About the Preservation and Conservation Strategic Programme

Established in 1984

The IFLA Strategic Programme on Preservation and Conservation (PAC) was officially created during the IFLA annual conference in Nairobi in 1984 to focus efforts on issues of preservation and initiate worldwide cooperation for the preservation of library materials. The PAC programme was effectively launched in Vienna during the 1986 Conference on the Preservation of Library Materials co-organized by the Conference of the Directors of National Libraries, IFLA and UNESCO.

Objective

PAC has one major goal : to ensure that library and archive materials, published and unpublished, in all formats, will be preserved in accessible form for as long as possible according to the following principles :

  • preservation is essential to the survival and development of culture and scholarship;
  • international cooperation is a key principle;
  • each country must accept responsibility for the preservation of its own publications.

Activities

  • Raising awareness among library professionals, the public and the authorities, of the urgent need to preserve our endangered documentary heritage.
  • Publishing and translating preservation literature in order to make it accessible to a larger professional audience around the world.
  • Disseminating information through printed and online publications.
  • Organizing training courses, workshops, seminars, etc.
  • Promoting research on best preservation practices.
  • Fund raising.

Promotion

Download the IFLA PAC leaflet in English, French and Spanish :

Network

Contrary to other IFLA Strategic Programmes, PAC has been originally conceived in a decentralised way: a Focal Point implements the global strategy and Regional Centres manage activities in their specific regions.

The Focal Point (International Centre) has been hosted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris since 1992 and there are Regional Centres respectively located in Washington (Library of Congress), Caracas (Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela), Rio de Janeiro (Fundaçao Biblioteca Nacional de Brasil), Santiago (Biblioteca Nacional de Chile), Port of Spain (National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad and Tobago), Porto-Novo (National Library of Benin), Cape Town (UCT Libraries, South Africa), Canberra (National Library of Australia), Moscow (Library for Foreign Literature), Almaty (National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan), Tokyo (National Diet Library), Seoul (National Library of South Korea) and Beijing (National Library of China). The International Centre in Paris (Bibliothèque nationale de France) acts as the Regional Centre for Western Europe, Middle East and Africa. In the future, new sites may be chosen by PAC to act as new Regional Centers.

The International Centre and the Regional Centres are part of a network, whose main working rules are defined in an "agreement" signed annually between IFLA and each centre. Each centre is independent and acts according to the priorities identified in its geographical area. It must comply with the objectives of PAC Strategic Programme and maintain cooperation with other centres through various activities (publications, seminars, conferences, etc.).

The directors meet regularly for working sessions (Washington 1991; Tokyo 1992; Nairobi 1993; Budapest 1995; Beijing 1996; Copenhagen 1997; Amsterdam 1998; Bangkok 1999; Jerusalem 2000; Boston MA 2001; Glasgow 2002; Berlin 2003; Buenos Aires 2004; Oslo 2005; Seoul 2006; Durban 2007; Quebec 2008; Milan 2009) to define the orientations of the Strategic Programme.

Christiane Baryla was appointed PAC Director in March 2006.

Advisory Committee

An Advisory Committee has been set up in March 2002 whose role is as follows: "the Advisory Board [Committee] ]would, as its name suggests, act in an advisory capacity to determine priorities and would act as an advocate to solicit financial and other support as necessary. It is envisaged that the business of the Advisory Board [Committee] would largely take place by email rather than in face-to-face meetings."

Chair:

Geneviève CLAVEL-MERRIN member of IFLA Governing Board (Switzerland)

Members:

The Director for the International Affairs in BnF (France), the Chair of IFLA Preservation and Conservation Section (Danielle Mincio, Switzerland).

Pam GATENBY (Australia), Sohair F. WASTAWY (Egypt), Ellen Ndeshi NAMILA (Namibia), Deborah NOVOTNY (United Kingdom), Reinhard Altenhöner (Germany), Ekaterina GENIEVA (Russia), Joie Springer (UNESCO, Paris), Winston ROBERTS (New Zealand).

Staff expert:

Ms Christiane Baryla

Past Announcements

Other Bibliographic references

    Cooperation

    Useful Addresses

    PAC International Focal Point
    Bibliothèque nationale de France
    Quai François Mauriac
    75706 Paris cedex 13
    France
    Fax +33-(0)1-53-79-59-80

    Programme Director:

    Ms Christiane Baryla
    Tel. +33-(0)1-53-79-59-70
    Email: christiane.baryla@bnf.fr

    Programme Officer:

    Ms Flore Izart
    Tel. +33-(0)1-53-79-59-71
    Email: flore.izart@bnf.fr

    PAC (Preservation and Conservation)

    Última actualización: 11 Junio 2013