Stay up to date with our latest developments, initiatives, and new resources!
IFLA has responded to a call for comments on the South African Copyright Amendment Bill, highlighting the need to reject proposals that will have a chilling effect on the work of libraries, and deepen divisions in terms of access to education, knowledge and culture.
The UNESCO Online Consultation on Cultural Policies for the Africa Region was held on 31 January and 1 February, hosted by the Republic of Senegal. IFLA was represented, making the case for libraries to be involved, from the design to the delivery of cultural policies and strategies.
Engaging around the Sustainable Development Goals represents a powerful way both of thinking through how libraries contribute to achieving policy goals, and building up networks and recognition by governments. We've brought together information about what's going on around the Untied Nations 2030 Agenda at the moment, as well as relevant materials produced by IFLA. Take a look through for more!
Through our work around the Sustainable Development Goals, IFLA argues that libraries are essential partners for development, and should be integrated into planning and implementation. Voluntary National Reviews provide a particular opportunity to set out where these partnerships stand, and how we can go further. We interviewed colleagues in Jamaica to find out more about how libraries are being involved in Review preparation there.
The latest update to IFLA's Marrakesh Monitoring Report sets out how countries around the world are protecting (or not) the rights of people with disabilities to access to information.
In September 2022, UNESCO will convene the World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – Mondiacult 2022, hosted in Mexico City. IFLA will help bring the voices of the library and information profession to these discussions is through an upcoming virtual event: ResiliArt x Mondiacult – Libraries enabling inclusive and meaningful access to culture.
The January 2022 newsletter from the IFLA Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section is now available.
Every February, Safer Internet Day brings together diverse stakeholders to empower young internet users, raise awareness and support skills-building to ensure their safety online. This is a unique opportunity to highlight and build on the crucial work libraries are doing to support digital literacy, safety and wellbeing of children and youth online.
On the International Day of Education (24 January), the UN calls for transformation – a reimagining of the world’s education systems to realise the fundamental right to education for all and build a more inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable future.
The December 2021 issue contains 13 articles from across the domains of library and information science. Ranging from the impacts of neoliberal policies on public libraries to the development of future-ready schools libraries through design thinking, each article provides an important perspectives on historical and contemporary trends that impact libraries, librarians, and their publics.
The MetLib conference is an annual gathering of members of IFLA’s Standing Committee on Metropolitan Libraries. MetLib 2021 was hosted by the Regina Public Library in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada from 25 to 26 May 2021.
The United Nations 2030 Agenda is not just a document for governments, rather it sets out responsibilities for everyone, including libraries! However, it is not always easy to make the connection between high-level policy documents and day-to-day library operations. We interviewed Natalice Cardoso, to find out about her work in engaging libraries in questions around the Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals
The Pandemic has clearly focused minds on health, and how essential it is that we do not take it for granted. The right to health – and with it, the right to health information – have rapidly moved up the political agenda. Find out about the plans of our Health and Biosciences Section (HBS) and Evidence for Global and Disaster Health Special Interest Group (E4GDH), and in particular about the 2022 International Congress of Medical Librarianship.
In the early months of 2020, WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus underlined that in addition to fighting a pandemic, the world also needed to reckon with an 'infodemic'. As argued by the speakers at the WLIC 2021 session on Access to health information as a human right: A global call to action and practical steps, there is an urgent need for action to ensure that every person should have access to reliable health information and should be protected from misinformation.
Welcome to the first IFLA Newsletter of 2022! I wanted therefore to start by wishing you all a very happy, healthy New Year. Health is of course something we should value highly, especially now. We continue to live with the consequences of a very real health crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic – leaving a trail of suffering, disruption and uncertainty. This edition of our newsletter therefore focuses, in particular, on how IFLA and libraries are working to support health and wellbeing for all.
IFLA's new Statement on Open Library Data calls on governments to ensure, either directly or through supporting others, the collection and open publication of data about libraries and their use.