A new report from David Baker Consulting, commissioned by IFLA with the financial support of Stichting IFLA Global Libraries, explores what links those library fields which have been able to enter into partnerships to deliver on policy goals at scale.

With their reach deep into communities, and across territories, libraries have strong potential to be drivers of successful policy initiatives at scale. They combine both the sense of being part of a wider network, and the ability to adapt to respect and respond to local needs.

However, typically when we talk about library success stories, these are at the level of individual institutions or systems, rather than at that of states or entire countries.

If we want to see libraries secure higher levels of funding, including from a wider range of ministries and agencies, it will be important to be able to show that we can deliver at scale, be it in education, health, democracy or on other issues.

To start to understand what are the characteristics of countries where this is possible, IFLA commissioned work from David Baker Consulting following an open process. This work is funded by Stichting IFLA Global Libraries, which administers the Legacy Grant provided by the Gates Foundation to support IFLA’s work.

The report, based on a wide range of interviews, explores how different people approach the concept of a ‘library field’, underlining the need to do more to explain this.

Download the report from our Repository

It then highlights five functions that, it appears, need to be fulfilled in order to be able to deliver system-wide projects: advocacy and articulating libraries’ unique value proposition; the development of the skills among library and information workers to deliver on projects; representation of the sector in government; sectoral leadership; and a third party partner.

The report also contains valuable questions that readers can ask in order to assess their own fields, as well as identifying policy areas where the possibilities for libraries to engage in projects at scale is highest.

This report is available for reflection across the field, and will also inform IFLA’s own plans on how to build stronger library fields into the future.

We are grateful to David Baker Consulting, and the authors – Ian Chowcat, David Baker and Lucy Ellis for their work, and to the Gates Foundation for the financial support.