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School Libraries and Resource Centers
Chairperson's Report
2005
In July 2003, James Henri (Hong Kong) became Secretary/Treasurer of the Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres and I became Chair of the Section. Dr Vincent Liquete (France) agreed to become the Newsletter Editor, while Dr Julie Tallman (USA) agreed (at the 2004 World Library and Information Congress) to be Information Officer. I extend my personal thanks to James, Vincent, and Julie for their work throughout the year.
- With a little over 80 members (according to the IFLA database) the Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres falls into the second group of Sections in terms of size. As such, it is entitled to only 620 Euros per year capitation from IFLA. Members will appreciate that this is a very small amount from which to meet Section administrative expenses; indeed, in 2004 it did not even cover my mailing expenses, never mind all the other expenses associated with managing a Section. I mention this because I think some members have an unrealistic view of what the Section can do. However, acknowledging this reality, I have also to say that our greatest resource is the amount of volunteer time that our members have been willing to give over the years.
- This past year has seen new translations of the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto and the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines. IFLANET has a list of translations of the Manifesto that are available on IFLANET and elsewhere, while the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) web site School Libraries Online also has links to all the translations available on IFLANET plus translations available elsewhere. The Manifesto is now available in 35 languages while the Guidelines are available in eight languages. On the negative side, a translation provided by the National Library of China seems to have disappeared within IFLA Headquarters.
- At the Berlin conference (2003) the Section was awarded a Small Project Grant of 675 Euros to create advocacy materials to support the adoption and implementation of the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto and Guidelines. Among the suggestions are that we create a PowerPoint presentation, presentation summary, handout masters, a bibliography, and other workshop materials that can be used in professional development seminars and workshops around the world. The materials will be available for downloading from IFLANET. The first step has been to assess the materials that are already available from a number of sources. The next will be to create draft materials, and to test them in workshops. It is hoped that the PowerPoint presentation, at least, will be available in languages other than English. However, although a 2004 call for volunteers to work on this project resulted in several positive responses, a mailing to the volunteers was not successful. It seems that another strategy is needed for getting this work done. Meannwhile, of necessity, I have created some publicity resources for use in my own presentations, for example in Brazil last month.
- At this 2005 conference, our Open Session (two hours) has the theme "Policy: Empowering School Libraries". The Section issued a call for papers, which was distributed widely internationally in late 2004. A selection committee (with members in five countries) reviewed the 22 proposals received in respose to the call for papers, and selected four papers for presentation. Two presenters subsequently dropped out, and we were able to go to the committee's fifth and sixth choices to fill the gaps. The response to our Call for Papers was much greater than in 2004, but though significant useful responses were received, nevertheless many responses were not related to the topic of the Open Session. Despite the problems, I remain a believer in democratic calls for papers, and I believe we should continue to use this strategy where possible in the future.
- Because of the relatively large number of responses, many of which deserved to be presented in public, I entered into an agreement with Dr Dianne Oberg, Editor of School Libraries Worldwide, the research journal of the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL). The January 2006 issue of School Libraries Worldwide will be devoted to the theme "Policy: Empowering School Libraries", with Dianne and me as joint editors. As this report was being written, we were in the process of contacting the authors of selected proposals, and we anticipate that we will publish six to eight papers on this topic. This partnership with the IASL journal will help to publicise the work of the Section.
- On 12 August, we are organising a one-day working pre-conference before the 2005 World Library and Information Congress in Oslo. The theme, "Literacy for Life" is related to IFLA President Kay Raseroka's Presidential theme of "Literacy and Lifelong Learning". This pre-conference is being organised in conjunction with the IFLA Literacy Section; the venue is Oslo College. James Henri has been our representative in the planning process while I have created the pre-conference web site as part of IASL's School Libraries Online. The papers from the pre-conference will be published on the web site. This pre-conference was originally planned and advertised as being a three-day pre-conference; we were forced to reduce it to one day after IFLA organised a conference on the same topic for later in 2005.
- James Henri (Secretary) and I have both represented the Section at regional activities. James attended and spoke at the Regional Workshop on School Library Services in Southeast Asia, held 9-11 September 2003, and he has been involved in ongoing work related to this workshop and to a follow-up workshop to be held later this year. I spoke and acted as resource person at the South American Seminar on the IFLA/UNESCO School and Public Library Manifestos and Guidelines, held in Curitiba, Brazil, from 14-16 July 2005. The IFLA Section for Latin America and the Caribbean would like to find ways for closer interaction with the Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres.
- James Henri and I both attended the IFLA Division 3 mid-term meeting in London in March 2005, at our own expense. I provided a substantial report on this meeting, through the SCHOOL-L listserv, and members are invited to consult that report for further information. One of the key decisions will be referred to below. The main item on the agenda, however, was the Review of the Sections; each Section must complete its formal review document by November this year. I was able to meet with the incoming IFLA President, Dr Alex Byrne, in Sydney, and like the meeting in London, this Sydney meeting helped to clarify my thinking about the review process. At this Oslo Standing Committee meeting, I will be tabling a draft section review document for the Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres, for comment and input from Standing Committee members.
- The 2006 IFLA World Library and Information Congress will be held in Seoul, Korea. At that stage, IFLA will have a new President, Dr Alex Byrne, whose Presidential theme will emphasise cooperation and connections. It may be that this conference provides a chance to explore the Section's relationship with other bodies and organisations whose aims are interconnected with ours. We have been approached by two different Sections about the possibility of a joint session: the Section for Asia and Oceania and the Section for Latin America and the Caribbean.
- The 2007 IFLA World Library and Information Congress will be held in Durban, South Africa. Early last year, we agreed (with the local conference organisers) that the theme for our Open Session would be "HIV/AIDS and School Libraries". We intend to honour this commitment, but we may need to think laterally in order to do so. The Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres is in Division 3, Libraries Serving the General Public. At the March 2005 mid-term meeting in London, the Division agreed that each of the eight Sections would give up one of their hours of programme time so that a day-long Division Open Session could be held. This is not in the best interests of the Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres, since it leaves us with only one hour of Open Session time. We will be looking at ways to solve this problem.
- As indicated above, I do have some concerns about matters related to the work of the Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres. (1) The IFLA membership database has not been up-to-date, as I have discovered to my cost when sending out a mailing to "Section members". A quarter of the envelopes were returned with "incorrect address" or other mail service notation. I have not been able to get corrections made. The same problem exists with email addresses of Section members. (2) The information on the Section's web pages on IFLANET is incomplete. Some information and significant documents, for example, are missing. Tracking these down is not easy. (3) Section membership numbers remain a concern, and we need to take steps to increase the membership, for example by updating and re-designing our Section brochure.
Very best wishes to all for a successful and stimulating conference.
(Dr) L. Anne Clyde
Chair, IFLA Section of School Libraries and Resource Centres.
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