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.

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. 

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)

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

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

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.

On 23 June 2021, IFLA Division IV – Support of the Profession and SET held the third webinar in the “Webinar Series for Library and Information Science Students”. June’s theme was “LIS Degree Requirement: Internships, Practicums, or Field Experiences”.

This webinar was special because we had IFLA President-elect Barbara Lison as a keynote speaker. She gave a talk “Librarian - a profession with many challenges”.

We also had a guest speaker Asst. Prof. Kathleen Lourdes B. Obille from the School of Library and Information Studies of the University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines.

Four LIS students from the Philippines, Croatia, India and Pakistan shared their experience with internships and practicums in their LIS programs.

The recording is available on the IFLA Section on Education and Training YouTube Channel. You can also see this booklet with abstracts to learn more about this webinar.

We are going to continue this fall in October. So stay tuned!

IFLA has submitted comments on the South Africa Copyright Amendment Bill. In these, we have highlighted the importance of a balanced copyright framework which includes flexibilities in regard to exceptions and limitations to copyright to allow libraries, archives, museums, education and research institutions to fulfil their missions in the digital age. 

With no significant updates to copyright laws since 1975 and extended discussions among all stakeholders around the Bill, IFLA has highlighted its regrets at witnessing the sending back of the bill to Parliament, delaying, even more, the development of exceptions and limitations to copyright that will benefit all citizens, including library users.

Echoing the submission of the Committee of Higher Education Libraries of South Africa (CHELSA), IFLA has reiterated that libraries rely on exceptions and limitations to function well and to ensure the relevance of our services in the digital era.

Providing access to information and educational resources, the making of copies for preservation purposes, and services and guidance to users are vital if we are to ensure equality among citizens and open cultural, educational and professional perspectives for children, teenagers and adults. The prevalence of misinfomration today only accentuates this need.

Around the world, IFLA supports a balanced copyright framework that includes exceptions and limitations, arguing this will enable the development of an ecosystem allowing better possibilities to research and to foster innovative industries.

Therefore, IFLA has called for the retention of the exceptions and limitations in sections 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D, 19D and 19C of the 2017 Bill as they will support the work of libraries.

Section 12A encompasses a general exception for fair use of copyrighted works. This marks a very positive step torward achieving a balanced copyright system. Sections 12B, 12C and 12D address the lack of exceptions and limitations for quotation, broadcasting, news reporting, translations and for an educative and academic environment.

Sections 19D and 19C introduce exceptions and limitations for Libraries, Museums, Archives and Galleries for preservation purposes, and cover the Marrakesh Treaty developed within WIPO in 2013.

IFLA has long stood for exceptions and limitations to copyright and will continue to do so, because possibliities to quote, report the news, and preserve works for the future, there is a significantly poorer possibility to share and receive resources and information, to safeguard heritage for all citizens.

Without exceptions and limitations, the ability of libraires to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to resources and information.  

IFLA's response to the consultation [PDF]

Culture, art and heritage play a vital part in the lives of individuals and societies, contributing to key policy objectives such as promoting wellbeing and supporting employment.

However, their role can and should be far wider than this, helping to achieve progress across the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda.

To realise this potential, a key step can be the formation of partnerships, both those bringing together players from the cultural sector and beyond, and those uniting the whole range of stakeholders who can contribute to the impact of cultural institutions, sites and activities on development.

A side event co-organised by IFLA at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum on 7 July provided the opportunity to bring together perspectives on how to make a success of such partnerships.

The session, of which a recording is now available, offered some important lessons, both for policy-makers and for others involved in ensuring culture contributes fully to realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

First of all, culture relates to every single one of the SDGs. Contributors highlighted experiences and case studies relating to everything from helping people escape poverty (SDG 1) to engaging in democratic governance (SDG 16), with the emphasis on partnerships in the session itself closely aligned to SDG 17.

Secondly, the importance of including culture in development strategies stems from the fact that it provides a foundation of community and society, a point highlighted in particular by the President of the Korean National UNESCO Commission.

Culture can both bring people together as well as creating divisions, underlining the importance of integrating it into planning. Beyond this, it can help explain – and influence – how our societies work, contributing to the work of the researchers and scientists looking to boost the effectiveness of policy interventions.

Third, the importance of taking an innovative approach, ready to explore new ways in which to contribute to society. Arts could, as underlined by Doris Summer of Cultural Agents in particular, be a catalyst if used effectively, helping open up new perspectives and ways of doing things. Similarly, many cultural projects benefit from an entrepreneurial approach, with a readiness to take risks and make new connections.

Fourth, there is the key role of governments in facilitating these partnerships. As the mayors of Mannheim, Germany, and Izmir, Turkey underlined, local governments in particular can play a key role in providing the space and support for initiatives that bring together culture with wider policy actions. As highlighted by IFLA, they could also make sure to integrate cultural actors in policy design from the start.

Governments should, also, be ready to engage a variety of partners in their work with heritage and beyond, bringing in different sources of ideas and energy to deliver. Libraries were no exception, with strong potential to provide a platform for a variety of different stakeholders to provide services and support to communities.

Finally, the impact of COVID could not be avoided. At a time that, as Katey Warran of University College London underlined, demand for cultural participation had risen sharply, the means of providing this had been weakened, with performers in particular hard hit by the pandemic.

As underlined by Jordi Pascual, representing the UCLG Culture Committee and the #Culture2030Goal campaign, ensuring the sustainability of the cultural sector was crucial for enabling it to support new, more inclusive, more holistic development models in future.

We are very grateful to all of the speakers for their contributions: Mayor Tunc Soyer, Izmir, Turkey; Mayor Peter Kurz, Mannheim, Germany (and Global Parliament of Mayors); Hyung Koo Han, Secretary General, Korean National Commission for UNESCO; Jordi Pascual, Coordinator, UCLG Culture Committee and Culture 2030 Goal Campaign; Pamela Jerome, Treasurer General, ICOMOS; Patricia O'Donnell, President, OurWorldHeritage Foundation; Stephen Stenning, British Council; Julianne Polanco, Co-Chair, Climate Heritage Network; Doris Sommer, Founder and Faculty, Cultural Agents; Katey Warran, Research Fellow, UCL. Special thanks go to Ege Yildirim, who moderated the session.

Watch the video on IFLA’s YouTube channel.

The 2021 European Dialogue on Internet Governance took place last week, bringing together stakeholders to discuss, collaborate and facilitate good practices around the policies and processes which shape the digital ecosystem today. IFLA summarises some key messages and takeaway lessons for libraries worldwide.

Since 2008, the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) platform has been bringing together members of public, private and tech sectors, civil society and academia - to discuss and collaborate on questions around the digital ecosystem in the region (and the world).

Since the internet and ICT are increasingly central to a lot of the work that libraries do, such platforms offer a unique opportunity to contribute libraries’ insights to the ongoing internet governance dialogues, and keep track of relevant trends and developments.

Under the overarching theme of “Into Europe's Digital Decade”, the 2021 EuroDIG facilitated discussions around digital literacy and inclusion, human rights online, content and media, innovation, security - and more. IFLA engaged with, participated and listened in on various sessions – from digitalisation and sustainability to online learning and education – to share a library perspective and flag developments which may be of relevance.

Library practices and internet governance: a fundamental link

Some of this year’s sessions highlighted issues closely related to the practical everyday experiences of libraries around the world. How to make digital educational materials more accessible and discoverable? How to leverage online educational and learning platforms to support wellbeing and social interaction?

Other discussions offer insights on how libraries’ longstanding values and principles – from intellectual freedom to privacy and beyond - manifest online. What role does privacy literacy play in mitigating the data security and privacy challenges evolving with the rapid shift to digital? How can quality information and awareness-raising help mitigate public technology consumption patterns, and usher in a greener digital transformation?

A new IFLA blog outlines these EuroDIG 2021 discussions, key trends - and their links to library work and experiences.

Media literacy in focus

Maia Simonishvili of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia led a session exploring the ways media literacy can help mitigate the spread of mis- and dis-information. Drawing on the dialogue among stakeholders from different backgrounds – from cybersecurity to the media sector – Maia highlights a few takeaway messages for libraries interested in championing media literacy (full session details are available at the EuroDIG Wiki):

* Discover the truth yourself! The young generation needs a new set of skills and literacies to discover the truth by themselves, to be able to make good decisions.

For libraries, this means that the younger generation in particular is an important target group for media literacy outreach and initiatives.

* The philosophical part of this question is that we often see news – and other sources of information – from our own points of view. As such, it is crucial to be aware of how people experience and make meaning of the media they interact with.

* Critical thinking needs to be implemented in educational institutions. However, in some cases implementing it in educational contexts might be more challenging if it clashes with cultural norms or political circumstances. The new way of media literacy requires new methods – and in some cases, local, context-specific recommendations, and new knowledge to develop new standards.

What does this mean for libraries? It highlights the immense role that local context plays in the implementation and impact of media literacy initiatives. Libraries can draw on their deep understanding of the local context and needs, to make sure that their media literacy learning opportunities have as deep an impact as possible within their own community.

*Media literacy learning needs to start at an early age, and playful and creative ICT-based learning tools can be a powerful way to teach children critical thinking and social awareness. Many children are interested in creating computer games themselves, which can be a helpful medium to share their needs and solutions.

This means that it can be worthwhile for libraries to further explore ways to deliver media literacy learning opportunities through playful ICT mediums. Here, libraries’ familiarity with offering digital skills learning opportunities and supporting digital creativity – as well as delivering virtual programming during the pandemic – can offer useful experience to draw on!

*Media literacy is one of the focal points for preventing or mitigating future pandemics. It can help inform the new generations about threats and prevention methods on time - to defend their health and future, even if their parents are not always ready for it. 

You can read more about the key updates and takeaway messages for libraries in a dedicated blog, revisit session recordings and draft EuroDIG messages - and check the Get Into IGF Guide to find out more about how libraries can get involved!