On the 12th of August 2024 the Russian Library Association (RLA) Section for International Cooperation and IFLA Russian Language Center, based in the Russian State Library, held a round table on issues related to the IFLA international library agenda. The meeting was impeccably organized by the M. Rudomino All Russian State Library for Foreign Literature – Headquarters of RLA Section for International Cooperation – and included more than 60 online and offline participants.
Annual August meetings are usually organized to discuss participation of the Russian library community in IFLA WLIC and in international library associations. This year’s agenda focused on strategic issues and priorities of Russian libraries while working in international field.
Vadim Duda, President of the Russian Library Association, President of the Library Assembly of Eurasia, and Director General of the Russian State Library delivered his vision of the RLA priorities marking the following directions: development of horizontal links with library associations and institutions that share common approaches and willingness to cooperate; strengthening of RLA’s role as a central platform for high-profile international events of the Russian library community; ensuring effective and productive participation of Russian libraries in Astana 2025 WLIC, including high level representation of delegates at the CIS Caucus.
Svetlana Gorokhova, moderator of the meeting, RLA Board Member and Chair of the RLA Section for International Cooperation, and IFLA CPDWL SC member, covered activities of the Section and defined key principles of international library cooperation as the following: learning differently but never lose your own; automatic transfer of practice doesn’t guarantee effective results; successful partnerships always require value compatibility; partnership is always about equality and mutual benefit – it is a two-way street; practical solutions are trendy, no to interaction for the sake of it; international exchange serves to develop national library initiatives to ensure steady development of the country.
Representatives of the Russian national, federal, regional, and central municipal libraries participated in the meeting to discuss Russian libraries involvement in the work of international professional associations: the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), International Library Union “Silk Road”, the BRICS Alliance of National Libraries, and the Library Assembly of Eurasia.
IFLA news was covered by three speakers: Pavel Kuzmin, Europe Regional Division Committee Member of the IFLA Regional Council, Director General of the M. Rudomino All Russian State Library for Foreign Literature, talked on his experience of working on the Division Committee and on the agenda of the forthcoming offline Division meeting in Barcelona.
Daria Belyakova, Vice Chair of the RLA Section for International Cooperation and former IFLA CPDWL SC Member talked on the IFLA Information Futures Summit to be held in Brisbane, Australia on September 30 – October 3, 2024. World librarians are waiting for the results of the Summit and especially for the updates on the IFLA Trend Report and IFLA Strategy 2024 -2029.
Albina Krymskaya, Chair of IFLA Section on Education and Training and Deputy Dean of LIS School of the St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture, spoke on international research activities of the Section and examples of effective LIS student collaboration.
Peter Lapo (Kazakhstan), Asia and Oceania Regional Division Committee Member of the IFLA Regional Council DC Member, spoke on the Astana 2025 IFLA WLIC and broad opportunities open for the Russian library community in Kazakhstan, a country with many Russian speakers. Specialists taking part in the meeting declared meaningful participation of the Russian delegation in IFLA WLIC 2025, as one of the priorities of the RLA international cooperation.
Irina Gayshun, coordinator of the IFLA Russian Language Center; Director General of the Library Assembly of Eurasia, introduced the participants to the activities of the BRICS Alliance of National Libraries and the Library Assembly of Eurasia. She presented the goals and structure of professional associations and key directions of their activities.
Daria Belyakova spoke to the participants about the International Library Union “Silk Road” and Russian libraries involvement in its activities.
In the final part of the meeting, Russian Library Association in cooperation with Serbian Library Association announced the launch of RU:RS Library Forum – a platform for international library cooperation between two national professional communities. The idea of the Forum sprang from the participation of SLA President Jelena Glisovic in the All-Russia Library Congress (May 2024, Kazan, Russia) – a meeting where more than 90 foreign specialists took part thanks to the efforts of the RLA Section on International Cooperation and the Russian State Library. The first meeting of the RU:RS Library Forum will take place during Annual Conference of the Serbian Library Association, in Panchevo (Serbia) in December 2024.
Participants of the Round Table concluded that international cooperation of librarians is an effective and powerful instrument of professional development. The process tends to become more diverse and encompasses more players reacting to global changes. Library diplomacy is a living mechanism that provides space for mutual respect of national agendas.