2024 Report: Sustainable Futures for All through Knowledge and Information

Impact Area 01 – Libraries are connected and energised through vibrant, global professional communities

2024 saw a record output in terms of standards and guidelines, covering services to displaced persons and persons with disabilities, as well as an update to a number of key technical standards for the global library field. In addition, we released the highly topical open access book New Horizons on Artificial Intelligence in Libraries through our IFLA Publications series.

Our Journal continued to provide a platform for sharing diverse and innovative practice, with articles from authors from over 52 countries in 2024, including outputs from the BOBCATSSS conference. The last edition of the year turned to IFLA’s upcoming centenary, looking back at our past.

The absence of a World Library and Information Congress allowed us to experiment with new meeting formats, including our successful Information Futures Summit in Brisbane Australia, which mixed inspiring keynote speakers from inside and outside the field with dynamic and inclusive discussion among participants from 62 countries. The Summit also provided the occasion for the launch of our new Strategy and Trend Report, as well as the Brisbane Declaration. Meanwhile, the year off from WLIC also offered an opportunity to carry out a review of the Congress model, whose findings will be applied from 2026 onwards.

In terms of our structures, we saw the first Networks emerge, as a new formal type of structure within IFLA, and started to experiment with communities of practice, as a looser way of helping our field to exchange on issues of shared interest.

We also expanded the reach of our membership, welcoming members from four new countries – Togo, Seychelles, Saint Lucia, and Côte d’Ivoire – bringing the total number of represented countries to 151, up from 147 in 2023. There was a slight decline in overall membership numbers (as in other years with no WLIC), but increases in some regions. Overall, we continue to look to innovate in engaging and supporting our members.

Impact Area 02 – Libraries are recognised, represented and valued as partners 

In 2024, IFLA continued to develop its engagement in international spaces for the benefit of the global library field, strengthening its focus on processes which can best inspire stronger support for libraries at all levels. Our engagement with UNESCO continued to grow, with new connections made around greening communities and learning cities, while we also engaged strongly around preparations for the 20th anniversary of the World Summit on the Information Society and Internet Governance Forum, and work around COP29 on climate empowerment.

Strong engagement at the UN High-Level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals allowed us to open discussions around a potential Group of Friends of Libraries, as well as build new connections with Ambassadors and senior officials. We also continued our engagement with the Culture2030Goal campaign.

Our work around partnerships is focused on enabling real-world change for libraries. A particular success has been the renewal of the Knowledge Rights 21 programme, funded by Arcadia, which enables us to invest in advocacy for better copyright law and policy for libraries in Europe that will have wider public benefit. We are also grateful to the European Commission, whose support makes work on media and information literacy possible.

Impact Area 03 – Libraries are enabled to deliver meaningful change at all levels

We continued to intensify our engagement with our regional structures, both our Regional Offices (now operating under updated agreements), and our Regional Division Committees. These structures have allowed for a busy programme of regionally relevant programming, designed to meet needs better than can be done globally.

We continued our series of regional workshops focused on strong and sustainable library fields with meetings in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile, and also commissioned work to build our understanding of how we can better support associations and library fields.

We continued to develop the potential of our events as opportunities for learning, as well as investing in emerging leaders. Highlights of this included the publication of the 2024 Trend Report, as well as preparation of the Skills Agenda for the 2024 Trend Report, both of which were prepared by emerging leaders in the field.

Enabler – Futureproofing IFLA 

A key focus in the priorities set out by IFLA President Vicki McDonald in her first speech as President in 2023 was the need to optimise the work of the Governing Board and provide more effective opportunities for engagement with members and volunteers. 2024 saw a major upgrade in this work, with the launch of open townhall sessions with the President and Secretary General, as well as monthly messages on IFLA’s work and priorities. 

There is also a busy calendar of participation in events and meetings, as well as intensified engagement with members to help them support the communities they serve, and we have successfully used inclusive approaches to gather inputs to update our Strategy, carry out our WLIC review, and prepare a Code of Conduct for IFLA volunteers. 

Elsewhere, we have made important investments of time and effort in our online platforms. We have adopted tools that help us professionalise webinars. We are upgrading our repository and progress is on track to merge our pre-existing IFLA Library into this to offer a single space for knowledge-sharing globally.

Finally, the Governing Board approved a strategy on promoting sustainability, with a particular focus on realising the potential of the Legacy Grant given by the Gates Foundation to leave the library field stronger. Strengthening partnerships, realising our own potential to mobilise our community, and building readiness to deliver on project work are all part of these efforts.