The Rare Books and Special Collections Section invites you to serve on our standing committee! We are especially looking for members from Central and South America, Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa, to complement our existing membership. IFLA has expectations of all standing committee members, who serve up to two four-year terms. In particular you are expected to make the effort to attend Standing Committee meetings, which take place at Congresses; the Section also has virtual or real mid-term meetings, and otherwise contribute to the work of the section, primarily conducted by email between congresses. Standing Committee members are elected in their own capacity and not as the representatives of any organisation or association – but you must be nominated by current IFLA members, whether Association, Institutional, Institutional Affiliate, or Individual Affiliate. For instance you may be nominated by your country’s Library Association, or by a library which is a member of IFLA. For more information, please see the IFLA webpages. 

Nominations forms can be downloaded from the IFLA website and must be sent to IFLA headquarters by email, fax or post, using the contact details on the form, rather than to the Section.

If you know that you cannot make the commitment to travel regularly, you may like to become a Corresponding Member. This will allow you to contribute to the work of the Section, and particularly to give a voice to your region and areas of professional interest and expertise. Corresponding Members are appointed for an initial term of two years, and we have places for up to five people in this role.

In the RBSC section, as a Standing Committee member you may find yourself

  • Organising a session at the annual Congress, and perhaps chairing or responding to speakers
  • Contributing to a working group producing a report, guidelines, or other documentation
  • Promoting the Section’s activities in your region, for instance through mailing lists, RBSC-sponsored events, or reports to professional journals
  • Suggesting new areas where the Section should develop a plan of work, or liaising between the Section and other IFLA units or external bodies

Nominations for Committee membership are due by February 8 – if you would like to know more, please contact the section’s Secretary, Krister Östlund.