Library History Special Interest Group

The IFLA Library History Special Interest Group invites papers to be presented at its open session during IFLA WLIC 2014 in Lyon, France.

At the 1926 Prague International Conference, French Librarian, Gabriel Henriot, proposed the establishment of a permanent international library committee that could take care of the international relations among libraries and create the necessary conditions for the mutual international co-operation of librarians. This committee soon spawned the International Federation of Library Associations. 

IFLA and other significant international collaborations represent a global network of librarians that has expanded and persisted throughout the history of the profession.  In honor of Henriot and his colleagues and to support the conference theme of “Libraries, Citizens, Societies: Confluence for Knowledge” the History Special Interest Group seeks papers that feature historical scholarship on the development, particularities, and impacts of transnational library networks as they have contributed to the development of the profession, helped articulate standards, and promoted access to knowledge.

Proposals should include:

• Title of presentation
• Abstract of no more than 500 words in English
• Name, email address, position (title) of presenter(s), plus a brief presenter(s) biography
• Presenter(s) employer or affiliate institution

Important dates and timelines

Please submit your proposal for papers no later than February 15, 2014 to Steve Witt at swwitt@illinois.edu. 

Please include as your subject line: LIBHIST2014.

The proposals will be evaluated and notification of acceptance will be sent by March 15, 2014.

The presenters selected for the program at the Lyon conference will be asked to submit a formal paper (to be published on the IFLA conference website) no later than May 1, 2014. If full papers are written in any IFLA language other than English they should include an abstract in English as well.

Both abstracts and full papers should be submitted as a MS Word file by e-mail. Proposed papers must be original and not have been published elsewhere.

Please Note

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation can be issued to authors.

Congress Attendance Grants

The French National Committee and IFLA have worked hard to secure funds for Conference Participation Grants. Up-to-date information will be available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.