, and creating together.

Cuba refers more broadly to the importance of access to information, while Thailand stresses that libraries represent a key public space.

Libraries also contribute, of course, to cultural goals, in particular preservation of, and access to heritage (SDG11). Spain underlines the work of regional authorities to digitise heritage (as well as noting how increasing book funds has provided a boost to the book sector in general), while Germany cites the number of objects in the German Digital Library as an objective.

Nicaragua, meanwhile, explains how libraries are supporting work to ensure better water and environmental management (SDG6, SDG15), as well as supporting wider learning and research.  

Finally, there is the work that libraries are doing to promote and encourage engagement in the SDGs more broadly, with Qatar National Library helping to prepare their VNR, and Denmark planning to work to enable libraries to become anchors for the SDGs, including through an SDG certification scheme and training for librarians about the dissemination of the Goals.

 

Looking across the examples, it is welcome to see such a broad range of references, focusing not only on education, but on all of the different pillars of development. This underlines the argument long made by IFLA that libraries contribute across the board, and so should be integrated into holistic development policies, rather than confined to any one sector.

Overall, there are plenty of examples that libraries can draw on in their advocacy around the SDGs. In addition to examples of national governments recognising our role in delivery, there may also be ideas and inspiration that could be taken up elsewhere.

In our next story, we’ll be turning our focus from national to the local and regional governments which so often have a decisive role in taking decisions about library funding and staffing.

See our full analysis of libraries in Voluntary National Reviews and Voluntary Local Reviews 2016-2020.