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 […]
Read full post…Tag Archive for 'public libraries'
Library Stat of the Week #46: Where there are more libraries and librarians, people tend to be readier to engage in volunteering and more interested in politics
Last week’s Library Stat of the Week looked at the relationship between the strength of the library field in any given country, and levels of trust in government. As highlighted, trust matters because it can be a determining factor in the effectiveness of policies, especially at the time of COVID-19. […]
Read full post…Library Stat of the Week #38: 15 year-olds with access to a library tend to be a year ahead in reading skills than those without
Today marks the beginning of School Library Month, and so it’s a great moment to be looking at available data about the connections between libraries and school performance at the global level. In last week’s Library Stat of the Week, we used Library Map of the World data concerning numbers […]
Read full post…Library Stat of the Week #33: Where there are more public libraries offering internet access, gender and age-related digital divides are smaller
Last week was the first in a mini-series looking at internet access in libraries, and overall figures about who is – and isn’t – using the internet. As highlighted, the digital divide all too easily risks becoming a development divide. Those who cannot get online risk missing out on the […]
Read full post…The lending of eBooks by libraries remains an area of controversy, with libraries often facing high prices and difficult licencing conditions, while publishers worry about impacts on sales and revenues to authors. A key challenge in this has been the relative newness of the format, and the lack of […]
Read full post…Library Stat of the Week #27: On average, there are 4.7 volunteers for every full-time library worker
Volunteers can play an important role in helping libraries to go further in delivering on their missions. In turn, public and community libraries can be attractive places for individuals to come and offer their time. At the same time, in some countries there is concern about over-reliance on volunteers. This […]
Read full post…Today is World Youth Skills Day, focusing on the importance of giving young people the skills they need for economic and social integration. As the United Nations’ own website underlines, young people (aged 15-24) were, even before the crisis, three times more likely to be unemployed than older workers. With […]
Read full post…
Recent Comments