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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. 

The IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto: Past and Future Action

This month, we are celebrating the 26th Anniversary of the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto. Since 1994, the Manifesto has been at the heart of public library advocacy – declaring UNESCO’s belief in the public library as a living force for education, culture and information, and its essential role in the promotion of peace and well-being.

Here is a look back at how librarians around the world have used the Manifesto, and a glimpse into what is coming next for this important document.

The Manifesto at Work

Earlier in 2020, IFLA’s Public Library Section launched a global survey to gather feedback from public libraries on the Manifesto, and how they have used it in their advocacy.

With over 600 responses, this was an extremely insightful look into how libraries around the world apply the Manifesto to their work.

39% of respondents said they have actively used the Manifesto to advocate and lobby for their library.

Of those who responded in the negative, the most prevalent reason given was that they have not yet had an opportunity or were not included in relevant conversations with decision-makers.

Survey participants were asked to share examples of the Manifesto being used in their library’s advocacy or operations.

Some excellent examples include:

  • using the Manifesto to power campaigns during National Library Week
  • referring to the Manifesto in strategic materials and in lobbying
  • featuring the Manifesto in negotiations with local city council and elected officials
  • using the Manifesto as a basis to create library activities
  • guiding funding decisions and budget
  • informing the selection of books and services provided by the library

IFLA would like to help public libraries around the world better use the Public Library Manifesto in advocacy. From this survey, we have learned that increased awareness-raising about the Manifesto in the future may help empower more librarians to put it to use in their advocacy.

For more on how the Manifesto has been put into action, refer to the IFLA Research Paper: Inspire, Inform, Indicate: How the UNESCO-IFLA Public Library Manifesto Makes a Difference.

For more ideas on how the Public Library Manifesto can be used in advocacy, please see our Advocacy Pack for Libraries and Library Associations.

The Manifesto in the Future

Another key development towards increasing the impact of the Public Library Manifesto is ensuring that it remains relevant to the work of libraries today.

Therefore, UNESCO, with the help of IFLA’s Public Library Section, is planning to update the Public Library Manifesto in the coming year. The goal of this revision will be to address the ever-evolving role of public libraries in their communities, while also acknowledging the substantial technological advances that have changed how many people access, create, and consume information.

The survey also plays a major role in this work – ensuring that the voice of the global library field is considered in the review process.

Here is a look at some ideas submitted by librarians on how to improve the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto for the future.

How can the Manifesto better reflect the missions of public libraries today?

  • Emphasize the role of libraries in the information society, such as highlighting the importance of Media and Information Literacy skills.
  • Expand the definition of lifelong learning
  • Reinforce the relationship between the library and the community
  • Increase mention of the importance of inclusivity, especially relating to marginalized communities

How can the Manifesto provide better guidance to decision-makers?

  • Highlight the importance of local knowledge
  • Promote participatory decision-making, both with library professionals and with communities
  • Appeal for sufficient human and material resources, which are required for libraries to fulfil their mission.
  • Link culture to the social and economic life of the community
  • Emphasize social impacts, and the fact that they are usually seen most clearly in subsequent generations

Next Steps

These suggestions, and all the others received during the surveying process, will be taken into consideration by the Public Library Section during the drafting of the Manifesto update. This is projected to be completed in 2021.

The significance of the Public Library Manifesto is that it has codified the exceptional value that public libraries have in their communities. By working to keep it relevant, reflecting the mission of public libraries today, we can ensure it remains a powerful tool for advocacy.

Together with UNESCO, IFLA is looking forward to delivering an updated Manifesto that can continue to support public librarians the world over in their essential work.

Not Victims but Vectors of Change: Libraries, Climate Action and Peace

Climate change, if left untackled, risks not only being felt in an an ever-more-frequent series of extreme weather events, but also in a growing pressure on our socieites.

These pressures – less land, fewer resources, higher migration – have in the past been the cause of conflict. Without action, there is a justifiable fear that this could happen again.

As the United Nations Secretary-General sets out in his introduction to this year’s International Day of Peace, this is why it is important to address climate change in order to increase the chances of peace.

For libraries, both conflict and climate change can all too easily be seen as externalities – things that happen to our institutions without any possibility to respond. It is certainly true that it is hard to forget images of roofs blown off – by winds or bombs – and collections waterlogged or burnt.

However, libraries are far from powerless. For the reasons set out in this blog, they are not victims, but rather vectors of progress, helping to tackle climate change, and so preserve peace.

 

Better Prepared: Supporting the Reseach that Saves Lives

Clearly a core role of libraries is to support the production of, and access to, research. It is only thanks to the possibilty for experts to draw on evidence from the past, and to work together, that we have the understanding we have today of climate change and its impacts.

Libraries have of course done this for centuries, making it possible for scientists to take the work of those who have gone before, and go further. This has happened at a giant scale in climate science.

There is also a realisation that a complete understanding of climate change will also rely on bringing research in different disciplines together. Knowing what is going on is not just a question of meteorology, environmental science or any other single field, but will require insights from many different areas.

Libraries are already looking to do this, for example through their support to public health, or in realising the potential of old travel reports and maps in showing how our world is being altered over time. Open access will facilitate this significantly, as highlighted in the UN Global Sustainable Development Report.

Through this work, governments are better able to see what action is needed in order to relieve or reduce the pressures that can lead to conflict.

 

Behaviour Change, not Climate Change

Of course the fact that governments know they should be doing something does not mean that they will do it. A key means of ensuring that they do – as well as of reducing the factors that can drive unrest within communities – is by acting at the local level also.

Libraries have a key role to play here also. As set out in IFLA’s paper on libraries and sustainability, two key roles of libraries are as examples and educators, building understanding of the issues among citizens, and helping them to learn how to change their own behaviour.

This can be a key trigger, and support, for government action. Meanwhile, the support the libraries provide for the development of new technologies and new ideas will feed into the creation of new businesses and new jobs in future, as well as offering new ways of carrying out more traditional professions – such as farming – in a changed world.

This complements other work that libraries carry out to create a culture of peace, as highlighted in our previous work in this area in 2017 and 2018.

 

Libraries, therefore, are far from powerless faced with climate change and conflict. Instead, through acting on the one, they have a real contribution to make to efforts to reduce both, and in doing so, to build a more peaceful, more sustainable world.