IFLA Governing Board 2023-2025
IFLA Governing Board 2023-2025; photo by Matteo Cogliati

 

IFLA’s new Governing Board 2023-25 met for the first time the day after the closing of the World Library and Information Congress, on 25 August 2023, at the Rotterdam Ahoy Conference Centre, The Netherlands.

Under the chairship of IFLA’s new president, Vicki McDonald, it was an opportunity for introductions, planning, and identifying priorities for the coming two years. She referred back to her own speech at the closing session of the Congress, highlighting both IFLA strengths – our talent, our diversity, our experience – and the need to work better together in order to realise this potential.

Key areas of focus would be a new model for our congress into the long-term, how we involve members and volunteers better in our decision-making, and our sustainability. We also need to assess the impact of our recent governance reforms, and develop a new Strategy 2024-29.

In addition, the Governing Board:

  • Looked forward to working with IFLA’s regional and advisory structures in planning for WLIC 2024, and in particular to engaging with all stakeholders to ensure all voices had the opportunity to be heard.
  • Formed a working group to progress discussion about the model for IFLA’s conferences from 2025 onwards.
  • Received information on their role and responsibilities within the Dutch legal framework, and committed to the Code of Conduct and Ethics for Members of the Governing Board.
  • Named Vicki McDonald, Kirsten Boelt and Silvia Stasselová as members of the Finance and Risk Committee, alongside the Treasurer Jaap Naber and Marcel de Ruiter as the external member.
  • Met with the board of Stichting IFLA Global Libraries, and looked forward to strong collaboration in future in order to deliver on priorities in the IFLA Strategy.
  • Agreed that the new operational plan for IFLA in 2024 would incorporate ongoing elements of the Plan for Securing IFLA’s Future.
  • Discussed an ambition of increasing multilingualism in IFLA, and how this could be achieved.
  • Underlined the need for a strategic approach to communications that responded to members’ own needs and experiences.
  • Established an Open Science and Scholarship Advisory Committee, with a call for members to follow.
  • Looked ahead to IFLA’s upcoming strategy and Trend Report 2023.