Stay up to date with our latest developments, initiatives, and new resources!
IFLA is excited to bring the perspective of libraries to the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022 with an official side event.
From 23 April 2024, Strasbourg will hold the title of World Book Capital City, as announced today by UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay. IFLA congratulates all those involved in the successful bid, and looks forward to a great mandate that provides inspiration and models for cities and libraries globally.
You can now watch again the side-event organised by the Culture 2030 Goal campaign at the 2022 UN High Level Political Forum, highlighting how cultural actors, institutions and considerations are being integrated into local development strategies, and the lessons this offers for efforts to deliver sustainable development by 2030 and beyond.
As a founding member of the Culture 2030 Goal campaign, IFLA encourages the global library field to engage with a new survey looking to make a first key step towards defining what an explicit goal for culture in the post-2030 development framework could look like. You have until 21 June to respond.
On 20-22 May 1947, IFLA’s first council meeting following the end of the Second World War was held in Oslo, Norway. It was here that IFLA signed an agreement to cooperate with the newly formed United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
Stockholm+50 is a key international environmental meeting coming up on 2-3 June with the theme: “Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity”.
The European Cultural Foundation has just launched an open call for the Europe Challenge 2022, after finishing the pilot edition with a small group of libraries, who went through a year-long programme and helped to co-design the scheme, along with the partners Demsoc, Public Libraries 2030 and OBA (Amsterdam Public libraries). We interviewed the Europe Challenge team, Nicola Mullenger and Olga Alexeeva. If you're interested to know more about how you can join and be part of a Europe-wide citizen-led change, working with your communities, read on: Deadline to apply 27 May 2022.
In its role as a member of the World Book Capital (WBC) Advisory Committee, IFLA was invited to participate in a meeting of the WBC Network, held in Tbilisi, Georgia. The meeting provided an opportunity to shape core documentation, and highlight the need for future activities to include libraries and library goals, as well as to meet with IFLA Members locally.
In times of hardship, individuals turn to one another to overcome, to recover, and to rebuild. The places where communities meet, where they can access services, and come together to support one another are therefore important for building community resilience.
In September, ministers and other key cultural policy decision-makers will meet in Mexico City for MONDIACULT 2022 to discuss how they can better promote sustainable development. The Culture 2030 Goal campaign, of which IFLA is a member, has released a statement in preparation for this.
For the library profession, the importance of sharing information, serving their communities, and cooperating with colleagues from around the world are not minimised in times of crisis – they are strengthened.
IFLA's recent ResiliArt x Mondiacult event added a library perspective to a worldwide discussion on culture's role in tackling global challenges. The outcomes of this event will help inform the agenda of the upcoming UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development, Mondiacult 2022.
IFLA welcomed the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights Alexandra Xanthaki as she addressed the Human Rights Council for the first time during their 49th Session. An IFLA representative sat down with the Special Rapporteur following her address to discuss priorities for the coming years and highlight the ways in which libraries work to uphold cultural rights for their communities.
The National Library of Lebanon, together with libraries, museums, heritage sites, and buildings throughout Beirut, sustained heavy damage caused by the explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020.
ResiliArt x Mondiacult is coming to IFLA! Take part in this exploration of how libraries help enable the discovery, creation, and enjoyment of diverse expressions of culture to be a part of everyday life.
UNESCO has published the call for cities interested in holding the title of World Book Capital 2024. The successful candidate will have a great opportunity to develop and showcase initiatives that promote reading and books, benefitting their own citizens, and offering inspiration to others elsewhere.
The 15th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions will be held online from 8 to 11 February 2022.
The UNESCO Online Consultation on Cultural Policies for the Africa Region was held on 31 January and 1 February, hosted by the Republic of Senegal. IFLA was represented, making the case for libraries to be involved, from the design to the delivery of cultural policies and strategies.
In September 2022, UNESCO will convene the World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – Mondiacult 2022, hosted in Mexico City. IFLA will help bring the voices of the library and information profession to these discussions is through an upcoming virtual event: ResiliArt x Mondiacult – Libraries enabling inclusive and meaningful access to culture.