IFLA offers four categories of membership for associations – National Associations, International Associations, Other Associations, and Association Affiliates.

Explore our membership categories and join us!

National Associations

Membership in this category is limited to associations with a national focus. If your association has members from anywhere in your country and if you support the profession throughout your country, you can join IFLA as a National Association. This category also includes specialised associations which operate nationally.

International Associations

If your association primarily functions at a multinational or international level, you can join IFLA as an International Association.

Other Associations

This membership category includes any associations which do not fit either the International Associations or National Associations category. If your association is sub-national (i.e., provincial/state) association, this membership category will help you to attain IFLA membership.

Association Affiliates

To make IFLA membership more accessible for associations in emerging economies, IFLA has a membership category of (National) Association Affiliate, which comes at a lower cost.

If your library association has not been an IFLA member in the last three years, and if you work with annual operating expenses lower than EUR 10 000, you might qualify for membership category of Association Affiliate.

Membership as an Association Affiliate is possible for up to three consecutive years, after which the membership fee will be raised to the appropriate band for National Associations.

Membership fees

Explore below what the annual fees, voting rights and free Section membership are for each of the Association membership categories.

Free registration to relevant Regional Division and for the Management of Library Associations Section is included in addition to the number of free Sections.

National Associations

National Associations are subject to a system of differentiated fees, organised by bands based on the operating expenses of your association. National Associations fall into one of twelve bands, which determine your nomination and voting rights at IFLA’s elections and the General Assembly. Free Section registration will vary according to the band into which you fall.

Band Operating Expenses (Eur) Annual Fee (Eur) Free Sections Votes
Band 1 more than 10 000 000 28 750 16 40
Band 2 7 000 000 – 10 000 000 21 561 16 40
Band 3 3 000 000 – 7 000 000 14 377 16 40
Band 4 1 000 000 – 3 000 000 10 063 8 30
Band 5 750 000 – 1 000 000 7 188 8 30
Band 6 500 000 – 750 000 4 311 8 30
Band 7 250 000 – 500 000 2 877 4 20
Band 8 100 000 – 250 000 1 436 4 20
Band 9 50 000 – 100 000 936 4 20
Band 10 25 000 – 50 000 431 2 10
Band 11 10 000 – 25 000 318 2 10
Band 12 less than 10 000 292 2 10
Association Affiliates

Association Affiliates membership comes with limited membership benefits compared to National and International Association members.

Annual Fee (Eur) Free Sections Votes
76 0 0
International Associations

The fees for International Association members are calculated with reference to the country in which they are based. Countries fall into one of three bands according to the UNESCO Scale of Assessment and the United Nations List of Least Developed Countries.

The band into which the country where your association is based falls will determine the level of fees payable:

  • Band 1 – UNESCO assessment is 0.251 or higher
  • Band 2 – UNESCO assessment between 0.001 and 0.250
  • Band 3 – associations from countries on the UN List of Least Developed Countries
Band Annual Fee (Eur) Free Sections Votes
Band 1 678 4 5
Band 2 510 4 5
Band 3 310 4 5
Other Associations

The fees for Other Association members are organised into differentiated bands, using the same divisions as for International Associations.

Band Annual Fee (Eur) Free Sections Votes
Band 1 678 2 2
Band 2 510 2 2
Band 3 310 2 2

Join us

Check out our Join IFLA form to determine which membership category would fit your association and what the annual membership fees would be.