WLIC 2017 – Session 191: Government and Parliamentary Libraries Supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals

The IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2017 is fast aproaching. As part of our activities during the conference, we are sponsoring session 191, with Library and Research Services for Parliaments and Law Libraries Sections.  The focus is placed on ways that Government Libraries and Parliaments, providing information services, collaborate and promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national and local levels.

Date: Wednesday 23 August 2017, 09:30 – 11:30, Multifunctional Hall. The Centennial Hall, Wroclaw, Poland.

The format of the session will be flexible and interactive. The presentations starts with the keynote speaker Nick Poole, Chief Executive of CILIP, the library and information association of the United Kingdom, presenting the Facts Matter campaign. Promoted by CILIP, the campaign champions the value of quality information and evidence for learning, to economy, to health and healthcare, in democracy and for equal, inclusive communities.

Later, selected panelists will introduce topics by way of a 10 minute presentation:

Relevance of the Parliament Library and the Information Professionals in Promoting United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Kenya / Winnie Morogo (Parliament Library, Kenya)

Parliamentarians have a constitutional responsibility to play in supporting SDGs inplementation. Taking note that Kenyan parliament library and information professionals have been involved in providing sustainable solutions to support development practices and solve societal challenges, the presentation examines the roles and challenges for the Parliamentary Library in Kenya in the context of SDGs implementation.

The Role of Libraries in the Provision of Climate Change Information: Case Study of Malawi / George G. Makhalira (Nkhoma University, Malawi)

Malawi Government has embraced climate change issues in such key policy documents like the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy 2 (MDGS 2) and National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA). The presentation makes the case about the relevance of libraries in providing enviromental information in the quest to mitigate the impacts of climate change, offering evidence as well for further related policies in Malawi and regarding the SDG Goal 13: “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact”.

Catalan Government Libraries Supporting United Nations’ Objectives for Sustainable Development /  Miguel Navas-Fernández (Library Service of the Catalan Government, Spain)

There is a large amount of special libraries in Catalonia, among which many government libraries. Those belong to the Catalan government (departments and bodies of the executive, library of the Parliament and judiciary libraries, covering all three powers), to the Barcelona region government, or to city councils. Some of their activities, initiatives and projects support the United Nations’ objectives for sustainable development. This presentation intends to collect the most relevant of them.

FEDLINK’s American Indian Libraries Initiative (AILI) / Carla Davis-Castro (Library of Congress, United States)

The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) is an organization of federal agencies working together since 1976 to achieve optimum use of the resources and facilities of federal libraries. One of its 11 working groups is the American Indian Libraries Working Group, which works tangentially with the Library of Congress Ad Hoc Committee to form the American Indian Library Initiative (AILI). The presentation will highlight FEDLINK’s mission and AILI’s events such as trainings on the Library of Congress’ Indigenous Law Portal, panel discussions about how tribal grantees have used funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and special offers that FEDLINK negotiated for tribal libraries regarding proprietary databases.

Evidence Informed Policy Making in Parliaments to Support the SDGs/ Emily Hayter (INASP, United Kingdom); Rasheed Draman (African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs – ACEPA, Ghana); John Bagonza (Research Services – Parliament of the Republic of Uganda)

The biggest challenges of the 21st century require policy makers to formulate policy based on evidence. The presentation focus on the relevance of evidence-informed policy, and why it matters for parliaments, meanwhile sharing the experience of INASP working with three African parliaments (Ghana, Zimbabwe and Uganda) to strengthen capacity for use of evidence in policy making.

Themes picked from the presentations will be followed by a Knowledge Cafe discussion, with speakers joining tables facilitated by Goverment Libraries and Parliamentary Libraries Standing Committee members. Facilitators will report back to inform the post conference Satellite Meeting in Berlin, hosted by Government Libraries Section, where examples and experiences of government libraries taking action in affairs regarding the Sustainable Development Goalds will be shared.

We encourage information professionals attending the conference to be part of the session.

More information: WLIC 2017 Conference Programme.