2022

The Library History SIG open session was held on 26 July during IFLA 2022 Conference in Dublin and was organized as an open conversation aimed to prepare for a commemorative volume of chapters about various aspects of IFLA’s history. The SIG’s theme was: “Sources and Themes for the Historiography of IFLA” and the conversation with participants was opened by Peter Lor keynote paper, “Towards IFLA’s Centenary: Historical Sources and Themes”.

2021

The plans for the postponed IFLA 2020 Conference in Dublin were carried forward for the online WLIC 2021 conference https://www.ifla-wlic2021.com. The SIG’s theme: Librarians learning from the past to inspire, include and sustain, invited papers that covered issues on librarian oral history as a contribution to the SIG’s series of projects on oral histories of the world’s librarians. The presenters were:

  • “Decades of Change. Remembering the Library at Trinity College Dublin, 1950-2000”, by Dr. Mary Muldowney, Ireland;
  • “Narratives through dialogue: A report based on Iran’s LIS Oral History Projects”, by Peymaneh Salehi, Iran;
  • “Preserving the Voices of Librarians at the American Library Association Archives”, by Cara Setsu Bertram, the USA; and
  • “Life of libraries under siege in the war: an oral history”, by Dr. Marica Sapro-Ficovic, Croatia.

2019

The IFLA Library History Special Interest Group (SIG) partnered with the IFLA Section on Genealogy and Local History for a session at the IFLA 2019 conference in Athens in Session 271, Local History Collections, Genealogy and Oral History as Critical Information Services in Libraries.

2018

World Library and Information Congress: 84th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
24-30 August 2018, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Theme: Transform Libraries. Transform Societies: Library Outreach to Marginalized Populations: Historical Perspectives

2017

World Library and Information Congress: 83rd IFLA General Conference and Assembly
19–25 August 2017, Wrocław, Poland
Theme: Libraries in Times of Crisis: Historical Perspectives

2016

World Library and Information Congress: 82nd IFLA General Conference and Assembly
13-19 August, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Theme: Libraries and Immigrants: Historical Perspectives

2015

World Library and Information Congress: 81st IFLA General Conference and Assembly
August 17-23, Cape Town, South Africa
Theme: Library History in Sub-Saharan Africa

2014

Satellite Meeting
August 25-26, Lyon-Villeurbanne, France
Theme: History of Librarianship

World Library and Information Congress: 80th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
August 16-22, Lyon, France
Theme: Building a global network: International librarianship at the confluence of cultures, practices, and standards

2013

World Library and Information Congress: 79th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
August 17-23, Singapore
Theme: Libraries, readers, and book culture in Asia: New perspectives in information and global history

2012

World Library and Information Congress: 78th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
11-17 August, Helsinki, Finland
Theme: Libraries across time and space

2011

World Library and Information Congress: 77th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
13-18 August, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Theme: Libraries in Central America and the Caribbean Region

2010

World Library and Information Congress: 76th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
10-15 August, Gothenburg, Sweden
Theme: Library spirit in the Nordic and Baltic countries

2009

World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly
23-27 August 2009, Milan, Italy
Theme: Library collections throughout the ages