The IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto proclaims UNESCO’s belief in the public library as a living force for education, culture and information, and as an essential agent for the fostering of peace and welfare through the minds of all people.

The IFLA Public Libraries Section has been working since 2022 on the development of instruments for the implementation of the Manifesto. With the idea that the professionals use the Manifesto to build their project, for their action plans, to support the construction of the city or municipality story.

The Section calls on all national library associations to disseminate the Manifesto. An implementation decalogue has been prepared; The translation of the Manifesto into different languages ​​has been encouraged, an “easy-to-read” version and a “template” presentation (form) have been prepared with the relevant information of the Manifesto, adaptable for presentation and dissemination in different countries.

In addition, some materials have been prepared that relate the Manifesto to the future challenges of the public library as inspiration for the master plans of public libraries and to work in co-creation with library teams and other municipal services.

We hope that the new Manifesto contributes to the articulation of the public library with municipal policies, aimed at solving the social challenges that we have highlighted, and thus continue providing public value to citizens.

We must guarantee that public libraries continue to be present on the public agendas of various international organizations, governments, and civil society.

By: Ulrike Krass, Manifesto general coordinator, Esther Omella Claparols, Manifesto implementation coordinator), Juha Manninen, webpage coordinator.

Toolkits and Examples

10 Steps for Manifesto Implementation (Advocacy)

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Presentation Template

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Example of Manifesto presentations in different countries

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Materials of the Manifesto workshop in the 88th, IFLA Conference, Rotterdam

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Template for Manifesto linked to Public Library strategic Planning workshops

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Manifesto and the UN SDGs

IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto 2022 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

See below quotations of the IFLA-UNESCO Manifesto assigned to the appropriate individual goals. That undelines the close connection oft he Manifesto and the SDGs.

In the preamble of the Manifesto is already visible the close connection between Public Libraries and the SDGs. The key role of public libraries in facilitating people to achieve these goals is essential.

Preamble

„This Manifesto proclaims UNESCO´s belief in the public library…as an essential agent for sustainable development.“

„Through the key missions public libraries contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and the construction of more equitable, humane and sustainable societies.“

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Providing opportunities for personal creative development, and stimulating imagination, creativity, curiosity, and empathy

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Constructive participation and the development of democracy depend on satisfactory education as well as on free and unlimited access to knowledge, thought, culture and information.

The public library, the local gateway to knowledge, provides a basic condition for lifelong learning, independent decision-making and cultural development of the individual and social groups. It underpins healthy knowledge societies through providing access to and enabling the creation and sharing of knowledge of all sorts, including scientific and local knowledge without commercial, technological or legal barriers.

In every nation, but especially in the developing world, libraries help ensure that the rights to education and participation in knowledge societies and in the cultural life of the community are accessible to as many people as possible.

Creating and strengthening reading habits in children from birth to adulthood

Initiating, supporting and participating in literacy activities and programmes to build reading and writing skills, and facilitating the development of media and information literacy and digital literacy skills for all people at all ages, in the spirit of equipping an informed, democratic society

Promoting preservation of and meaningful access to cultural expressions and heritage, appreciation of the arts, open access to scientific knowledge, research and innovations, as expressed in traditional media, as well as digitised and born-digital material

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

The services of the public library are provided on the basis of equality of access for all, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, language, social status, and any other characteristic.

Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

The services of the public library are provided on the basis of equality of access for all, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, language, social status, and any other characteristic. Specific services and materials must be provided for those users who cannot, for whatever reason, use the regular services and materials, for example linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, poor digital or computer skills, poor literacy abilities or people in hospital or prison.

Access to the public library building and services shall in principle be free of charge.

All age groups must find material relevant to their needs. Collections and services have to include all types of appropriate media and modern technologies as well as traditional materials. High quality, relevance to local needs and conditions, and reflective of the language and cultural diversity of the community are fundamental. Material must reflect current trends and the evolution of society, as well as the memory of human endeavour and imagination.

Providing services to their communities both in-person and remotely through digital technologies allowing access to information, collections, and programmes whenever possible

Ensuring access for all people to all sorts of community information and opportunities for community organising, in recognition of the library’s role at the core of the social fabric

Providing their communities with access to scientific knowledge, such as research results and health information that can impact the lives of their users, as well as enabling participation in scientific progress.

Fostering inter-cultural dialogue and favouring cultural diversity

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

The public library is the local centre of information, making all kinds of knowledge and information readily available to its users. It is an essential component of knowledge societies, continuously adapting to new means of communication to fulfil their mandate of providing universal access to and enabling meaningful use of information for all people. It provides publicly accessible space for the production of knowledge, sharing and exchange of information and culture, and promotion of civic engagement.

Libraries are creators of community, proactively reaching out to new audiences and using effective listening to support the design of services that meet local needs and contribute to improving quality of life. The public has trust in their library, and in return, it is the ambition of the public library to proactively keep their community informed and aware.

Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and ist impact

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reserve land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16: Promote peaceful und inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Freedom, prosperity and the development of society and of individuals are fundamental human values. They will only be attained through the ability of well-informed citizens to exercise their democratic rights and to play an active role in society

Collections and services should not be subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, nor commercial pressures.

Providing access to a broad range of information and ideas free from censorship, supporting formal and informal education at all levels as well as lifelong learning enabling the ongoing, voluntary and self-conducted pursuit of knowledge for people at all stages of life

Providing adequate information services to local enterprises, associations and interest groups

Preservation of, and access to, local and Indigenous data, knowledge, and heritage (including oral tradition), providing an environment in which the local community can take an active role in

identifying materials to be captured, preserved and shared, in accordance with the community’s wishes.

Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development