Updating Multicultural Communities: Guidelines for Library Services

  1. According to section 8 of, the IFLA Standards Procedures Manual, a standard/guideline should be maintained and reviewed at the latest every five years. This Guideline was published in 2009. The current assessment by the MCULTP section is that it is time to review and update the Guidelines. Chapter 7 in the Guideline needs a total replacement with new examples. Chapters 1-6 need partly updates. The section proposes that the structure and the chapters will remain the same. MCULTP reached out to 11 sections and SIGs: s with a questionnaire. Eight forms have been answered, and all of them agree with the need for an update. In addition, a positive reaction from one more section, but has not yet responded to the questionnaire.
  2. Migration for any of the reasons (work, marriage, refugees, displacements, climate, etc.) is an increasing fact and affects the global community. In order to line up with Agenda 2030 and the SDGs:s all library types need to consider how to give the best services, collections, etc. as possible. The need for upskills in this area will become ever larger.

Collaboration with IFLA regional divisions/Sections/ Associations

We will explore possible collaboration on advocacy, identifying priorities and strengthen the voice of libraries. The collaboration would provide a space to share, discuss, and train, and provide a means of focusing advocacy work that can make a real difference to library and information workers with special needs on the ground.

Translation of IFLA/UNESCO Multicultural Library Manifesto Toolkit to Arabic, Persian, and Portuguese

This toolkit was developed to give practical approaches on how libraries can apply the concepts in the Manifesto. Similar to the hard work dedicated to writing the Manifesto, the section began in 2012 to work rigorously on the development of the toolkit. The IFLA/UNESCO Multicultural Library Manifesto Toolkit was launched at the 2014 80th IFLA General Conference and Assembly in Lyon, France to a large audience of conference attendees anxious to have a toolkit to assist libraries in planning, applying, and sustaining the principles and actions described in the Manifesto. We have translated it into Arabic, Persian, and Portuguese.

Multicultural Café Hour

Multicultural Cafe Hour aims to provide a relaxing environment to network and learn about different cultures and languages, and enjoy relaxing hours.

IFLA/UNESCO Multicultural Library Manifesto Toolkit (2015)

The IFLA/UNESCO Multicultural Library Manifesto was developed by the IFLA Section on Libraries Serving Multicultural Populations (old name) in 2006 and it was endorsed by the IFLA Governing Board and UNESCO in 2009.

The primary goal of the Manifesto is to assist libraries throughout the world in developing and advocating for multicultural services. The Manifesto sets the stage for libraries to address their community’s unique cultural and linguistic needs through dedicated services and strategies.

An accompanying toolkit has been developed to give practical approaches on how libraries can apply the concepts in the manifesto.

Tips for inclusive meetings and webinars

These tips were edited and compiled in 2021 by Leslie Kuo and Teona Shainidze Krebs, with suggestions and contributions from the 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).

Methods for Meetings and Webinars: including people with a variety of cultural and skill levels in the working language