In line with the goal of the Legacy Grant provided by the Gates Foundation – to leave the library field strong – we are happy to be sharing, over the course of January, a set of resources aimed to move us closer to this objective. The Gates grant is overseen by Stichting IFLA Global Libraries.  

The sustainability of the library field will come from a combination of our ability both to deliver on our missions effectively over the long-term, and to convince governments and other funders that we are offering a valuable service to the communities we serve.  

These two elements can form a virtuous circle – impactful, coordinated delivery at all levels, today and into the future makes it far easier to show others why they should invest. And in turn, when libraries have the resources needed, they can continue to enhance their contribution to societal goals.  

At the same time, on each of these goals, there are open questions around the situation today, and how we best move forwards. In order to help find answers, we are happy to be launching the following resources over the coming weeks: 

Training on the basics of fund-raising and partnerships: this offers an important overview of how to form, manage and sustain partnerships. Through this, participants can become familiar with key concepts, lessons, and requirements for partnerships, and so become readier to get involved directly.  Find out more here.

This contributes to our sustainability agenda by maximising the number of librarians ready to explore new funding sources. 

Training on effective online and blended learning: this training course aims to help members of the library field turn their own knowledge and experience into effective learning opportunities for others. Through this, we want to help raise levels of performance across the field, in order to get better still at delivering outcomes for our communities. Find out more here.

This work contributes to our sustainability agenda by accelerating the sharing of learning and innovation.  

Understanding national library fields: this research study focuses on the factors that characterise library fields which are able to carry out projects to deliver on policy goals – such as education, democracy or more – at the national or state level. It identifies a set of functions that need to be in place – although which can be performed in different ways – and so provides a powerful basis both for self-assessment, and for planning future training so that more library fields can be in a position to take on large-scale projects.  Find out more here.

This work contributes to our sustainability agenda by helping to understand what is needed for libraries to access large-scale grant funding. 

Evaluating the BSLA programme: in the 2000s and 2010s, IFLA ran the Building Strong Library Associations programme, with the support of the Gates Foundation. This offered a set of modules designed to help associations operate more effectively, as well as to have a greater impact through their advocacy. The evaluation looked back at what we could tell about what had been learned from this, and what the key elements of a revised BSLA could be. Find out more here. 

This work contributes to our sustainability agenda by highlighting how we can strengthen a particularly key actor in the life of library fields – associations.  

Exploring leadership programmes: investing in supporting the development of future leaders is a great example of sustainability planning. Having run our own International Leaders Programme in the 2010s, this piece of research aims to inform both our thinking about future editions – and to help others do the same – by analysing over 60 existing examples. It is accompanied by a guide which runs through the questions that should be answered in designing a programme. The initial report is available here, and the guide is available here.

This work contributes to our sustainability agenda by promoting and facilitating a stronger focus on promoting leadership, in particular among newer professionals.  

Libraries in climate empowerment: following the survey of the contribution of library associations to climate action work under the MECCE project last year, this report will go further into the data. It will highlight in particular good practice cases – associations and institutions making the fullest contribution to climate empowerment, as well as demonstrating the potential of libraries and associations to other stakeholders. Coming soon!

This work contributes to our sustainability agenda by promoting and facilitating a stronger focus on promoting leadership, in particular among newer professionals.  

Trend Report: further elements of the Trend Report are on the way, with a new set of scenarios, as well as a chapter providing an introduction to futures thinking in general. This not only strengthens the Report as a practical tool for librarians, but also opens the way to more extensive and systematic use of futures in order to build preparedness, resilience and ability to shape what is to come. Find out more here. 

This work contributes to our sustainability agenda by strengthening libraries’  ability to think about and plan for the future in general. 

 

Later on, you will also see new or updated infrastructures which will help libraries demonstrate their potential to partners and funders – a revised Library Map of the World, as well as a site helping to map internet-connected libraries, showing where investment is needed in order to ensure libraries can support digitally-enabled development. There is also work to help enhance our ability to work regionally, and in particular build partnerships that can enable libraries to do more than they ever could alone.   

Keep an eye on our website for further updates!