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Libraries, Literacy, and the Future We Want: Reflections on International Literacy Day 

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UNESCO International Literacy Day 2024 Poster

In just a few weeks, Heads of State and Government from around the world will come together at the UN Headquarters and agree to a Pact for the Future.  

The Pact will reaffirm global commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals, universal human rights, and other key international agreements. It will reaffirm belief in a more sustainable, just, peaceful, inclusive and resilient future. To get there requires a recommitment to multilateralism, that is, a willingness to work together, build trust, and face common challenges.  

Critically, it will call for partnership with all stakeholders.  

So why are we talking about the Pact for the Future on International Literacy Day?

This year, UNESCO calls on the international community to reflect on how literacy, and multilingual education, can accelerate mutual understanding and peace. This aligns with the action areas that world leaders will likely agree to at the Summit. Some of these actions will likely include:  

  • Leaving no one behind by taking bold action on achieving the SDGs 
  • Investing in ending poverty, building trust and strengthening social cohesion. 
  • Upholding human rights to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies 
  • Addressing potential risks from the spread of misinformation and the misuse of digital technologies 

Building literacy of all kinds has a role to play in all the above – and without libraries, policymakers are missing a crucial part of the equation. Literacy is close to the heart of the library field. A love for reading, for language, and the ability to understand and share information is at our profession’s core.  

As world leaders are committing to cooperating multilaterally and in partnership with all stakeholders to achieve these goals, the global library field should consider the role they play. 

For International Literacy Day, let’s look at a few important aspects of literacy, and reflect on how libraries help governments uphold the commitments they are about to make at the Summit for the Future.

Multilingual Education  

According to the IFLA-UNESCO Multicultural Library Manifesto (2012), libraries address cultural and linguistic diversity by:  

  • Serving all members of the community without discrimination based on cultural and linguistic heritage; 
  • Providing information in appropriate languages and scripts; 
  • Giving access to a broad range of materials and services reflecting all communities and needs; 
  • Employing staff to reflect the diversity of the community, who are trained to work with and serve diverse communities. 

Catch up with IFLA’s Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section for recent activities of libraries around the world in connecting with their multicultural communities in their June 2024 newsletter.  

In terms of multilingual education, accessing materials in diverse languages within the public, school, or university library is a powerful aspect of social inclusion. Especially for libraries serving multicultural communities, and communities with newcomers that are adapting to a new language, this can make all the difference.  

 Multilingual Education in action:

“Children and a volunteer at the storytelling session during the kidsREAD programme ” by National Library Board is licensed under CC BY 4.0

National Library Board, Singapore: kidsREAD

This is a nationwide community-based reading programme that promotes early reading and English language competence for children from different ethnic groups. This programme is an opportunity for access to early learning and development support to set disadvantaged children up for success in their ongoing education. Read more. 

 Peaceful, just and inclusive societies 

In drafting the Pact for the Future, policymakers recoginise the roles that access to knowledge, cultural rights, fundamental freedoms, and science, technology and innovation play.  

It is important to stress that literacy skills are fundamental for enabling all people to benefit from all the above.   

Libraries actively work to support these cornerstones of peaceful, just and inclusive societies. No where is this more important than in efforts to ensure no one, and especially not traditionally marginalised communities, is left behind.  

Peaceful, just and inclusive societies in action:

Woman in workshop on computers

“Let’s Read volunteer translators at the translation event ” by The Asia Foundation is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Myanmar Library Association’s volunteers help to increase access to reading and learning about sustainable development.

Let’s Read is Asia’s free digital library of relatable, local-language books accessible to all children. The programme aims to nurture reading habits and enable children to reach important developmental milestones, encourage families to share stories that affirm their culture, and support communities to flourish and grow inclusively. The library offers a variety of books that allow children to acquire knowledge on topics such as gender equality, sustainability, environment and climate action, diversity, empathy and STEAM.  Read more.

 Digital Literacy and Information Integrity  

Beyond information literacy, we can observe today the increasing importance of digital literacy, not just as means to acquire information and develop knowledge but also as a tool for building trust and resilience in the face of challenges that threaten peace. This aligns with the UN’s new Global Principles for Information Integrity, which represent a major step in highlighting the importance of access to quality information. 

Multilingual education in the digital context is equally important as today we live in a state of constant interconnectedness, so besides equipping individuals with essential 21st century skills to navigate the digital realm, it also empowers them to communicate across linguistic and cultural barriers.  

As misinformation increasingly spreads across many online platforms, this type of literacy will become fundamental to preserve cultural identities, promoting inclusion and allowing individuals from different backgrounds to participate fully in society. 

 Literacy and Information Integrity in action:

Woman in computer lab

“Women at the computer literacy club ” by Erriadh Public Library is licensed under CC BY 4.0

 Tunisian library’s digital skills course promotes opportunities for women 

Tunisia faces a high illiteracy rate linked to early school leavers. This has become a contributing factor to a high unemployment rate, which heavily affects women. The Erriadh Public Library, located on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia,  has sought to help primarily illiterate women develop digital skills by launching a computer literacy club.

This initiative aimed to give those who had left school without skills a second chance to build their ability to find work by giving them the knowledge and support to become computer literate. The course placed a particular emphasis on inclusive life-long learning, gender equality, and access to decent jobs and economic development. Read more. 

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 All these stories are good practice examples of how literacy, from multilingual education to digital literacy, can help create a future we want: one that is more sustainable, just, peaceful, inclusive and resilient. 

As world leaders meet at the Summit of the Future and reaffirm their belief in cooperation for this goal, library stakeholders, from individual institutions to library associations, are encouraged to take stock of how they can play a role – from literacy to digital skills and beyond. 

UNESCO Global MIL Week 2023 poster

Global MIL Week 2023: Meaningful cooperation is essential for success in digital spaces

The internet did not invent the spread of mis- and disinformation, but it has undoubtedly exploded the reach – and therefore, the impact – of harmful content. Every person with an internet connection can both fall victim to misinformation, and contribute to its creation and distribution.

It’s not all dire though! In the same way that misinformation can spread, so can opportunities for education and awareness-raising. Information can reach more people than ever before – but the type of information, and people’s skills to assess, understand, and ethically use it, will continue to have enormous consequences on peace, good governance, and social cohesion.

An Internet for Trust

UNESCO has been embarking on a process to develop global guidelines for the regulation of digital platforms. In this, UNESCO stresses that the development and implementation of digital platform regulatory processes must safeguard freedom of expression, access to information, and other human rights. IFLA has been contributing throughout this process – read our comments on the most recent draft here.

We stress that an internet for trust cannot be delivered in isolation, with action by platforms and through regulation legislation alone. Libraries contribute to building a healthier information ecosystem on a whole – an essential aspect of achieving the Guidelines’ goals.

A Healthy Information Ecosystem

UNESCO has linked Global Media and Information Week 2023 to their internet for trust initiative with this year’s theme: “Media and Information Literacy in Digital Spaces: A Collective Global Agenda”.

We were very happy to see the importance of media and information literacy (MIL) emphasised in preliminary drafts of the platform regulation guidelines.  However, IFLA has called for stronger references to the role of libraries at all stages of planning and delivering MIL programming, and better coordination of platform-based efforts with those led by schools and libraries.

The idea of a collective global agenda is very much in line with IFLA’s point of view. It will take a lot of cooperation, and coordination of efforts, to build a healthy information ecosystem – but what does this mean in practice?

It means working at the grassroots level; it means policy supporting public sector actors in their work, it means MIL education that spans formal, informal, and non-formal spaces, and supports the development of global citizens enabled to act ethically in all aspects of their lives, with the specific skills needed to produce, access, and use information.

Progress will not be driven by platforms and policymakers alone, but by collaboration with a wider community of information holders, producers, and users.

Suggestions for Implementation

The fact that there is an international effort to guide the development of internet regulation is important, as inconsistencies in legislation from country to country could likely lead to further internet fragmentation.

This sort of coordinated effort on platform regulation could also result in coordination on MIL, given the strong emphasis on MIL in these Guidelines.

For Global MIL Week 2023, UNESCO asked IFLA, among other stakeholders, how the Guidelines for Regulating Digital Platforms could be made operational, and how we could ensure multistakeholder participation through this process.

From the perspective of the library and information profession, here are some thoughts for putting meaningful cooperation into practice:

  1. National and subnational policymakers should recognise the impact of public sector entities, such as libraries in communities, schools, and universities, for operationalising the guidelines through their role in building healthier information ecosystems.
  2. Libraries should be included in national policy efforts on MIL, supported by effective taxation that ensures resources are available for libraries to do their work.
  3. Teachers, trainers, and librarians should be provided with possibilities to access the skills, tools and resources they need to be effective, innovative, future-fit advocates and facilitators of media literacy.
  4. The youth should have an active role in contributing to change, but MIL education schemes should critically take a lifelong learning approach and include non-formal and informal education spaces.
  5. All stakeholders should recognise the importance of considering local language and local cultural context in efforts to vet content on platforms and ensure content is relevant and beneficial to users.
  6. Perceptions differ around where the greatest threat to freedom of expression and access to information lie. Information professionals could be included in digital platform regulatory processes for the expertise and values they can bring to wider discussions about equitable access to information and freedom of expression.
  7. Regulation applied to major commercial platforms, such as Facebook or YouTube, should not apply to the non-profit repositories run or used by any libraries, and which are essential for open access, science and education.
  8. Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting schemes at both the national and international levels should be designed with possibilities to include the contribution of civil society actors and public sector entities.

IFLA looks forward to seeing the final version of these Guidelines, hopefully with our previous input taken into consideration, and taking an active role in elaborating an implementation plan.

How do you see your role in contributing to an internet for trust through MIL? Let us know your thoughts!

Find out more about Global MIL Week and how to get involved here.

 

A First Look at Results from IFLA’s Climate Survey – Add your input!

IFLA is working with partners to include libraries in global indicators for climate communication and education. Including libraries on this platform will be hugely beneficial for helping policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders understand and measure the impact libraries have on empowering climate action.

To achieve this, we are building a body of evidence through surveys on ways in which libraries take part in climate communication and education.

To date, we have received several hundred responses from libraries and dozens of responses from library associations. These early results show that libraries are approaching climate communication and education in a variety of ways, the majority of which center activities which encourage community-building and learning at all ages.

It’s not too late to get involved! Keep reading for a look at the preliminary results, then follow the links below to add your input to the survey.

The Numbers at a Glance

The types of libraries participating in this survey so far include 34% public libraries (155/456), 26% academic/university libraries (117/456), and 5% national libraries (22/456).

The geographic spread at the moment includes 68% from Europe, 16% from North America, 8% from Asia-Oceania, 4% from Latin America and the Caribbean, 3% from Sub-Saharan Africa, and 0.01% from MENA. From these numbers, there is clearly a need to improve geographic representation.

 

Library Programmes

Libraries were asked how often they offer programmes, such as special events, activities, community meetings, lectures, or outreach efforts, on climate change. Over 1/3 (145/388 responses) stated they offer such programmes either frequently or occasionally.

Just about half of respondents (191/387) reported to offer programmes on sustainability issues like the environment, biodiversity and recycling either frequently or occasionally.

Engaging with Others

1/3 of respondents (118/365) either frequently or occasionally engage with students from primary and secondary schools on issues related to climate change and the environment. About 1/4 (99/367) engage to that same level with university students or researchers.

30% have established relationships with external partners to engage in cooperative initiatives or public dialogues on climate issues, with the most common of these partners being local government agencies or municipal services.

Library Resources

43% offer book recommendation lists, library guides and/or book exhibitions on climate issues for children and youth, while 46% offer similar resources for adults. Half of respondents make an effort to draw attention to online resources on climate issues via their library’s communication channels.

The majority of climate action in responding libraries has focussed on outreach and activities. A smaller percentage (30%) have constructed new buildings, renovated existing ones, or purchased new equipment which was specifically intended to reduce the institution’s impact on the climate. A slightly higher percentage (45%) have changed internal operations, such as putting new policies in place in order to promote sustainability.

The majority of responding libraries (60%) feel they have adequate resources on climate change, biodiversity and sustainability to offer their users given current public demand. However, half (50%) of respondents feels that their resources would be inadequate if public demand for these resources was to increase.

Community-based Climate Action

Survey participants were invited to share examples of their activities to promote climate action and awareness.

There were many examples of libraries partnering with local government agencies and municipal services to jointly provide opportunities for climate action. Recycling schemes set up with local waste collection services, hosting town information sessions on sustainability, arranging community seed libraries with the local farmers market, and holding cooperative programmes with local nature reserves, parks, and forestry services are some examples of outreach efforts with community partners.

Libraries also reported on positioning themselves as community hubs for sustainable practices. There were many examples of libraries providing services like food-sharing refrigerators, communal meals, bicycle rentals, mend clubs, community gardening, and film screenings.

“At the current time we have just finished a sustainable food resource management project for community strengthening via learning to cook sustainable dishes and use the resources sustainably. The project has invited community members to sit around the table, build connections and thus, learn to preserve food resources, lead sustainable households. The outcome of the project was not only a build stronger community, developed platform for sharing of the excess food but also a strong food club of 70 members”.

(Example shared from Lithuania) 

Lifelong learning played a large role in the activities reported by libraries as well. There were many examples of programmes aimed at school-aged children and young learners, from clubs and hands-on workshops to story-times. There were more adult-focussed educational activities as well, such as budget cooking and food waste classes, beekeeping and gardening lessons, hosting climate change conferences, showcasing new research in lecture series and panel discussions, holding intergenerational sustainability programmes, and establishing climate groups for seniors.

We were excited to see that these results also included stories of libraries helping their communities engage in citizen science. Some examples included library-led activities in which young people or university students helped document pollution in local waterways and record the diversity of plants and animals in their community.

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These surveys are beginning to provide a look into how libraries empower climate action through climate education and communication. With more input, we can create an even clearer and more diverse picture of how libraries can help every person understand and act in support of the climate, sustainability, and biodiversity.

Add your voice today! Surveys are available in English, Spanish, French, and Chinese.

Contact us: [email protected]

 

 

 

 

Education for Peace and Development: Highlighting key moments and resources from 2022

The UN International Day of Education (24 January) celebrates the importance of education for peace and development. Libraries have a critical role in ensuring all members of society, of all ages, have access to quality education. To mark this day, this article revisits key moments, shares resources, and summarises IFLA’s activities in the field of education over the past year.

To fuel your advocacy, we invite you to take a look back and consider how your library is helping transform education and bring opportunities to learners of all ages.

Transforming Education

Following the publication of its report, Reimagining our Futures Together: A new social contract for education (2021), UNESCO has been leading a worldwide initiative to transform education to address the challenges of our time. Re-visit IFLA’s brief on this report here: Libraries Contributing to a New Social Contract for Education.

At the centre of this initiative was the Transforming Education Summit, which was held at the UN Headquarters in New York City in September 2022. Ahead of the Summit, UNESCO hosted the Transforming Education Pre-Summit at its headquarters in Paris.

During the Transforming Education Summit, IFLA participated in a side event to discuss the role of access to information and open education resources in making education available to all learners.

In this context, IFLA highlighted the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto and School Library Manifesto on the floor of the United Nations.

The Vision Statement released during the Summit by the UN Secretary-General offers a roadmap for education in the 21st century. It is grounded in the principle that the right to quality education should be ensured throughout life, while also including explicit mention of the importance of non-formal education.

This statement will inform further negotiations at the upcoming Summit of the Future, which will be held in 2024.

Resources

Lifelong Learning

The 7th meeting of the International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA) took place in June 2022 in Marrakesh. It brought together ministers, mayors, officials and experts in the field of lifelong learning from around the world. IFLA organised a Side Event on delivering the SDGs through adult learning in libraries.

Key outcomes from this conference include the Marrakesh Framework for Action, which outlines  a roadmap of priorities and actions to be taken before the next conference (2033/2034).

In addition to this, UNESCO published two key reports at the time of the Conference – the 5th Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE 5), and a Handbook on Lifelong Learning Policies.

All three of these key documents include affirmation of the place of libraries within adult and lifelong learning strategies. These can be helpful references for libraries and library associations in calling for stronger recognition at the national level.

Resources

Linking Culture and Education

UNESCO asserts that culture and education make up the backbone of sustainable development. They call for a cultural sector supported by quality education, which in turn is grounded in respect for cultural diversity and human rights.

IFLA affirms that libraries sit at the intersection of education and culture. This was IFLA’s key message during the World Conference on Cultural Policy for Sustainable Development (Mondiacult 2022), hosted in Mexico City in September 2022.

Ahead of the conference, IFLA’s ResiliArt x Mondiacult event, Library Voices Joining the Global Conversation on Cultural Rights, explored this topic in depth. A panel of experts discussed how libraries enable inclusive and meaningful access to culture and create synergies between culture and education.

During Mondiacult 2022, IFLA was delighted to organise the side event, “Accelerating Education-Culture Linkages through Collaboration: Exploring partnerships with libraries and other cultural institutions”.

The resulting Mondiacult Declaration acknowledges the essential role of libraries in underlining the importance of enhancing synergies between culture and education – strengthening appreciation for cultural diversity, multilingualism, arts education and digital literacy for learners of all ages.

Looking ahead at 2023, IFLA will be involved in UNESCO’s continuing initiative to link culture and education through the renewal of the framework for culture and arts education. Learn more here: UNESCO Culture and Education.

Resources

Climate Empowerment

Another key topic in the discussion on education for sustainable development is climate education.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Action and the Paris Agreement include education as an aspect of Action for Climate Empowerment, alongside climate training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation.

IFLA participated in the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November 2022. We took part in discussions on the role of libraries in empowering climate action through education and access to information.

There is a lot of scope to highlight the role of libraries in supporting climate action through education – both among children and youth as well as learners of all ages.

Resources

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Where do you see your library, or libraries in your country or region, having an impact in transforming education and linking it to other sustainable development goals? How can you make your impact known among decisionmakers?

Share your thoughts and ideas!

Questions and comments: [email protected]

Guest Blog: Library Turns Publisher to Promote Indigenous Language Reading

This is a guest blog by Morten Olsen Haugen, Trøndelag County Library, Norway. 

09 August 2019; revised 09 September 2022

Morten Olsen Haugen at Trøndelag county library

Since 2014, Trøndelag county library in Norway have been working together with the Saami community to create more children’s books in the south Saami language. With an approach adapted from library reading programmes, our aim is to publish a variety of translated books intended to meet the children’s own choice for entertainment reading.

Our catalogue of more than 140 books and audiobooks now includes works as Gruffalo, Kazuno Kohara’s Midnight library, Goldilocks, Jessica Love’s Julian is a mermaid, Disney’s Frozen 2, other princess tales, Beowulf, George R.R. Martin’s Ice Dragon, and books by Norwegian icons Alf Prøysen, Anne-Cath. Vestly and Thorbjørn Egner. Astrid Lindgren’s beloved Ronja and Emil are works in progress, as of fall of 2022.

Saami people in Scandinavia

Saami people are an indigenous people, living in northern Europe, in northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia. It is considered the only indigenous people of Europe. Traditionally connected to a semi-nomadic reindeer husbandry, Saami people have also found other living, like fisheries for the coast communities. Today, the reindeer herding is still a core element in Saami society and identity, though fewer are connected to it themselves. For the last 200 years, The Saami people have experienced the same kind of setbacks as other indigenous people around the world; among which a government-initiated loss of own language. This has however changed in the last 40 years, and Nordic governments are now promoting use of Saami languages.

The Saami people are well integrated in Scandinavian societies, and they are fluent in their country’s majority languages. They are also well educated, proud of their heritage, and many young families are eager to regain their lost language.

There are eight different Saami languages, of which the three largest are used in schools and by the government in Norway and Sweden, Southern Saami being the smallest of these three. The estimated number of southern Saami native speakers vary between 600 and 2500. Compared to other Saami languages, Southern Saami have a special problem as the few speakers are living far apart from each other. Thus, there are few situations where speakers meet and can interact naturally in their “heart language”.

The core activities for the county libraries of Norway are to support and counsel the municipal public libraries and school libraries. They also provide infrastructure like inter library loans, mobile libraries, and some services for minority speakers. Running a small-scale publishing house together with Saami Language learning centres like Gïelem nastedh and Gïeleaernie is however quite unique for a county library.

Our approach – entertainment reading

The stereotypic indigenous children’s book has for many years been written by a native speaker – perhaps a teacher, with a content of traditional legends and manners, or if contemporary, with a narrative discussing how to maintain traditional virtues and identity in a changing world. The illustrator would also be native, perhaps an amateur related to the author.

We wanted to challenge this. Saami children are familiar with the contemporary popular culture. Like any other library, we wanted to offer them something cool and modern that they would read and reread by their own choice.

While we acknowledge the need to develop indigenous voices and literature, we could not sit and wait for these books to emerge. And we could certainly not settle with a Saami publishing policy that made these homemade books the main part of Saami children’s literature.

Luckily, it seems as if the trends in Saami literature politics have changed since 2014. Translated children’s books for entertainment reading are now a growing part of Saami publishing. Being modest, we would not suggest that we have initiated these changes by ourselves. Rather, we think that we came aboard at the right moment of winds of change, and at best we’ve contributed to strengthen a trend that was already overdue to happen.

Translations is also important because we need to publish a large quantity of Saami children’s books at a rapid pace. When we started, there were 2-3 new children’s books in southern Saami each year. We’ve published more than 10 books each year.

There is a wider language policy here too. We want to bring the Saami language outside the traditional areas of their users’ culture. Saami children should be able to use their heart language even when they read – and talk – about pets, football, pirates, princesses, ghosts, and monsters.

This project being about literary in an endangered language, we tend to use literature for many kinds of learning. Our advisory board keeps reminding us that the best effect for language revitalization comes when the texts can serve as examples that the children can use in their own spoken language: realistic vocabulary, syntax and dialogues that could be imitated every day. We are proud to have published The Ice Dragon, but there are few dialogues there that resemble the everyday kitchen table and playground interaction of the readers.

Shortage of translators

There are several stages in any publishing project. In our experience, neither of them is very complicated.

We’ve cooperated well with major publishing houses in Norway, Sweden, UK, and USA on publishing rights, even though we are a small customer to them. Kudos to them all for their polite hospitality. When we work with books already published in another language, most of the editorial and pre-print work is already done.

Our main problem is how to produce enough high quality translations. There aren’t enough translators. Hence, our concern is to make the best possible use of the translators available. Our translators and proof-readers are busy working with a multitude of aspects in southern Saami language and culture: Bible translation, developing schoolbooks and multimedia tools, teaching, researching, and implementing their language into several new fields of society, as well as teaching traditional crafts.

There are only a few educated translators, many missions to be completed, and several institutions in need of translators. As a result, an integrated element in our work is developing a new generation of translators among the young, educated Saami in their 20’s and 30’s.

Wider focus

Our work is generally well received in the Saami community. Both Saami politicians and parents give generous feedback. My favourite feedback is the young mother who was worried because she had lost count. “Now that there are new books all the time, I’m afraid I’d miss out some of them”. That’s indeed a luxury problem for a small language.

For the last two years, we have been developing a more diversified publishing policy. Though bright coloured picture books are funny to publish and a delight for the readers, we also need to serve the needs of older children and teens.

Books for readers aged 11-18 is our new priority, together with crossover literature that could be read with interest by both children, juveniles, and adults. Max Estes’ graphic novel Dulvie (Norwegian “Flommen”, i.e. “The flood”) is a good example of a book with a dual-audience-text well fitted for our purpose.

Second, as we evolve as one of the major publishers of Saami children’s literature, we also need to consider other aspects than entertainment reading and a high quantity of books. Books reflecting Saami culture will be more important to us in the future, given our position. Several of our new books are borrowed from other Saami languages, giving voice to contemporary Saami lives.

We’ve also started publishing books about indigenous experiences abroad. So far, we’ve looked to Canada, where ecology, politics, and livelihood among first nation people resembles those in Scandinavia.

Our third policy improvement is to move from printed text to spoken words. Saami children are living far apart from each other, not having many fellow Saami speakers around. For learning, leisure, and socialization there is a need for spoken language to be listened to.

We’ve published 18 audiobooks, but for the last year, we’ve switched to video books, such as this one. Video filming a reading person, combining it with images from the book, is a well-established genre in children’s television, and it seem to work well still. Especially for the combination of learning and entertainment.

Awards

Since I wrote the first edition of this essay in 2019, we have received several accolades. For 2019 we were awarded Library of the year in Norway. You might even want to enjoy the presentation video we made for that occasion.

We have been nominated to the ALMA – Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award three times, for 2020, 2021 and 2022. We are grateful for this nomination, and for the occasion to address Saami literacy and literature for new audiences.

Our work has also inspired a similar translation programme in the Lule Saami language society, initiated likewise by the library, municipality and the language learning centre serving this community. This is good news for Lule Saami children and families, and as they say – imitation is a certain compliment.

If you can read Scandinavian, or rely on the services of web translation programmes, you could also read about our work and philosophy in this 2021 essay.

Continue reading →

Count Libraries In! Transcript of the COP27 Presentation by Dr. Heba Mohamed Ismail (IFLA Regional Division Committee for MENA)

Between 6-18 November, roughly 35,000 people are coming together in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, for the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27). IFLA sent a delegation to take part in the first week of the conference which included Dr Marwa El Sahn and Dr Heba Mohamed Ismail, both members of IFLA’s Regional Division for the Middle East and North Africa Committee, as well as Claire McGuire, IFLA Policy and Research Officer. They joined colleagues from the Climate Heritage Network in bringing the voices of culture, heritage, and the arts to COP27.

Below is the transcript of the presentation given by Heba Mohamed Ismail during two events focussing on Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE), or the critical role that enabling all members of society to engage in climate action plays in facing the climate crisis. Heba’s presentation shed light on how libraries in Egypt are already carrying out work that touches on all six elements of ACE: climate change education and public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these issues.

Count Libraries In!

Dr. Heba Mohamed Ismail

IFLA MENA RDC member, IFLA CPDWL SC member, Vice President of Arab Federation for Libraries and Information, Libraries Technical Manager, Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development (ESCD)

Over the past years, libraries across the world have paused to reflect and recommit to a better climate future.

Libraries are institutions in which to turn this commitment into action, as public spaces, as well as champions for access to information and lifelong learning, libraries are well placed within their communities to be hubs and to have a role in Action for climate empowerment.

In this presentation, I will explore examples of what public libraries in Egypt are already doing, and how they have supported the six elements of Action for climate empowerment through their activities

1. Education

Children participate in workshop

 

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in cooperation with Senghor University target francophone students and those who are studying French as a second language. Focusing on arts and games, two workshops were conducting and are tailored to increase the students’ environmental awareness; the understanding of changes in the climate; its impact on the quality of life in general, and our role as active members of society towards environmental issues.

2. Public awareness

These programmes feature activities and events dedicated to raise public awareness and inspiring action

Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development (ESCD) in cooperation with the Greater Cairo Water Company (GCWC)
ESCD is non-profit organization that supervise children and Public libraries in 4 governorates in Egypt

  • Organizing awareness programs
  • Educating young people about environmental issues (optimal use of drinking water and reducing its surplus)
  • Organizing regular workshops

Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development (ESCD) in cooperation with the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater

  • Organize a series of workshops
  • Offer visual shows, educational competitions through games and a puppet theater

Bibliotheca Alexandria in cooperation with Greater Cairo Public Library; the Climate Specific Federation, the Federation of Civil Associations and Institutions for Climate, the Egyptian Library Association host a World Environment Day Seminar.

The seminar tackles climate changes, their impact on agriculture and livestock production, and the means to address them. It also discusses the methods of rationalizing water consumption, and examines the role of artificial intelligence and civil society organizations in addressing climate changes, with the aim of achieving the goals of sustainable development and Egypt’s vision 2030.

Misr Public Library System (MPL) in cooperation with the Faculty of Early Childhood Education, Cairo University, which is concerned with educating ordinary children and people with special needs, launched an initiative entitled “Towards a promising environmentally friendly childhood.” The initiative includes several activities and events:

  1. workshops conducted by teachers with ordinary children and people with special needs on origami, paper crafts and recycling.
  2. The second event: held in cooperation with Rotary Egypt, they carry out agricultural activities.
  3. The third event: includes a variety of activities that the teachers carry out with the children, such as the puppet theater and Montessori activities on rationalizing the consumption of energy, water and electricity, preserving the environment from pollution, and making signs and posters that encourage concern for the environment.

3. Training

Different training were provided to librarians and to students on environmental issues and activities.

4. Public participation

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina witnessed the launching of the volunteer program of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), Dr. Nevine El-Kabbaj, Minister of Social Solidarity, addressed the volunteers via video conference during their gathering at the Library. and discussed the Ministry’s efforts in preparing around 1300 volunteers to organize the Climate Change Conference.

Let’s be green: Maadi Public Library

One of ESCD’s libraries- in Cooperation with the U.S Embassy in Cairo conducted environmental activities within the framework of projects for ages from 14 to 18 years, where each team works on a project that represents one of the environmental issues, including:
Air pollution and climate change; deforestation; ozone layer depletion; water pollution; radioactive contamination and trying to find solutions for these activities.

“Alexandria Climathon for Youth” at the BA

The BA Sustainable Development Studies, Youth Capacity Building, and African Relations Support Program organized “Alexandria Climathon for Youth” competition. “Climathon” is an international competition held in several countries around the world through EIT Climate-KIC, which aims at raising the awareness of urban residents about climate changes. The competition is an opportunity for young people to participate in developing ideas that address local climate challenges. The activities of “Climathon” are held internationally on the same date in hundreds of cities, and are supported by local organizers.
This year’s competition was held in several cities across Egypt, as part of the preparations for the United Nations (COP27). Competitors should make suggestions and propose creative solutions that can help alleviate the consequences of climate change in Alexandria.

5. Access to information:

Establishing green corners in public libraries in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment helps transform the library’s space into a greener and more accessible place for children and encourage students to participate in activities, which grow knowledge of social responsibility and Promote public access to information on climate change and its effects.

6. International cooperation

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, in cooperation with Senghor University organized an interactive conference (via Zoom) entitled “Yes to Green: Your Right to a Sustainable Future”.

The conference addressed the role of formal and non-formal education in promoting literacy on climate change, as well as the theme of green libraries as a new trend in the world of libraries and information. It will also tackle the projects that have been classified by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) as green projects set up in African libraries in Senegal and Kenya.

Additionally, the conference highlighted some of the environmental disasters facing the African continent, together with the role of NGOs and universities in promoting awareness of environmental sustainability. It examined a number of proposed green solutions to address environmental change.

Finally, as climate change is a human-caused problem, human-centred solutions will be key to its successful mitigation. Empowering our communities to develop, participate in, learn about, and embrace these solutions is a powerful way for libraries to enable and drive change.

So count Culture in, Count libraries in, and ACT NOW!

The Mission of the Public Library Today: Exploring what’s new in the Public Library Manifesto

The forthcoming update to the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto re-examines the role of the public library – expanding on previous versions to more thoroughly reflect the ways libraries serve their communities today.

This update was informed by a global survey, as well as ongoing consultations with UNESCO’s Information For All Programme

UNESCO has been facilitating critical input from its member states represented on the IFAP Bureau. Upon completion of this process, the updated Manifesto will be ready for action as a cornerstone of library advocacy.

Key concepts that have been added to this updated version include:

Sustainable Development

As publicly accessible spaces for the exchange of information, the sharing of culture, and the promotion of civic engagement, libraries should be considered essential agents for sustainable development.

The updated Manifesto upholds that, through their activities relating to information, literacy, education, and culture, libraries contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the construction of more equitable, humane, and sustainable societies.

This is especially pertinent when concerning the public library’s role in ensuring inclusion, access, and cultural participation for marginalised communities, Indigenous peoples, and users with special needs.

Libraries in Knowledge Societies

The ways in which people access and use information have evolved. The updated Manifesto reflects the public library’s role in enabling knowledge societies through helping all members of society access, produce, create, and share knowledge.

This includes an increased focus on remote and digital access to information and materials, as well as access to the competencies and connectivity required to bridge the digital divide.

The previous version upholds the public library as a local gateway to knowledge, providing a basic condition for lifelong learning, independent decision-making and cultural development of the individual and social groups.

The update expands on this, adding that libraries underpin healthy knowledge societies through providing access to and enabling the creation and sharing of knowledge of all sorts, including scientific and local knowledge without commercial, technological or legal barriers.

It further states that, in the digital era, copyright and intellectual property legislation must ensure public libraries the same capacity to procure and give access to digital content on reasonable terms as is the case with physical resources.

 

The Evolving Mission of Public Libraries Today

Below you will find an overview of key concepts that have been expanded on in the updated Manifesto.

 

Previous Versions

The Update
Stimulating the imagination and creativity of children and young people. Providing opportunities for personal creative development, and stimulating imagination, creativity, curiosity, and empathy

 
creating and strengthening reading habits in children from an early age; Creating and strengthening reading habits in children from birth to adulthood

 
Access to information and material Providing services to their communities both in-person and remotely through digital technologies allowing access to information, collections, and programmes

 
Awareness of cultural heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements preservation of and access to cultural expressions and heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements, research and innovations, as expressed in traditional media, as well as digital material

 
Ensuring access for citizens to all sorts of community information Ensuring access for all people to all sorts of community information and opportunities for community organising, in recognition of the library’s role at the core of the social fabric

 
Ensuring inclusivity, especially relating to marginalised communities Preservation of, and access to, local and Indigenous data, knowledge, and heritage (including oral tradition), providing an environment in which the local community can take an active role in identifying materials to be captured, preserved and shared, in accordance with the community’s wishes.
Awareness of scientific achievements

 

 providing communities with access to scientific knowledge, such as research results and health information that can impact the lives of their users, as well as enabling participation in scientific progress.

 
Facilitating the development of information and computer literacy skills

 

initiating, supporting and participating in literacy activities and programmes to build reading and writing skills, and facilitating the development of media and information literacy and digital literacy skills for all people at all ages, in the spirit of equipping an informed, democratic society;