   
Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons Section
Minutes of the Mid-year Meetings
The Hague
6-7 March 2003
Members present: John Day (Chair), Vibeke Lehmann (Secretary), Gyda Skat Nielsen, Birgitta Irvall, Teresa Pagès Gilibets, Ka-Jo Carlsen.
Guests: Sjoerd Koopman, Kelly Moore.
1. Welcome and introductions
John Day welcomed the SC members and thanked the IFLA HQ staff for providing the attractive and convenient meeting room.
2. Apologies
Apologies were received from José Díaz Roque. Claudie Guerin, Yu Kikuchi, Sue Lithgow, Joanne Locke, María José López-Huertas, Misako Nomura, Nancy Panella, and Bror Tronbacke.
3. Approval of agenda
The agenda was approved as distributed.
4. Minutes of the Glasgow SC meetings, August 17 & 23, 2002
4.1 The minutes were approved.
4.2 The status of all action items was clarified.
5. Chair's report
John distributed copies of the Chair's Report (report is attached to these minutes).
6. Financial report
John distributed copies of the Financial Report, as submitted by Joanne Locke, Treasurer, (report is attached to these minutes).
7. Ongoing projects
7.1 The status of the various guidelines translations was discussed. Sjoerd Koopman confirmed that full text of all the LSDP guidelines publications & translations could be made available on IFLA's website. The possibility of marketing all the LSDP guidelines as a single package was also proposed by Sjoerd Koopman. And Chinese IFLA colleagues have graciously offered to translate all the section guidelines into Chinese.
Action item: John and Sjoerd will investigate the combined "package" deal further.
Action item: Vibeke will follow up with those responsible for each IFLA language translation, in order to obtain the texts in Adobe pdf format. Vibeke will also ask Ludmila Kozlova for a progress report on the Russian translation of the dyslexia guidelines and Claudie Guerin for a progress report on the French translation of the hospital patients guidelines.
Action item: Those SC members, who have the publisher information for the additional (non-IFLA language) translations of the guidelines, should find out from the respective publishers/agencies what authorization is required to make these publications available on the IFLA website as well.
7.2 Vibeke reported on the progress of the revised Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners. It is anticipated that the publication will be ready by early June, which should give IFLA enough time for printing it before the Berlin Congress in August.
8. Publications and information
8.1 The future of the LSDP Newsletter was discussed: Vibeke's 2nd term on the SC ends after the Berlin Congress. She is looking for a new newsletter editor; Bror Tronbacke's 2nd term, likewise, ends after Berlin. Bror and the Swedish Easy-to-Read Foundation have been responsible for the printing and mailing of the newsletter, and somebody else now needs to take over these tasks. The GB has confirmed that all the section newsletters can be published as web publications and be made available in print format only to those section members who specifically request a paper copy. This will allow sections to further reduce mailing costs.
8.2 Information Coordinator's report: Ideas for updating/redesigning the LSDP web page were discussed. It was agreed to post SC agendas and minutes on the page, as well as conference program previews.
8.3 Section brochure & other publications: The usefulness of the section brochures was questioned. Kelly Moore, IFLA Membership Coordinator, informed the SC that the brochure, as a rule, has not been an effective member recruitment tool; many sections do not update their brochures regularly, further diminishing their usefulness. Kelly and Sjoerd agreed that IFLA HQ would produce a single brochure which would contain only brief summary information about each section, in addition to contact information. Such a consolidated brochure would be less difficult to keep current and could more easily be translated into other languages.
8.4 Format & quality of IFLA Professional Reports: The SC asked Sjoerd Koopman what could be done to improve the "look" of these publications. Short of IFLA committing more money to the layout and design of this series, there would probably not be much improvement forthcoming, he replied. John promised to continue to pursue this matter with the Professional Committee.
9. Strategic Planning I
The SC spent a substantial amount of time drafting a revised LSDP Mission Statement, which would be very clear and succinct. After having reached consensus on the wording, the group discussed at length possible goals and actions for a new 2003-05 Strategic Plan to guide the future work of the Section. Several goals were identified, all falling within he main areas of "Awareness" and "Access", as well as a number of appropriate actions/activities under each goal. This first draft of the new Mission Statement & Strategic Plan will be emailed to all SC members for comments before the next SC meeting in Berlin.
Action item: John will distribute draft #1 of the new plan.
10. Conference Planning
Berlin 2003
The LSDP Open Session Program, titled "Library Services to Prisoners: Accepting the Challenge and Making it Happen," will have 4 presenters:
- Gerhard Peschers (Germany)
- Ludmila Mayrink da Costa (Brazil)
- Emanuela Costanzo & Angela Barlotti (Italy)
- Vibeke Lehmann (United States)
All speakers have confirmed their participation, and plans for the program are on track.
The Division III Open Forum program will focus on the theme of "guaranteeing human culture & values" (final title still TBA). The purpose is to highlight the roles and responsibilities in that regard of libraries serving the general public. There will be 4 speakers:
Buenos Aires 2004
The overall IFLA Congress theme is "Libraries: Tools for Education and Development." The SC agreed to co-sponsor a workshop with the Section of Libraries for the Blind. The workshop would address copyright issues that prevent access to timely content and the sharing of information and resources globally. The intent is to include publishers and WIPO representatives in the workshop.
Oslo 2005
Birgitta Irvall proposed a satellite meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, arranged by the LSDP Section, the Section of Libraries for the Blind, and locally by key Swedish librarians and libraries. The meeting would highlight assistive technology and would include visits to several libraries. The SC agreed to this proposal.
In coordination with the theme of the satellite meeting, it was suggested that the Oslo LSDP Open Session would focus on accessibility issues.
11. Membership matters
John informed the SC that five persons had been nominated to the SC for the term 2003-05 (2 from Canada, 1 from South Korea, 1 from USA, and 1 from the UK); 7 SC members would be leaving the committee due to term expiration. This would leave the SC with only 10 voting members, in addition to the corresponding members.
It was also confirmed that the LSDP Section now has a total of 75 members.
12. Correspondence
No items presented.
13. Strategic Planning II
See item #9
14. "Green Light for IFLA" document
The SC discussed the "Green Light" paper authored by GB member Marian Koren.
Those present supported several of the recommendations, among others, 1) that the annual IFLA Congress could be shortened, 2) that IFLA play a stronger advocacy/political role at the international level, 3) that national library associations play a stronger advocacy/political role in their respective countries, and 4) that IFLA pick its strategic goals very carefully. The SC members said they would also individually provide feedback to HQ on the "Green Light" document.
15. Any other business
No items presented
16. Summary of agreements
Action items were listed & agreed upon.
Minutes submitted by:
Vibeke Lehmann, April 2003
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