19 March marks the European Digital Day, dedicated to discussing the challenges of navigating the digital transformation, and commitments to act towards a greener, more robust, fair and sustainable digital future. This gives libraries – not just within the EU, but around the world – an opportunity to reflect on their own roles in this transformation.
Read moreLibraries have helped people stay connected through the Covid-19 pandemic. Beyond just access, libraries can help offer meaningful connectivity – where internet access can advance personal, professional, or educational development.
A guest blog by Teddy Woodhouse, research manager at the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), discusses the ways libraries help offer access that drives development, and how to magnify their impact.
28 January marks the annual Data Privacy Day, dedicated to raising awareness and celebrating this crucial right in communities across the globe. The past year saw important shifts and developments in discourses around privacy – and now is a good time for libraries to reflect and consider next steps.
Read moreThrougout the pandemic, libraries in Italy have been working to contunie supporting their communities’ rights to information, education, and leasure.
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Banned Books Week: Amnesty International calls attention to the plight of people who are persecuted because of what they write or publish. It’s September, which means that Banned Books Week is almost here! For libraries across the United States – and increasingly around the world – the last week of September is a […]
Read moreSeptember 15 marks the United Nations International Day of Democracy. This is an opportunity for libraries to reflect on their current practices and roles in supporting transparency, the rule of law, civic participation and accountability – particularly in times of crisis. The link between democracy, access to information and libraries has long been apparent to […]
Read moreOn May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in the EU. This marked a fundamentally new approach to data protection, privacy, security and user rights. Naturally, libraries as controllers of user data – patron registration data, library website uses, and much more – saw new obligations, responsibilities and processes that they needed to implement. Two years on, where does GDPR stand, and how will it continue to shape the library field?
Read moreOver the years, public libraries have brought many new users online – with millions having accessed the internet for the very first time in a library. However, public access can sometimes be seen as a stepping stone towards individual use and subscription/device ownership – a transitional measure on the way to a more universally available home access. But is that the case? What value can public access solutions offer as a complement to individual home or mobile access, rather than a temporary substitute? What shapes could it take in a post-COVID world, as we work to overcome the grueling digital divides?
Read moreMay 3rd marks the annual World Press Freedom Day, and this year’s dedicated campaign launched by UNESCO focuses on the theme “journalism without fear or favour”. This day puts the spotlight on challenges to press freedom and independence, safety of journalists, and gender equality in media. For libraries, these issues are of course deeply connected to their core mission and values of access to information and intellectual freedom.
Read more7 March marks the 10th Open Data Day, an annual international event to promote open data and explore the ways it can be used to address societal challenges. Data is a building block for informaiton and knowledge, and libraries’ expertise in helping people find and access the information they need – as well as their efforts to promote citizen engagement and digital inclusion – makes them a natural partner for open data initiatives.
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