Standing Committees

Standing Committees drive the work of the IFLA Sections and serving on an IFLA Standing Committee is one of the best ways of contributing to the work of IFLA.

Here you will find some information about what it means to work on a Standing Committee (SC):

Background

There are more than forty different Sections in the IFLA professional structure and each has a Standing Committee (SC). People get to become an SC member by being nominated by an IFLA Member registered for that Section, and if there are more nominees than places available, by being elected in the subsequent election. The people elected serve on the SC as individuals and don't represent their organizations. There are more details of the nomination and election process which takes place every two years.

Each SC must elect a Chair and a Secretary (known as Section Officers) and appoint an Information Coordinator/Web editor (who does not have Officers' status) from within the membership of the SC. The SC may choose to appoint other members to other roles and some ideas are given below. Responsibilities can be delegated and shared as the Officers and the SC see fit.

The Officers, and other SC members, may be called upon to contribute to IFLA’s strategic initiatives on the basis of their expertise in the Section’s subject area.

Roles and responsibilities

  • Roles and responsibilities of all SC members
  • Officers: Chair and Secretary [LINK to new page]
  • Information Coordinator/Web Editor [LINK to new page]
  • SIG convener (if the Section sponsors a SIG) [LINK to new page and new set of pages about SIGs]
  • Corresponding  members and Expert Resource Persons [LINK to new page]
  • Roles and responsibilities of the Professional Committee [PDF]

The work of the Section Standing Committees is overseen by the Professional Committee who have support from HQ staff:

Standing Committee meetings

Standing Committee members meet every year in person at the World Library and Information Congress where two meetings are scheduled during the week. Many also hold a 'mid-term meeting', usually between February and April and in a location selected by the SC. This may take place at one of the SC member's home institutions, or it may take advantage of a conference many SC members are attending, or might be organised to coincide with an event being organised or delivered by the SC, such as a training session or workshop. The members may also 'meet' virtually during the year using an online conference tool, and of course, perform much of their work during the year using email.

SC meetings should follow an agenda which is distributed in advance and should be open to any IFLA Member. However, only SC members and Corresponding Members of the SC can contribute to the meeting, unless the Chair invites others to do so.

Full details of SC meetings are found on the planning page [LINK to new page].

Last update: 6 May 2013