What is IFLA doing?
IFLA’s Strategic Plan 2016-2020 (under Key Initiative 2, Information and Knowledge) focuses on the eLending issue as an area for constant attention and engagement. A Working Group was set up in 2011 to propose actions which IFLA and its members should consider to address the situation.
So far, IFLA has produced:
- A background paper on eLending (April 2012)
- An expert meeting on eLending in libraries (November 2012)
- Principles for Library eLending (January 2013)
- A supplement background paper on eLending (July 2014)
- An update to the IFLA Statement on Public Lending Right to include consideration of eBooks (December 2015)
- Public Lending Right guidances (March 2020)
In addition, IFLA commissioned an independent ‘thinkpiece’ on eLending in libraries. The thinkpiece is not IFLA policy, and its purpose is to spark debate amongst the IFLA membership and beyond. It has also followed closely the case at the Court of Justice of the European Union, looking at whether existing rules on rental and lending should apply to eLending.
IFLA has engaged further with its members to understand how the issue is affecting libraries around the world. It has:
- Hosted a one-day seminar, eBooks in Libraries: A Global Question of Survival in association with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals CILIP, in London on February 21st 2013
- Hosted a panel discussion ‘What Exactly Am I Buying Anyway?’ at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) + 10 Review event in Paris, February 25th 2013
- Held a one-day programme on eBooks in libraries at the World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in Singapore, August 2013
- Held a workshop on eLending in Europe with library associations, February 2016
These webpages will be further developed to provide information on ongoing campaigns for eLending around the world, along with examples of successful models for providing eBooks for users.