The IFLA School Libraries Section in collaboration with the Statistics and Evaluation Section invite interested professionals to submit proposals for the open session to be held in Athens, Greece, from 24–30 August 2019.

Theme : Data and School Libraries

In accordance with IFLA’s encouragement for its sections to develop professional guidelines, the School Libraries section developed the IFLA School Library Guidelines in 2015. There is high demand for training so that school library workers can implement these guidelines, especially as few academic preparation programs focus on school libraries especially with regard to using data effectively. The school library section developed and conducted several successful training workshop to help school librarians implement the guidelines, so is well positioned to create training and supporting resources targeted to help school librarians use data to demonstrate and improve school library impact aligned with the IFLA Guidelines.

This session’s goal is to show how data can be used to demonstrate and improve school library impact and how data can provide information about school libraries and school librarians. The theme of this session aligns with IFLA’s strategic plan and its key initiatives :

  • Libraries in society: The data training helps position school libraries within the Sustainable Development Goals as a key component to build literate, informed societies through education. Using data effectively will enable school library workers to demonstrate their value, and inform their efforts to improve school library programs.
  • Information and knowledge: The data training helps school library workers increase equitable access to information through data-driven program improvement.
  • Cultural heritage: The data training helps school library workers access   their communities’ cultural assets and needs, and then improve school library resources and services in support of their cultural heritages
  • Capacity building: The data training helps school library workers build their own capacity to provide community-relevant, high-quality school library programs of resources and services.

The conference theme is “Libraries: dialogue for change” since data can inform and contribute to the improvement of school libraries our program fits into the conference’s theme well. This theme also aligns well with the IFLA School Libraries Section’s new school library guidelines, which were developed to assist school library professionals and educational decision-makers in their efforts to ensure that all students and teachers have access to effective school library resources and services, delivered by qualified school library personnel.

Language of the session:

The language of the session is English. However, presenters may also give their talk in any of the IFLA working languages. Simultaneous translation is not guaranteed; therefore, presenters are encouraged to provide the PowerPoint in English to facilitate understanding of the ideas presented.

Submissions

All proposals must be in before March 15th 2019

Proposals should include:

  1. Title of proposed presentation
  2. An extended structured abstract of the proposed paper of 1,000 words maximum; for information about structured abstracts, see here. 
  3. Name(s) of presenter(s)
  4. Position or title of presenter(s)
  5. Employer or affiliated institution of presenter(s)
  6. Email address
  7. Telephone/fax numbers
  8. Short biographical statement(s) regarding the presenter(s)

Please email your proposals to: iflasl2019@gmail.com

Successful candidates will be notified by April 12th 2019 and must submit the full paper by  June 14th 2019 along with the accurate title of the paper and author permission form so that the paper may be posted online. Details on the format and length of the final paper as well as how to request an invitation letter will be emailed to those candidates whose abstracts are accepted.

Important dates

March 15th 2019 – All proposals must be received;

April 12th 2019 – Successful candidates will be notified;

June 14th 2019 – Submit the full paper.

Please note

At least one of the paper’s authors must be present to deliver a summary of the paper during the program in Athens, Greece. Abstracts should only be submitted with the understanding that the expenses of attending the conference will be the responsibility of the author(s)/presenter(s) of accepted papers.

All papers that are presented at the WLIC 2019 will be made available online via the IFLA Library under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Authors of accepted papers must complete the IFLA Authors’ Permission Form.

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation letter can be issued to authors.

Congress Participation Grants

List of opportunities for support is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.