Category Archives: Publications

UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030

UN Concludes Post-2015 Negotiations in New York

 On Sunday 2nd August, after more than three years of negotiations and intense involvement from many stakeholders, including IFLA, the Member States of the United Nations agreed the final version of the post-2015 Development Agenda – now known as 2030 Agenda.  The new 2030 Agenda is a framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a total of 179 Targets spanning economic, environmental and social development. They lay out a plan for all countries to actively engage in making our world better for its people and the planet. The official version of the post-2015 Development Agenda will be adopted by Heads of State upon during the United Nations Summit in New York, September 25-27 2015. IFLA will continue to raise awareness during the Summit for access to information and the essential role libraries play in fulfilling this.

 

IFLA welcomes the 2030 Agenda and is pleased to see access to information, universal literacy, safeguarding of cultural and natural heritage, as well as access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) strongly represented across it. We are particularly pleased to the see the strong mention of access to information in Target 16.10: “Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements”

 The new vision

The 2030 Agenda will help all UN Member States focus their attention on poverty eradication, climate change, and the development of people. Libraries can support many aspects of its vision and the supporting SDGs. Libraries are key public institutions which have a vital role to play in furthering development on every level of society. The Agenda also creates a UN Interagency Task Force on Science Technology and Innovation. The Task Force will look at information and technology transfer mechanisms world-wide and collect these in one place to ensure access to information, knowledge, best practises and lessons learned are available to all. IFLA welcomes the creation of this task force, and will continue our advocacy to ensure our views and the expertise of the information community are taken to account in its creation.

Outstanding concerns

All Member States have agreed to the new Agenda, however follow-up is voluntary and the Agenda represents political rather than legal commitments. Furthermore, IFLA would like to stress the importance of integrating the results and ongoing achievements of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) within the Means of Implementation of the new Agenda.

 What is next?

Leading up to the UN Summit to launch the new development 2030 Agenda in September 2015, IFLA will work on a detailed analysis of the SDGs and provide information on how libraries can contribute to reaching them.

IFLA will also actively participate in monitoring the progress made on the access to information target (Target16.10), other relevant targets, and ensure appropriate data regarding libraries as access points will be included. We will publish a Development and Access to Information (DA2I) report which furthermore will strengthen the monitoring of the impact of access to information on the SDGs.  The 2030 Agenda will be implemented at national levels. IFLA would like to encourage librarians to continue your active work in engaging with your governments and their National Development Plans and ensure libraries, as information, skills and ICT providers as well as agents to safeguard cultural heritage, are represented in these.

Thanks to you

IFLA together with you, our network, and the signatories of the Lyon Declaration we advocated and promoted access to information as an essential aspect to ensure the success of the post-2015 Development Agenda. The hard work done by all of us means that the new framework offers libraries a great opportunity to help fulfil their country’s National Development Plans by showing how their activities and skills can support the newly established SDGs – now we must rise to the challenge and prove that libraries are crucial partners for sustainable development.

 

Julia Brungs, Policy and Projects Officer, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

IFLA School Library Guidelines approved

We have IFLA School Library Guidelines lift off!

The approved final version of our IFLA School Library Guidelines is available at: http://www.ifla.org/publications/node/9512?og=52

Please share the link with your colleagues and beyond. Our 2 years of hard work, numerous workshops, various meetings and international feedback has culminated in this final document. We know there will be revisions in the future but for now, let’s celebrate the delivery of this international effort. Please note that the title is IFLA School Library Guidelines. It will be a longer process to receive UNESCO endorsement so it is only the first edition that holds the IFLA/UNESCO distinction.

International Report

A new OECD report on youth, skills and employabilty comments on the struggle young people have in gaining entry to the workforce. In some OECD countries, one in four 16-29 year olds is neither employed nor in education or training. Find the report, OECD Skills Outlook 2015, at http://www.oecd.org/education/oecd-skills-outlook-2015-9789264234178-en.htm

A United Nations global survey, MyWorld2015 Analytics, aims to capture people’s voices, priorities and views, so world leaders can be informed as endeavour to define global goals. The highest priority, globally, is that everyone has access to a good education. Check the survey results at http://data.myworld2015.org/ You can filter the results by country, gender, education levels and age groups.

Canadian Sources for Children’s Literature Reviews

CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials, University of Manitoba

Online publication, open access: https://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/

Canadian Children’s Book News: Canadian Children’s Book Centre

In print (subscription) with archived issues online:

http://www.bookcentre.ca/publications/canadian_childrens_book_news

Quill & Quire: Key Publishers Co.

In print and online, subscription only – some content available from the website: http://www.quillandquire.com/

Jeunesse: Young people, texts, cultures

Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures – University of Winnipeg

Open access – editorials, forums & reviews: http://jeunessejournal.ca/index.php/yptc/index

Resource Links: Connecting classrooms, libraries & Canadian Learning Resources

Print subscriptions only: http://www.resourcelinksmagazine.ca/

The World Through Picture Books, 2nd edition

The IFLA Section for Libraries for Children and Young Adults. publication of the expanded second
edition of The World through Picture Books, enriched with sixteen new annotated country selections and with ideas on how to use them at the  library. This new, illustrated edition features fifty-two country lists of picture books recommended by librarians. That means 500 books in 37 languages!  All books are described in the language of publication and in English and  are available for purchase.
You can download the information at: http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/publications/professional-report/136.pdf

Gaming in Libraries book

gaming is an increasingly interesting topic among (mainly public) librarians in Italy. While there is much on videogames collection development, organizing a gaming event etc., there is not as much on educational aspects, implications on both sides (school and library).

Martina Marsano (current M.Ed. student), discussed her final work on the topic of videogames and gaming at school and in libraries in July 2013. Her work was selected and awarded the “Giorgio De Gregori” Award(here are news and pics https://formazione.uniroma3.it/docente/lmarquardt/2013/09/26/premio-giorgio-de-gregori-2013/).
It was the first time that both an undergraduate student and, furthermore, from a LIS course at a Department of Education (and not a Dept. of LIS) was awarded.

Now her work has become a book, a new title in the “Premio Giorgio De Gregori” (i.e. Giorgio De Gregori Award) series
(http://www.aib.it/negozio-aib/premio-de-gregori/), that was presented in Rome on Nov. 25, 2014 (URL:
http://www.aib.it/attivita/2014/45938-presentazione-volume-videogioco-scuola-biblioteca/), during one of the several events that took place during the last International Gaming Day (IGD@yourlibrary).