Now online: IFLA Library Map of the World – an advocacy tool for all!

Advocacy efforts at the global, regional and national level are severely hindered by the fact that IFLA and many national associations do not have basic information about the state of libraries in their countries. Reliable global library statistics is our shared vision.

The IFLA Library Map of the World, officially launched today at WLIC 2017 in Wrocław, addresses the critical need of the library field to accurately collect and share basic information about the library landscape in countries around the world.

This year, IFLA has been liaising with national library associations, national libraries and other institutions across the world. They have collated existing library statistics in their countries and provided data on selected library performance metrics. The first version of the Library Map of the World publishes library data from 75 countries across all regions of the world. Data collection will continue until the end of October this year when results will be analysed.

The Library Map of the World will be an annual activity, managed and maintained by IFLA to ensure a permanent home for the world’s library data.

More than data!

To provide countries with evidence for library advocacy, the Library Map of the World will also provide access to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stories demonstrating how libraries in different countries contribute to the SDGs and serve as partners in meeting local development needs. A small number of best practice SDG stories are available to inspire more libraries and countries to contribute their stories to the site.

SDG Storytelling Guidelines will soon be released and the collection of stories will be continued and coordinated with activities within IFLA’s International Advocacy Programme (IAP) and International Leaders Programme (ILP).

Ready to find out if your country is mapped? Let’s hear from you!

Visit the Library Map of the World at librarymap.ifla.org. The data visualisation platform will provide you with country-level data and library performance metrics per region, in addition to the SDG stories. This is only the beginning of a very exciting Library Map of the World project. We are seeking your feedback and engagement to put more countries on the map and to increase the data and evidence that will strengthen our combined advocacy efforts.

Library Map of the World – visualising the power of the united library field