Stay up to date with our latest developments, initiatives, and new resources!
Finding solutions to the climate crisis is not only the task of scientists, engineers, and politicians. This global challenge requires input from all people – from all sectors – to address.
Global discourse on culture and cultural heritage in 2022 can be characterised by greater recognition of the powerful potential of culture to help solve great challenges, as well as calls for action to ensure its protection in the face of natural and human-caused disaster.
As the global voice of libraries, IFLA strives to bring a library perspective to discussions and processes relating to international cultural policy. 2022 presents important opportunities to bring library voices to the table and highlight libraries as stakeholders in the culture sector.
With the December edition of IFLA's newsletter focusing on rights, this month's interview brings together IFLA Secretary General with Ellen Tise, IFLA President 2009-2011, and currently chair of IFLA's Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression. He asked her about her perspective on how libraries fit in with wider work on human rights.
Among the different types of human rights set out in international law, cultural rights have a particular relevance for libraries. Our institutions are key actors in guaranteeing the right of everyone to participate in cultural life, from creativity, to access, to the preservation of heritage. Professor Karima Bennoune, UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights 2015-2021, focused on this topic in her keynote intervention at WLIC 2021.
At the 2021 World Library and Information Congress (WLIC), Andrew Potts, coordinator of the Secretariat of the Climate Heritage Network, gave the keynote speech for the Libraries Sustain thematic track of the Congress.
IFLA's President Christine Mackenzie and Secretary General Gerald Leitner have issued the below statement concerning the situation in Afghanistan.
IFLA’s Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Centre hosted at the International Center for Research and Documentation on African Languages and Traditions (CERDOTOLA) will deliver an international conference on the topic, “Conservation and preservation of documentary heritage in Central Africa: pillars of reconciliation and peacebuilding”.
PAC Sri Lanka has published a new Report detailing best practices for the conservation of Palm-Leaf Manuscripts.
The Conference of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005 Convention) held their biannual meeting last week. IFLA attended as an observer, underlining the importance of showing culture's contribution to development, and promoting equitable access for all.
It was with a heavy heart that IFLA heard the news of the fire that has damaged the Jagger Library at the University of Cape Town, along with other areas of the University and city, this past Sunday.
PAC Kazakhstan facilitates meetings of libraries across Central Asia to exchange knowledge in restoration and conservation of the region's documentary heritage.
The “What is Antiquities Trafficking?” webinar, presented as part of the Himaya Project Lecture Series, examined the trafficking of documentary cultural heritage in the MENA region.
Researchers and heads of libraries from Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan joined PAC Centres Russia and Kazakhstan for an online international roundtable discussion.
IFLA’s PAC Centres continue their mission: putting a spotlight on preservation and conservation, bringing professionals together across borders, and enabling trainings and collaboration opportunities – all by digital means.
The IFLA Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Centres in Kazakhstan and Russia hosted an online event to exchange experience and share updates on their activities.
Cultural and memory institutions across Chile, including multiple libraries, celebrated "Día del Patrimonio Cultural en Casa" (National Cultural Heritage Day at Home) with opportunities to engage with collections online.