WORLD LIBRARY AND INFORMATION CONGRESS

79th IFLA General Conference and Council: Future libraries: Infinite Possibilities

Singapore, August 17-23, 2013.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Programme: Intergenerational Literacies: texto↔techno.

The IFLA Literacy and Reading and Information Literacy Sections are seeking proposals for  a joint programme to be held at the IFLA Conference in Singapore in August 2013.

The challenge of new information and learning landscape can lead to all sorts of information gaps. One of them is a gap between texto and techno generations which can cause intergenerational isolation and separation. The program will showcase innovative and effective library programmes that intend to bridge this gap.

Proposals are requested for as many as ten tabletop presentations which will be given simultaneously. After an opening plenary keynote address, audience members will rotate to three different fifteen-minute presentations of their choice.  Presenters will therefore be asked to repeat their presentation three times for three different sets of people.

Proposals chosen for presentation will be specific about how libraries and/or associations have tackled issues related to texto and techno literacies in their particular setting, thus developing intergenerational literacies, dialogue, digital inclusion and social cohesion. They should be grounded in theory, research, and/or practical applications.  Because these projects will be presented in an informal, small group setting, speakers should plan some visual accompaniment such as a poster that can be set up on the table.  Presenters may also want to bring brochures or flyers to hand out.  People submitting successful proposals will be asked to write a brief paper summarizing their library programme or project  for publication in the IFLA Proceedings.  All chosen presenters will be listed in the official Conference programme.

Proposals in English are required, and should provide the following information:

Name and institution of speaker(s)

Brief biographical information

Proposal title

Brief (300 to 500 word) description of project and presentation format  Language of presentation

Proposals should be sent to Elena Corradini (Secretary of the Literacy and Reading Section) at ecorradini67@gmail.com by November 30, 2012.

Please indicate “IFLA Proposal WLIC 2013” on the subject line. Finalists will be notified by December 15, 2012, and will be expected to submit final versions of their papers in one of the official IFLA languages by May 15, 2013.

For more information, please contact Leikny Haga Indergaard (Chair of Literacy and Reading Section) at: Leikny.Indergaard@bergen.kommune.no

Please note that it is the speakers’ responsibility to find funding for their participation.

Please find below a report from ALADIN member Heike vom Orde (IZI Documentation Centre, Germany) on her recent participation at IFLA 2012, the World Library and Information Congress that took place in Helsinki in August 2012.

During my stay in Helsinki I attended the IFLA off-site event at Sello Library in Espoo on August 15, 2012: “Surprising Library! — Public Libraries, Libraries for Children and Young Adults and School Libraries and Resource Centers”. This session was part of the IFLA Annual Conference joint session for Public Libraries, Libraries for Children and Young Adults and School Libraries and Resource Centres. Papers and Case studies from Finland, USA, Denmark, Germany, Canada and the Congo Democratic Republic were presented at the “surprising” location of Sello Library, a very modern library located in a shopping center near Helsinki. In my report I will focus on the four presentations that I was most impressed with; you can find all presentations online at: http://conference.ifla.org/ifla78/session-160

The event started with a speech on Journey into imagination – a glimpse of the history of Finnish children’s literature. According to the presenters Finnish children’s literature lives on the cutting edge of time. Especially youth fiction touches on the social pain points sharply and accurately as issues are often raised in children’s literature much earlier than in adult fiction. When reading children’s literature, adult readers learn at the same time about the state of society. The presentation ended with the statement: “Read children’s books and you’ll know what kind of a world you live in. Wings of imagination will come along as a freebie.”

Jane Kenney Myers, President of the Lubuto Library Project (LLP), gave in her presentation Outreach to vulnerable youth in Africa through partnerships for innovative programming: The Lubuto Library Project insight into her innovative international development organization. The LLP mission is to create opportunities for equitable education and poverty reduction through model library services housed in indigenously styled buildings in Zambia. These houses provide not only safe havens, but also literacy skills and opportunities for educational growth. The project aims at sub-Saharan Africa’s street children, orphans and other vulnerable and out-of-school children by building and stocking open-access libraries, hosted and staffed by community-based organizations.  LLP also connects North American and European volunteers and students with their African peers through community services. LLP is a professional organization whose programs – rooted in local communities and guided by prominent Zambians – are according to Mrs Myers important and unique in Africa.

Susanne Brandt from Germany presented a talk on Blended living and learning in children’s libraries as places of virtual, social, sensual, esthetic and creative experiences – including practical examples from Germany. She presented a vision of librarianship for young people as a concept of “blended living and learning”: Special programs with experiences in the nature, artistic impressions, conversation or story telling in dialogue with different methods characterize the library as a meeting place with virtual, sensory, social and esthetic aspects. From this perspective libraries are able to strengthen their independent position and open their rooms for “blended living” to support the orientation and sensibility of young people in the virtual and real world.

Finally, Stéphhane Legault from Canada presented the incredible success story of the Club des aventuriers du livre, an amazing Summer Reading Club that was established in 1995 by Lanaudière Public Libraries. The dynamic and unique summer reading club is for children from six to fourteen years old. Since 1995, more than 85 000 children have read more than a million books. The reading club aims to promote academic achievement during the holidays, especially for boys.

The session in Espoo was very well attended and was inspiring for information professionals who are looking for innovative strategies to reach their target group and to support literacy skills.

Korea’s National Library for Children and Young Adults (NLCY) is inviting a dozen international and Korean speakers to present papers for an international symposium on library services for children and YAs. The symposium will feature various sessions, presented in English, on key topics:
– Introducing reading promotion programs for toddlers, children and YAs
– Library services for underprivileged families, including multicultural children
– Better digital age library services for youth
– Reinforcing professionalism and leadership among children’s  libraries
– Cooperating with relevant organizations towards successful children’s services

The international symposium provides an important opportunity for Korean librarians to seek ways to enhance children’s library services and encourage reading promotion. With better services available to youth, young people will visit libraries more, find enjoyment in reading, and see  library engagement as a way of life. Hopefully, the symposium will cultivate the minds of youthy, and encourage them to become responsible citizens who will dream a future full of dreams and imagination. The call for papers will become available on the IFLA website. NLCY is please to invite librarians to join them. For details, contact Lee Sun Hwa at hanase@korea.kr

The Institute for Research on Reading and Media has published three new studies on reading.

Potential of E-Readers in the Promotion of Reading: Study Summary
With the use of e-readers, reading becomes more appealing for children and teenagers. This is
one of the major findings of a study conducted in 2011 by the German reading foundation
Stiftung Lesen on the „Potential of E-Readers in the Promotion of Reading“. The study clearly
shows that the use of e-readers lowers the inhibition threshold for the first contact with books.
For this experimental study, the reading behaviour of children of four classes* (grade 6) has
been examined during one year. One class has been provided with a library of printed books,
another class with e-readers and e-books. Class three has been provided with printed books as
well as e-readers and e-books, and a fourth class has not been equipped with a library at all, but
was taken as control group. The selection of titles the children had access to, was in all three
classes identical, whether as printed books or as e-books.
The analysis of the children’s reading attitudes shows that children who are provided with ereaders
and e-books are much more attracted by the literature available than those who have
access to printed books only. The same is true for „thick books“: as e-books they are chosen far
more frequently than their printed counterparts. An e-book cover obviously looks harmless,
whereas a book spine may have a discouraging effect on unexperienced readers.
However, to keep the initial enthusiasm alive and to turn it into a sustainable interest in
reading, some essential (technical) preconditions have to be fulfilled:
• appealing selection of literature (books, comics, etc.)
• fast, smooth and intuitive access to e-books
• chat function
• comment function
From the perspectives of children, e-readers give books a „cool“ and modern image. Therefore,
the use of this technical device will surely play a major role in tomorrow’s promotion of reading.
For further questions please contact:
timo.reuter@stiftunglesen.de

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Non-use of public libraries in Germany: Study Summary
The German reading foundation Stiftung Lesen and the German Library Association have released a representative telephone survey* on the reasons for the non-use of public libraries. For the first time, it has been examined why adolescents and adults do not – or no longer – use city or municipal libraries. **
The computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted in October and November 2011 and 1.301 individuals aged 14 to 75 were surveyed – among them 28 percent non-users, 41 percent former users and 29 percent users of libraries. The major findings are listed below.
Reasons why people do not or no longer use public libraries:
 restricted opening hours
 unattractive premises
 no cafeteria
 personal habits
 lack of interesting events
Furthermore, it has been examined how public library services could be rendered more appealing in order to increase the number of users.

Most of the users of public libraries interviewed for this survey have become acquainted with libraries during childhood. This is one of the most outstanding findings of the study which points to the fact that early promotion of children is a key factor in this issue. Therefore, the focus of public library services should be on low-threshold offers for families as well as on co-operations with schools and kindergardens. This allows even children of lower educated parents to get lifelong access to the world of reading. To attract an increasing number of young people, public libraries should offer a wide range of digital media. This bears great potential for an increase in popularity of public libraries which is .a very important factor: it should not be forgotten that a vivid library scene is indispensable for a successful reading promotion.
For further questions please contact:
timo.reuter@stiftunglesen.de

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Reading to Children

Research findings on reading to children clearly demonstrate that reading to children has many immediate as well as medium-term benefits. Parents who instill in their kids a love for reading make a major contribution to an integral education of their children. They help build cognitive, emotional and social skills, and thereby encourage their offspring to become open-minded and active members of society, in short: a success in life.
Reading to children immediately
• encourages comprehension of symbols and therewith competences in communication,
• stimulates cognitive competences and
• enhances emotional competences.
Reading to children in medium-term dimension
• encourages them to become readers and love reading – not only books but also electronic reading devices.
• builds several skills that lead to more success at school in a variety of subjects including languages, math, music and sport.
• is especially useful for boys in that it makes even them – who generally read less than girls – enjoy reading.
• helps moderate the big drop in reading that usually occurs during adolescence, in particular among the 14 to 19-year-olds.
• has a long-lasting positive effect which is still to be seen in young adults.
Reading to children in general
• is especially useful when parents do it regularly. The more often children are read out to, the more they benefit from that. But even if parents practice reading out only once a week, it still has a positive impact on their children’s reading attitudes. This is especially true for boys.
• stimulates their development in many respects. They also love meeting with friends, doing sport and playing an instrument to a greater extent than those teenagers who were not read to in their childhood.
Unfortunately the reading situation in families is not at all satisfactory:
 The less the formal education of the parents the less the frequency of reading to their children. Disadvantages in education are passed on to the children.
 Fathers – who are important role models for boys – often leave reading to children to the mothers. That gives boys the impression that reading is only for girls.

For further questions please contact:
timo.reuter@stiftunglesen.de

Bridges to Understanding: Envisioning the World through Children’s Books

This is the fourth volume sponsored by the United States Board on Books for Young People, following Children’s Books from Other Countries (1998), The World Through Children’s Books (2002), and Crossing Boundaries (2006). This latest volume, edited by Linda M. Pavonetti, includes books published between 2005 and 2009.

This annotated bibliography, organized geographically by world region and country, with descriptions of nearly 700 books representing more than 70 countries, is a valuable resource for librarians, teachers, and anyone else seeking to promote international understanding through children’s literature. Like its predecessors, it will be an important tool for providing stories that will help children understand our differences while simultaneously demonstrating our common humanity.