The below message was distributed to IFLA’s members and volunteers directly by e-mail in IFLA’s official languages as of 27 February 2025.

Gamba daru*, 

I am happy to share an update about all that is happening at IFLA, following the meeting of our Governing Board on 21 February. This was the first formal meeting this year, and it was clear that all of us are strongly focused on making sure that we deliver on our commitments by the end of our term. 

I would like to highlight some of the topics on the agenda, and how they relate to the priorities I set out in my first speech as IFLA President in Rotterdam in August 2023. 

Reviewing the World Library and Information Congress (WLIC): the WLIC Review last year, led by our President-elect, Leslie Weir, really highlighted the role of the Congress in the life of our Federation. It is an opportunity to advance work on our Strategy at all levels, as well as more broadly a chance to build new connections and reaffirm old ones.  

In the light of this, the Governing Board strongly welcomed the insights from the Review at its December 2024 meeting. Leslie’s update provides more details: Planning the Future of IFLA WLIC in 2026 and Beyond – IFLA. In our February 2025 meeting, we underlined the need to get back to having longer periods for planning congresses, and how this can be achieved. A first step will be to issue calls for WLIC hosts for 2026 and 2027 next month. At our April 2025 meeting, we will also go into more depth on the different models that will be in place in alternating years. 

In the meanwhile, do check in regularly with the website for Astana, Kazakhstan in 2025, where new information is being posted regularly. And of course I hope to see you there! 

Governance structure health check: another priority for me is to ensure the Governing Board itself works effectively. The Governing Board will undertake a self-assessment, and the outcomes will be discussed at our April 2025 meeting.   

The Governing Board also has a responsibility to governance arrangements of the Federation. In 2021, a comprehensive review of the Governance Structure was completed.  It is now time to review structure to assess what has been achieved and what has been successful, identify any gaps, and seek suggestions for further improvements. 

Terms of reference for a Health Check Working Group to take this work forward have been approved. We will be sharing more about how we plan to progress the Health Check, and the opportunities for you to contribute in the coming months. The Working Group will be asked to make its recommendations to the February 2026 Governing Board meeting. 

Finance updates: finalising the financial overview of 2024 is well advanced, in readiness for our annual external audit, and the presentation of our accounts to members at our General Assembly in August 2025. The Governing Board had approved a deficit budget in 2024. This position was adopted as there was no WLIC and because we needed to invest in professional development for the IFLA Headquarters Team and internal governance. I acknowledge the IFLA HQ team has succeeded in reducing the forecast deficit considerably despite some exceptional expenses during the year. The full details of the 2024 budget will be shared with members following the external audit. 

Looking forward, the approved 2025 budget is set to generate a small surplus. Our reserves remain healthy, and we are achieving success in securing externally funded projects as we implement our financial sustainability and partnerships strategies. In the meanwhile, we continue to work to engage with SIGL to ensure that the grant awarded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support IFLA’s work, achieves the goal of leaving the library field stronger. 

Delivering on our Strategy: we already achieved the goal of finalising our Strategy last year, with the official launch at the Information Futures Summit in Brisbane on 1 October. Work is well underway, and the Strategy itself will be a key part of the action planning process for committees starting their mandates in August 2025. At the Governing Board meeting, we received papers that set out progress on the Baseline Survey that will be issued to members next month in order to define a starting point against which we can measure our progress.  

Closely linked to the delivery of our Strategy, we also held preliminary discussions about two statements on copyright, as well as approving the creation of a new Network on Digital Heritage, and an award recognising new professionals who have had a significant impact on the field. Look out for more information on all of these! 

Trend Report: this is another area where we made a major launch at our Information Futures Summit. I’m happy to say that we have issued an updated version of the report, with additional scenarios for the future which you can use to test out your assumptions and plans. The revised edition also includes a chapter about futures thinking, and the tools available to libraries. 

It was also particularly exciting to publish the Skills Agenda for the Trend Report. This work has been led by the group of emerging leaders who attended the Summit, and a subsequent day discussing the implications of the Trends for the competencies that librarians would need in the future. It was a great experience to work with these leaders, and proof that IFLA itself as an organisation has a promising future. 

Our next Governing Board meeting will be in the first week of April, held in person in Berlin, Germany. I look forward to engaging with colleagues there, and experiencing the country’s first Library Night. In the meantime, I encourage you to stay up to date via our website and newsletter, and to look at some of the recent reports that we have been able to publish thanks to the support from the Gates Foundation via SIGL. 

Kind regards, 

Vicki McDonald

IFLA President 2023-2025 

* “Gamba daru” means “Good day” in the language of the Barunnggam people from the Darling Downs region of Dalby and Bunya Mountains – the community where I grew up.