The below message was shared from 30 July 2025 with IFLA members and volunteers in IFLA’s official languages. 

Gamba Daru*

I am happy to be writing to you again as IFLA President, although now for almost the last time before I hand over responsibilities to President-elect Leslie Weir during our World Library and Information Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan.

There will be many opportunities in Astana there to look back, both to celebrate what we have all achieved as a Federation over the last two years, but also to reflect critically, and to be ready to learn lessons. We are fortunate to have Leslie taking our work forwards from August – IFLA is in good hands.

In the meanwhile, IFLA certainly has been as busy as ever. I had the privilege of joining the team visiting Busan, Republic of Korea, in order to explore their readiness to host our World Library and Information Congress in 2026. The welcome the IFLA team received from our Korean colleagues was warm and enthusiastic. I am grateful to all made me feel so welcome, in particular Heesop Kim, Chief Executive of the National Library. Subsequently, as you will have seen, the Governing Board approved that the Congress will take place. It promises to be an excellent event.

You can find out more about our recent work both in the read-out from our July extraordinary Governing Board, as well as in the July edition of my dashboard.

The immediate priority of course, is our World Library and Information Congress.  I am excited to see the library field come together again in Astana, Kazakhstan in just a few weeks.

In addition to the familiar – the range of sessions, the dynamism of the discussions, the chance to meet old friends again and make new ones – it is also a chance to get to know a new country and culture for me. One of the unique selling points of WLIC is the blend of the local and the global, both celebrating our shared mission but also gaining new perspectives on what it means to pursue this mission in very different circumstances.

A particular highlight for me will be the President’s and President-elect’s sessions.  This year, Leslie and I are doing something different – coordinating our sessions as a sign of the continuity between our mandates, and the connection between our respective themes.

Those who attended the Launchpad sessions we held earlier in July will already have had a taste of some of the themes we explored, supported by excellent contributors who shared videos, as well as Professor David Lankes who joined us in person for the second of the two sessions.

Under the title ‘Stronger, Bolder, Together’, our goal is to tackle head-on the key questions facing our field and the communities we serve, and encourage us all to think differently about how we respond, and in doing, so make for a better world.

The session recordings are now up on IFLA’s YouTube channel, but I am sharing some of the key questions raised.  We will  respond to these questions during our sessions in Astana. More details are available on our webpage:

  • How can we form new and different partnerships to make sure we are reaching the communities who can benefit from our services?
  • How can meet radical change with radical innovation?
  • How can we create spaces for real human connection?
  • How can we pursue innovation without imposing standardisation?
  • How can we drive curiosity and deep understanding?
  • How can we defend and convince others of the value of intellectual freedom?
  • How can we make the most of our existing strengths?
  • How can we ensure that we are actors in our own future?

I am very much looking forward to welcoming you to my and Leslie’s sessions in Astana where we will explore these ideas further, and of course we will be sharing more with our wider membership and volunteer community too.

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.