Libraries Champion Children’s Online Wellbeing: Getting Ready for Safer Internet Day

Every February, Safer Internet Day brings together diverse stakeholders to empower young internet users and help build a safe and welcoming digital environment for them. This is a unique opportunity to highlight and build on the crucial work libraries are doing to support digital literacy, safety and wellbeing of children and youth online.

In 2022, the annual Safer Internet Day (SID) campaign takes place on 8 February. First launched in Europe in 2004, SID has long since become a much more global initiative, with engaged stakeholders celebrating and organising dedicated events in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.

For countless libraries around the world, digital skills learning and support – including questions around the fundamentals of online privacy and wellbeing – are a key part of their offering. The need and demand for such library initiatives is especially urgent at the moment, with the “leap to digital” so many countries saw during the pandemic.

Safer Internet Day offers libraries a valuable platform to highlight their work, build new partnership, catch up on new discussions around internet safety of young users – and expand their offering. The updated IFLA Get Into Safer Internet Day Guide offers a short introduction to this campaign:

• what SID is,
• how it works and is organised,
• how libraries can benefit from getting involved,
• and ideas on how you can take part.

For more inspiration, you can also explore the Safer Internet Day tag to read about libraries’ experiences with SID in the past years, and the thematic work of the Libraries for Children and Yound Adults Section.

Access the “Get Into Safer Internet Day” guide below and celebrate SID on 8 February alongside many other libraries around the world!