The IFLA Library Buildings and Equipment and the Management and Marketing Section are seeking proposals for papers to be presented at their Joint Open Session at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2017 in Wrocław, Poland.

Theme: Branding: Bridging: Building: Telling and Selling the Space Story"

Libraries today are knowledge banks, learning hubs, research repositories, digital media laboratories, scholars’ portals, information resource centres, 3D printing services, cyberspaces, cultural destinations, 24-hour bookstores, coffee shops, learning commons, places to work, data visualisation laboratories and social collaboratories. Libraries are found in cabinets and corridors; huts, houses, vending machines, mobile vans, palaces and shopping centres; in neighbourhood nooks, community centres and the downtown of large urban cities; on mobile devices and in virtual reality. They are designed as new-builds or as repurposed uses of space. Some are intended to last for generations as heritage cultural monuments and others as temporary pop-ups.

Securing support for new library buildings and renovations of libraries is challenging and engages many people – library clients, organisational decision makers, community members, faculty, funding agencies, donors, governing authorities, librarians, architects, library managers, interior designers and planners. A new story must be told and getting to the end game demands carefully crafted approaches and wide-ranging skills. Telling the right story involves getting all participants together, defining a unified vision, communicating effectively, managing processes successfully and productive teamwork.

Please submit proposals by 1 February 2017. 

See the full call for papers on the WLIC 2017 website.