Culture and Education are at the core of the work we do in IFLA’s Section on Libraries for Children and Young Adults (C&YA), especially in literacy. We have two programs that use books to expand the worldview of young people. Our upcoming World Through Picture Books 3rd Edition Catalogue celebrates and promotes the language, culture, and quality of books for young people aged 0-18 from over 50 countries worldwide.Physical lending collections to accompany the catalogue are housed in Tokyo and Paris.

Just this spring, we launched our section’s United Nations SDG Book Club on Instagram (@ifla_cya), which features young adult books about critical societal issues. We also provide guidance to the international library community about children’s needs and rights on information, literacy and reading. Our IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Children aged 0-18 help public libraries implement high-quality children’s services in the digital age and recognize the changing role of the library in modern society.

Our Guidelines Infographic, which presents a summary overview of the Guidelines, has been translated into all seven IFLA languages, and will be available for download soon. Our section members learn from and share best practices with other children’s literature and library experts by attending conferences with colleagues around the world. This year, in March 2024, our midyear meeting is in Croatia, where we will present at the Croatian Children’s Library Association. In August, we will present at the International Board on Books for Young People’s (IBBY) Congress in Trieste, Italy. And we are currently working with other Sections to plan a collaborative event in Brisbane, Australia in conjunction with the IFLA President’s meeting. Since sustainability and access are core values for us, all of these events will be hybrid.