Associations + IFLA Strategy: looking back, looking forward
12 January 2021
2020 will be remembered as a year of challenges and hardship for libraries and their users, but also of resilience and innovation. Now, having already stepped into 2021, more than ever, the mission set out in the IFLA Strategy; inspire, engage, enable and connect, matters.
Through its Strategy, IFLA inspires, guides and provides tools to libraries and associations so they may continue to find solutions to challenges, seize opportunities, and provide excellent services and effective advocacy.
To highlight how libraries everywhere have done their bit to build a strong and united global library field, in 2020 we launched an initiative to celebrate the work of library associations which have drawn on the IFLA Strategy 2019-24 in different regions of the world.
Here are just nine examples:
#IFLAFromHome in Latvia: An Innovative National Conference in Line with the IFLA Strategy: the Library Association of Latvia focused their national conference and its themes on the IFLA Strategy.
Suriname’s libraries align with the IFLA Strategy: Surinamese libraries integrated the IFLA Strategy into a new curriculum for library managers.
Interviewing Nick Poole: a discussion about the IFLA Strategy: The UK Library Association decided to use the IFLA Strategy as a framework for the next five-year Association’s strategy.
Paraguayan libraries align with the IFLA Strategy: Paraguayan libraries organised an IFLA Strategy workshop to celebrate the “Day of the Paraguayan Librarian”.
Brazilian libraries: places of affective listening: Brazil’s library association that organised a panel discussion “IFLA Strategy and alignments” using the motto: ‘Together We Are Stronger’.
Fiji Library Association + IFLA Strategy: Reflections and Moving forward: Fiji’s library association hosted virtual lunchtime hourly presentations, on the theme “Reflections and Moving Forward”.
Guyana Library Association + IFLA Strategy: resilient now and in the future: Guyanese libraries plan to partner with the Ministry of Education to host a virtual workshop in line with the IFLA Strategy.
Costa Rica Library Association + IFLA Strategy: allies in achieving the SDGs: Costa Rica’s librarians’ association hosted an IFLA Strategy workshop which led to the creation of the Costa Rica National Library Strategy Plan for the implementation of the SDGs.
Iraqi Library Association + IFLA Strategy: where education and planning meet: Iraq’s library association supported education in the field on a national level, through establishing a national electronic portal and offering training workshops
IFLA Secretary General, Gerald Leitner highlighted the importance of putting the IFLA Strategy into action around the world:
I could not be prouder of our colleagues in Latvia, Suriname, UK, Paraguay, Brazil, Fiji, Guyana, Costa Rica and Iraq!
2020 has been a difficult year for all and yet librarians in these countries have shown the importance of the IFLA Strategy as a driver of a strong and united field through their actions. As we go into 2021, I invite librarians in more countries to follow their lead. We are IFLA!”
How is your library or library association engaging with the IFLA Strategy? Let us know! Post on your social media, using the hashtag #IFLAStrategy and #WeAreIFLA or send an email to Despina Gerasimidou, IFLA’s Strategic Development Officer at despina.gerasimidou@ifla.org.
Read more about the IFLA Strategy 2019-2024
