Monthly Archives: February 2015

IFLA conference call for proposals

 The IFLA Literacy and Reading Section is seeking proposals for a program to be held at the IFLA Conference in Cape Town, South Africa in August 2015. The theme is Literacy Matters!  The Importance of Literacy & Reading in the Creation of Strong Societies.”

Literacy is more essential than ever before. In societies dominated by the written word, it is a fundamental requirement for citizens of all ages in modern Europe. Literacy empowers the individual to develop capacities of reflection, critique and empathy, leading to a sense of self-efficacy, identity and full participation in society. Literacy skills are crucial to parenting, finding and keeping a job, participating as a citizen, being an active consumer, managing one’s health and taking advantage of digital developments, both socially and at work (EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy, 2012)

 The Literacy & Reading Section recognises that literacy and reading skills are essential for access to information for educational achievement, personal growth lifelong and the development of communities within society. Libraries have a unique role in the promotion of literacy and reading by providing community spaces and access to a wide range of resources and expertise. The program for the IFLA 2015 Conference will focus on the theme Literacy Matters! and include a mix of invited speakers and presenters.

 Building on the Section’s theme Literacy Matters! The importance of literacy & reading in the creation of strong societies, presentations will be considered which address the theme and examine:

·         best practice library programs;

·         library services which support literacy and reading skills; and

·         research projects that support literacy, reading and libraries.

 Proposals are requested for 8 – 10 presentations to be part of a series of round table workshops.  Each presenter will be part of a round table discussion group which will participate in 3 workshops designed to help further develop the LiR ‘Literacy Matters’ concept & action plan:

  • Workshop 1: Guidelines for Library Based Literacy Programs
  • Workshop 2: Research to support literacy, reading and libraries
  • Workshop 3: Literacy Matters! DVD, online and the next steps

 As an introduction to the final workshop presenters will have 15 minutes to present their best practice program to their table. Since 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.

 The successful proposals (template provided) will consist of:

·         a 500 word description of a 2000 – 2500 word paper about the program/services/research in their presentation which will be published in the IFLA online library;

·         include a copyright and plagiarism statement; and

·         abstracts will be distributed to all tables and used during Workshop discussions

Abstracts will be selected by a double, blind-review process. Papers will be published in the IFLA online library. Successful presenters will be listed in the official Conference program. All papers will be edited for the English version and returned to presenters for publication in other (English) journals.

 Proposals should provide the following information:

·         Presenter/s and affiliation

·         Brief biographical information of presenters

·         Proposal title

·         500 word abstract describing their program, service or research project

·         Language of presentation

Proposals should be sent to:

·         Barbara Combes (Secretary of the Literacy and Reading Section) at bcombes@csu.edu.au by 14th March 2015.

·         Please include IFLA Proposal WLIC 2015 in the subject line.

·         Successful presenters will be notified by 28th March 2015.

·         Submission of final papers in one of the official IFLA languages by 20th May 2015.

For more information, please contact:

·         Annie Everall (Chair of Literacy and Reading Section) at annie@alannie.demon.co.uk

·         Barbara Combes (Secretary of the Literacy and Reading Section) at bcombes@csu.edu.au

Please note that it is the speakers’ responsibility to find funding for their participation in the conference. All papers will be edited for publication in the IFLA Online Library.

International Mother Tongue Day

here is a message from the present UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova on International Mother Language Day:

“2015 marks the 15th anniversary of International Mother Language Day – this is also a turning point year for the international community, as the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals, when countries will define a new global sustainable development agenda.

“The focus for the post-2015 agenda must fall on the priority of advancing quality education for all — widening access, ensuring equality and inclusiveness, and promoting education for global citizenship and sustainable development.

“Education in the mother language is an essential part of achieving these goals — to facilitate learning and to bolster skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Taking this forward requires a sharper focus on teaching training, revisions of academic programmes and the creation of suitable learning environments.

“UNESCO takes forward these goals across the world. In Latin America, with the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNESCO is promoting inclusive education through bilingual intercultural approaches, in order to include both native and non-native cultures. For the same reasons, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok, Thailand, is working to deepen understandings of multilingual education based on the mother tongue, across the region and further afield. Mother tongue education is force for quality learning – it is also essential to bolster multilingualism and respect for linguistic and cultural diversity in societies that are transforming quickly.

“Since 2000, there has been tremendous progress to reach the goals of Education for All. Today, we must look ahead – to complete unfinished business and to tackle new challenges. International Mother Language Day is a moment for all of us to raise the flag for the importance of mother tongue to all educational efforts, to enhance the quality of learning and to reach the unreached. Every girl and boy, every woman and man must have the tools to participate fully in the lives of their societies – this is a basic human right and it is a force for the sustainability of all development.”

Literacy stories

International Literacy Day, 8 September 2014

Happy International Literacy Day everyone. Comment on an Australian listerv:

I AM glad to be literate, yet it’s often something I take for granted.  I wonder how many of us fall into the same category? In Australia the statistics are a bit frightening. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 44% of adults (18-90) are operating at level 2 literacy level or below. Level 3 is considered the level students need to reach to graduate from high school. Without literacy you cannot function effectively in society. You need to be literate before you can use digital technologies effectively and efficiently. Computers are complementary NOT compensatory.

Dr Barbara Combes, Secretary, Literacy and Reading Section, IFLA

Lecturer, School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University

 

I was travelling on a bus to work one morning, when a woman anxiously requested the driver to turn the bus around. He was agitated with her and asked her why she wanted him to do so. She said: “you are going in the wrong direction, uou are supposed to go the other way. The bus driver became very frustrated with her when she started to panic and continued to ask him to turn the bus around. I witnessed this for a while and then realised that the woman could not read, because the bus route was written on the front panel of the bus. I got up and spoke to the bus driver and then he realized it too and gave her the benefit of the doubt. He stopped the bus and let her get off the bus, fully reimbursed with her travel fare. She was anxious yet relieved and exited the bus thanking us profusely.  This is the result of illiteracy in our nations. If a human being cannot read simple signs like bus route names and places familiar to them, it is extremely sad and frustrating to them, and to us who are aware of it as well.  I have had similar incidents in our shopping malls as well. In these incidents, women could not count for correct money to pay their items bought, or even read what is written on the store shelves. In all those incidents I thanked God that I could be of assistance to them. Their embarrassment and helplessness were very evident in all cases.  In all the incidents I experienced, I was so grateful that I could read and write, and this too inspired me to do literacy advocacy with children as my social responsibility.  Happy International Literacy Day everyone. Literacy definitely Matters.

Julia Paris, South Africa

 

 

How Public Libraries Can Support Community Literacy

 

I recently had the fortune to participate in a UNESCO meeting on mobile literacy solutions for out-of-school children in Thailand. With a large population of migrants in some of the most difficult-to-reach parts of the country, many children risk missing out on school. Thailand’s official commitment to ensuring access to education for all is impressive — an explicit mandate to include all children, regardless of status — but there are many hurdles. As the starting point for access to information, opportunity and advancement, literacy is understandably a key priority for governments and organizations across the development spectrum. Millennium Development Goal #2 targets universal primary education, and includes literacy rates as a key indicator. USAID has prioritized early grade reading and aims to improve the reading skills of a 100 million children by 2015.  So, with more than 230,000 public libraries in developing countries around the world — institutions historically devoted to access to reading materials — it’s confounding that libraries are usually left out of systematic literacy efforts. It’s a huge missed opportunity. And as new technologies start to become a realistic supplement to education efforts, there’s even more of a need for a coordinated community learning hub, a role libraries are suited to play.  At the meeting in Bangkok, participants from government and NGOs shared familiar challenges they are currently coping with — not enough teachers, not enough equipment, not enough time in class. While no panacea, public libraries are ideal institutions to help mitigate these issues in many places, including Thailand, where there are more than 800 around the country. I shared some of the lessons Beyond Access has learned in ways that existing public libraries can support literacy efforts.

 

A library can be an ‘ecology of learning’ — a safe space open to all that isn’t just a warehouse for books.

A public library in Tbilisi, Georgia shows how comfortable spaces for enjoying reading together can be created cheaply and simply.  Children don’t gain fluent literacy skills from school alone. Research from the OECD PISA exam shows that “the performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background.”  Any literacy effort must foster a convenient place where families can spend time reading and learning together. And libraries can serve this role.  A room full of academic reading desks and locked bookcases is no longer a relevant model. A modern library has soft carpets and beanbag chairs, and short shelves with book covers facing outward, facilitating browsing and discovery.

 

Tech that supports literacy should encourage sharing and collaborative family interaction

To foster literacy, technology should encourage interactivity and create a substantially new experience. That doesn’t happen by simply providing PDF copies of books to be viewed on a computer screen. But new technology — such as shared tablets — can be used to bring families together, for example around collaborative educational games. Public libraries are the best place to host these tools and serve as community learning laboratories when new technologies arrive.

 

Literacy initiatives demand a coordination point for collective impact

Frequently overburdened with too many students, subjects and levels, teachers can’t be expected to lead the literacy charge on the local level by themselves. But librarians are often perfectly placed to supplement their work. Libraries can create welcoming literacy hubs and conduct outreach to schools — bringing books for lending and sharing, leading group reading activities like story times, and supporting teachers in working effective literacy activities into their lessons.

 

Training infomediaries is key to achieving results

In our work on Beyond Access, we notice similar tendencies around the world, in literacy projects as in others. Big investments are made in things — technology, publishing, connectivity — while the skills in how to use these things to improve lives are shortchanged. When equal consideration is not given to proper training, things quickly become obsolete and disused. Our experience has led to a roughly 1:1 ratio as a guideline. For each dollar put into things, we recommend spending one dollar on training. Often, that means fewer things. But of course, it means much more impact from the investment.  Beyond Access is just starting out on efforts to address the gap between libraries and literacy initiatives. We are developing programs that include a focus on community literacy in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and we’re exploring how we can assist with efforts in other regions. We’re also involved in the latest round of the All Children Reading Grand Challenge, supporting projects that integrate libraries. As we learn more about how public libraries can most effectively fit into the literacy picture, we’ll share our reflections here.  As always, if you’re interested in partnering with us on this initiative, please get in touch at beyondaccess@irex.org.

Ari Katz, Regional Director, Beyond Access, Country Director, IREX/Thailand, Bangkok

 

ICT program for African universities

nhancing librarians’ ICT skills for research enablement in African universities: a Carnegie-funded CPD programme

 

Applications for the fourth intake of the Carnegie-funded Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, which is aimed at enhancing ICT skills for research enablement in African universities opened on 1 February 2015 and closes on 13 March 2015. The The programme will begin on 23 May 2015 and ends on 20 June 2015. Academic librarians and LIS faculty in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda are eligible to apply for admission to this programme. Eight four-week training sessions will take place over a period of three years. 32 participants will be selected for each intake. 

 

This four-week residential training programme with both practical (70%) and theoretical (30%) components will cover the following

topics:

1.     Setting the context: Libraries, ICTs and research 

2.     Leadership and innovation

3.     Information literacy

4.     Social media for research discoverability in an academic environment

5.     Mobile technology and mobility

6.     Managing and organising information

7.     Personal Information Management

8.     Open Scholarship and Open Science – Publishing

9.     Open Scholarship and Open Science – Institutional Repositories

10. Open Scholarship and Open Science – Understanding and using research data management

11. Digitisation

12. Evaluating website architecture

13. Cloud services and storage

14. Virtual research environments

15. The next generation librarian

 

This is a fully funded programme which will take place in Pretoria, South Africa. The funding covers books and other academic expenditures, flights, accommodation, and a daily stipend while in Pretoria. All participants are expected to reside in the accommodation provided in Pretoria for the duration of the programme.

 

Grant exclusions:

·       Visa applications, personal expenses (for example medicine, laundry, phone calls, etc.)

·       ICT equipment such as laptops, modems, internet access top-ups etc.

·       Travel to and from the airport in your home country

 

Application for the third intake closes on 13 March 2015. No late applications will be considered. (There will be a fifth intake in November 2015, as well as three further intakes in 2016.)

 

For additional information on the programme content, eligibility and selection criteria, application procedures, important dates, etc., please see http://www.up.ac.za/en/information-science/article/21563/carnegie-cpd-programme.

 

All correspondence or enquiries: Joan de la Haye at Carnegie-cpd@up.ac.za.

 

Lyon Declaration update

The Lyon Declaration in 2015

IFLA is very happy to announce that with the start of 2015, the Lyon Declaration has received support from over 500 library, ICT and development, institutions and organisations. This worldwide and cross-sector uptake underlines the importance of the Lyon Declaration and furthermore the importance of access to information for future development.

Please see the full Declaration and the signatories for more information. You can also find 19 translations of the Declaration online.

 

What’s next?

During the next nine months leading up to the UN Special Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2015, IFLA will concentrate its efforts to ensure that access to information remains within the new development framework. We will also work on indicators with our coalition partners. These indicators will enable UN Member States and the UN to measure the impact of access to information on development over the next 15 years. The IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section is closely working with IFLA and its partners on formulating the indicators.

In order to achieve this, IFLA will participate in a range of high level meetings leading up to the Special Summit on Sustainable Development (September 2015) and will work closely with other stakeholders, national ministries and UN Member States.

Furthermore, several IFLA Sections have prepared briefs on how the Lyon Declaration is relevant to their professional environment. These will be available shortly.

 

Get involved

·         Sign and add your voice to the call at the United Nations;

·         Organise meetings with policy makers in your country and use theToolkit created by IFLA in order to make the voice of the library community heard on a national level;

·         Translate the Lyon Declaration into your language and share it with colleagues in your own country;

·         Encourage others in the library and development sectors to sign the Lyon Declaration;

·         Promote the principles of the Lyon Declaration throughout your network and ensure that the message gets spread as widely as possible.

 

Background

The Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development calls upon United Nations Member States to make an international commitment through the post-2015 UN development agenda. The Declaration proposes to ensure that everyone has access to, and is able to understand, use and share the information that is necessary to promote sustainable development and democratic societies. It was prepared by IFLA and a number of strategic partners in the library and development communities.