Libraries for Lifelong Literacy

IFLA Presidential Theme 2003-2005

Ms Kay Raseroka President-elect (2003-2005)

Introduction

IFLA is committed to enabling its members to participate in decisions on its overall strategic direction and action plans. As part of this process of participation, a brainstorming session on "Bridging the Digital Divide" was organized during the Glasgow Conference in 2002. The aim was to encourage commitments to the implementation of IFLA's Core Values and identify strategic actions capable of being implemented during the next Presidency, 2003–2005.

The report on the brainstorming session was published in IFLA Journal, Vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 65-77, and on IFLANET (http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/brainstorming02.htm).

One of the outcomes of this consultation has been a reinterpretation of the term "bridging the digital divide" to mean "the creation of an environment within libraries and information centres that enables individuals from diverse communities to enjoy freedom and equity of access to information and freedom of expression and to participate fully in the information and knowledge society".

IFLA’s goal is thus to facilitate access to, and understanding and effective use of information, however presented, in accordance with diverse information needs in disparate contexts. To achieve this goal, attention must be focussed on developing and maintaining lifelong information literacy, in its broadest sense, not only among information users, but also among librarians and other information workers. As one commentator put it:

The purpose of this document is to state and explain the Presidential Theme and its implications for IFLA members, to identify the key areas for priority actions to address the theme and to invite all IFLA Divisions and Sections and other units, e.g. Discussion Groups and Core Activities, to consider specific actions in these areas which they plan to address in the coming biennium. These specific actions will be presented and discussed at a Planning Session to be held during the Berlin Conference, 2003, which all Divisions and Sections and other units, as well as representatives of the membership at large, will be invited to attend. Details of the procedure will be provided in a separate document.

The considerations outlined above have led to the choice of 'Libraries for Lifelong Literacy' as the Presidential Theme for 2003 – 2005.

Kay Raseroka
President-Elect

Libraries for Lifelong Literacy

The theme 'Libraries for Lifelong Literacy' provides a focus for activities designed to implement IFLA's Core Values on freedom and equity of access to information, ideas and works of imagination and freedom of expression. By supporting unrestricted access to information as a means of promoting literacy, reading and lifelong learning, it also embodies IFLA's Professional Priorities in these two areas.

Definition and Scope

IFLA's Professional Priority on 'Providing Unrestricted Access to Information' aims to ensure that "all persons throughout the world have the same opportunity to participate in the information society without regard to physical, regional, social, or cultural barriers". The Professional Priority on 'Promoting Literacy, Reading, and Lifelong Learning' promotes "increased literacy for all people", including:

• basic literacy (the ability to use, understand and apply print, writing, speech and visual information in order to communicate and interact effectively)
• reading (the ability to decipher print and other forms of notation, to understand written language and its construction, and to comprehend the meaning of the written word)
• information literacy (the ability to formulate and analyze an information need; to identify and appraise sources; to locate, retrieve, organize and store information; to interpret, analyze, synthesize and evaluate that information critically; and to evaluate whether the information need has been satisfied)
• lifelong learning (providing for the needs of all learners, whether formal or informal, helping to raise the aspirations and achievements of individuals of all ages and abilities).

Various terms have been assigned to different aspects of information literacy, including:

• computer literacy
• digital literacy
• hyper-literacy
• information technology literacy
• interactive literacies
• Internet literacy
• library literacy
• media literacy or mediacy
• multiple literacy
• network literacy
• oral literacy, or 'oralcy'
• visual literacy.

The term "informacy" has sometime been used as a collective term covering all or several of these literacies.

The Presidential Theme, 'Libraries for Lifelong Literacy' embraces all these literacies and envisages that they need to be developed and maintained throughout life, not only by information users, but also by librarians and other information workers.

The concept of 'Lifelong Literacy' recognizes the impact of the speed of change and the penetration of new technologies and spheres of knowledge. It recognizes that users and librarians need to work at their ability to be information literate over a lifetime. It encompasses the sustained ability to acquire and use information as appropriate to any situation within and beyond the library, both locally and globally (Rader 1991). It involves an array of competencies appropriate for individuals and groups to survive and function successfully in an information continuum through the use of a variety of literacies, acquired as and when necessary. It covers all forms in which information is communicated and carried: visual, textual and sound and all forms by which human beings process information, including Braille, sign language and oral traditions as well as printed, electronic and other kinds of documentary records.

The mastery of literacies is the key to the application of IFLA’s core values and to the contribution of librarians and information professionals to the emerging information and knowledge society.

The Role of Librarians

The library is a point of convergence for many communities, systems and disciplines that influence access to information. These are, for example:

• educational systems, from basic education to the sustenance of lifelong learning
• the meeting place where those with different literacies can find discuss their information needs and practice their skills
• the institution where indigenous knowledge content can be organized, preserved, safeguarded and made accessible, recognizing the intellectual property rights in the various regimes
• an institution respecting human rights, specifically as they relate to the right of access to information for all, especially for children and youth, who are vulnerable to information deprivation through deliberate actions by adults
• a receptive organization for the development and availability of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures, including print and non-print media, for public access to information.

Librarians and information professionals need to develop creative strategic actions to meet the challenges faced, in particular, by the developing world’s diverse communities and by urban and isolated poor people everywhere. Applying the theme to our own continuing professional development will enhance our knowledge and our confidence to build on the different worldviews and different literacies necessary for the diverse indigenous knowledge systems and their intellectual property rights regimes. It will also help us in continuously developing professional expertise in harnessing ICTs as tools for the delivery of local content and the creation of global links.

In supporting the theme of 'Libraries for Lifelong Literacy', librarians have a unique opportunity and challenge to consolidate their role as contributors to the information and knowledge society:

Librarians must therefore enhance their information literacy teaching abilities beyond that of basic user instruction to include new kinds of outreach activities, services and approaches to meet the needs of those with different and multiples literacies.

Priority Areas of Action for IFLA

A number of key strategic directions and priority actions for implementation in 2003 - 2005 were identified through the Glasgow brainstorming session and subsequent consultations. They are:

• Advocacy
• Partnerships and Alliances
• Continuing Professional Development.

Participants in the brainstorming session also declared that "All librarians have a responsibility to identify and recognize diversity within their communities and to deliver services that are relevant to those communities".

Advocacy

Advocacy was a main cross-cutting theme of the Glasgow brainstorming session, where all the discussion groups identified actions in this field as important; numerous actions were proposed in this respect. At the IFLA level, it was felt that IFLA should be more self promoting. It should tell the world about its mission and publicize its objective and how to contribute towards it. IFLA needed to develop a better image to assure the funding that supports services. It should be a leader and initiator and create global pressure. It should put key issues on the agenda for heads of states, promote the image of the profession by introducing library and information services to different countries’ governments and influence governments which create barriers to the free flow of information. IFLA needs to engage in lobbying down to staff and up to managers and government, and should market itself, particularly where there are world gatherings.

Partnerships and Alliances

The creation and development of partnerships and alliances was supported by many participants in the Glasgow brainstorming session. They recommended that IFLA should define, encourage and build effective partnerships– deeper and richer - for different reasons, including sharing good practice and practical solutions. It should form alliances in support of monitoring, reporting upon, promoting, enhancing and strengthening the Core Value on freedom of access to information and freedom of expression, increase interaction with other organizations in the global arena and encourage wider participation from, and partnerships with, related professions.

Continuing Professional Development

Participants in the Glasgow brainstorming session recommended that IFLA should give priority to education and training and make them a major theme of its programmes. It should take steps to enhance skills and competencies in relation to professional service principles and the technical tools that support them. It should organize workshops to promote the good ideas and expertise of IFLA and undertake training more vigorously, especially using distance learning. In particular, IFLA should develop a curriculum for free access to information and organize training programmes, workshops or distance learning programmes on this subject.

Some Proposed Outputs

• policies, plans and programmes for advocacy on the theme Libraries and Lifelong Literacy in all IFLA units, member national library associations and IFLA management
• regular publicity on IFLA action’s on advocacy at local and international levels through the publication of press statements/reports in newspapers and national association journals in IFLA member countries.

• policies and guidelines on alliances by IFLA units with other organisations in related professions in support of IFLA core values and/or the theme Libraries for Lifelong Literacy.

• review strategic approaches to continuing education and the use of e-learning and IFLANET
• policies, guidelines for the IFLA information literacy certificate
• plans for adoption and application of the information literacy certificate by IFLA Divisions.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Annual progress reports and presentation of sessions on:

• advocacy actions at the global level
• joint strategic actions and partnerships within IFLA units on the application of the theme in their programmes
• alliances with other organisations in support of the IFLA Core Values and the theme
• strategic use of IFLANET for continuing education projects.

The preparation of this document would not have been possible without the valuable inputs from the participants in the Glasgow Brainstorming Session and subsequent commentators on the Brainstorming Report. Particular thanks are due to the members of the President-Elect's Planning Group, chaired by Winston Tabb; colleagues at the University of Botswana Kgomotso Moahi and Stephen Mutula and Gwynneth Evans at the National Library of Canada, for their many valuable suggestions and advice. To Stephen Parker, Editor of the IFLA Journal, my deep appreciation for his help in editing this document.