The IFLA 2020 General Assembly was held on Thursday 05 November 2020 in The Hague, Netherlands.

Convening Notice

The Convening Notice for the Assembly was forwarded to Members on 05 August 2020.

Agenda

  1. Opening by the Chair of the General Assembly
  2. Appointment of Tellers
  3. Establishment of a Quorum
  4. Adoption of the Agenda
  5. Minutes of the previous meeting, held in Athens, Greece, 28 and 29 August 2019
  6. In memoriam of those members who have died during the past year
  7. Presentation of the Report of the President
  8. Presentation of IFLA’s Annual Report by the Secretary General
  9. Presentation of the Annual Accounts by the Treasurer
  10. Presentation of IFLA Honours and Awards
  11. Address by the President. Proposed amendments to the IFLA Statutes
  12. Motions and Resolutions
  13. Announcement of future World Library and Information Congresses
  14. Close of the Assembly

Motions and Resolutions

Motion 12.1: to approve the holding of the next General Assembly in August 2021 (Art 8.2 of the [Statutes] refers)

Motion 12.2: [WITHDRAWN] Motion to approve amendments to Articles 12 and 17 of the current Statutes (and re-numbering elsewhere where needed). These Articles explain how IFLA can make amendments to the Statutes themselves and decide on other major issues and thereby:

• Allow a resolution on important issues to be decided by either a meeting of the General Assembly or a ballot of all Members; 

• Ensure there is a single timeframe for decisions on all resolutions by Members whether at a General Assembly or by a ballot.

On the advice of IFLA’s lawyers, based on Dutch law around the conduct of General Assemblies, the Governing Board has decided to withdraw Motion 12.2. The lawyers have nonetheless indicated that recent reforms create opportunities to allow for electronic voting on resolutions on the table at General Assemblies, which must in any case still be held in physical form. This is welcome news, as it provides an alternative means of achieving the goal of maximising the possibilities for all Members to engage in decision-making at IFLA. To implement these possibilities, new text will be incorporated into the proposed new IFLA Statutes, and voted on at the Extraordinary General Assembly in February 2021. Beforehand, there will be an advisory ballot of IFLA’s Members which will be launched on 30 October with a deadline of 30 January.

Motion 12.3: to propose to the Governing Board to investigate alternative and sustainable ways to conduct future WLIC and arrange WLIC as a global event only every third year.

Watch the Livestream Recording