Statement of Candidacy for IFLA President-elect

To serve as President 2017-2019

Ismail SerageldinAs President-elect of IFLA, I will do my utmost to support our positions as spelled out in the Lyon Declaration, to pursue our expectations as articulated in the IFLA Trends Report, to work for copyright reform, and to highlight the themes set out below.

See also:

Today, driven by the revolution in ICT, the world is changing at an incredible pace. The library as an institution must remain at the centre of the gathering, organization and public access to this deluge of new materials.  Libraries can, and will, meet the challenges of the 21st century, and will remain true to the tradition of protecting our heritage as much as being the incubators of the new.  We will remain the defenders of freedom of expression and freedom of access in this new and rapidly evolving environment.  Thus, capacity building in libraries remains essential, for the same technologies that have given us this deluge of digital information and massive growth in social connectivity and personalized platforms, from tablets to mobiles, are also the same technologies that for the first time give us the means to unify global knowledge and bring it to the fingertips of users, ensuring access to all knowledge for all people at all times.

Accordingly, I will strive to:

  • Reach out to empower and engage all IFLA members in advanced and less developed countries;
  • Expand IFLA participation and involvement in the Internet Governance Forum and other relevant forums, to further strengthen the voice of the library and information community;
  • Build partnerships with diverse strategic stakeholders;
  • Promote freedom of expression and free access to all information, for all people, at all times; and
  • Advocate and increase cultural heritage preservation projects and programmes in the library community.

I would be grateful for your support.

Ismail Serageldin
Director, Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Alexandrina, Egypt