Thursday, October 20, 2022

Vol. 2, No. 10: Urban Development 🏡

October 2022 — Vol. 2, No. 10
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Sustainable Urban Development and Libraries

The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable – succinctly describes the core role of public libraries. The recently updated IFLA Public Library Manifesto is a framework that aligns with the objectives of SDG 11 and provides both an advocacy and evaluation framework in support of urban development.

Public libraries are accessible and welcoming to all, supporting diverse populations and recent immigrants in personal growth and skill development, health, education and literacy, early childhood learning, leisure pursuits, and civic engagement.

Serving as a gathering place for the exchange of ideas and the sharing of experiences, the library draws people together, helping to forge community while also serving as a safe space that frequently becomes a cornerstone of urban redevelopment.

Read the full editorial →

Leslie Weir, Chair Division A

IN THE FIELD

IFLA's President, Barbara Lison, spoke at the World Summit of Local and Regional Governments in Daejeon, South Korea on 10-14 October, underlining the role of libraries and culture in inclusive urban development. She also spoke at the international conference on "The disasters of war - Why save culture" held in Tortona, Italy, on 23-24 September. 

Meanwhile, IFLA Governing Board member Jonathan Hernandez Perez spoke at the UNESCO MONDIACULT culture ministerial meeting. More about this below!

FROM THE GOVERNING BOARD

IFLA's Governing Board met online on 27 September and discussed a range of issues, including follow up from our General Assembly, our Plan for Securing IFLA's Future and more. Find out more in our summary of the key points from the meeting.

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PROFESSIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT

Health and Biosciences Libraries + IFLA Strategy

In the spirit of partnership, this month IFLA features the IFLA Health and Biosciences (HBS) Section and their partner the IFLA Evidence for Global Disaster and Health (E4GDH) Special Interest Group in the Units + Strategy recognition series, for their collaborative efforts not only with each other, but with several external medical and health-related information organisations.

Read about what they've been doing and what they've got planned for 2022-2023 below!

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Evidence for Global and Disaster Health + IFLA Strategy

Sponsored by the IFLA Health and Biosciences Section, the IFLA Evidence for Global and Disaster Health (E4GDH) Special Interest Group works to promote and strengthen the roles that librarians play in times of disaster and in response to global health challenges.

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HBS and E4GDH partner as Evidence Ambassadors for Evidence-based Healthcare Day 2022

Today, 20 October 2022 is World Evidence-based Healthcare Day (EBHC). Occurring during Health Literacy Month, EBHC is an opportunity to highlight the ways that evidence-based health literacy can support global healthcare efforts. Check out the IFLA Health and Bioscience (HBS) Section and Evidence for Global and Disaster Health (E4GDH) Special Interest Group Ambassador vlogs:

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World Statistics Day – October 20

In celebration of World Statistics Day, IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section and Big Data Special Interest Group focus on the relevance of library data and statistics.

Statistics and Evaluation Section

In today's library, we may feel as though we are constantly looking for better ways to capture data that truly describes the services and programming we provide, the relevance of our collections, and the individual and societal impact of libraries.

Catch up with IFLA's Statistics and Evaluation Section who provides an interview from the field on five questions about library statistics.

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Portrait photo of Justine Wheeler

Justine Wheeler
Assessment Librarian
University of Calgary, Libraries & Cultural Resources in Calgary, Canada

Big Data Special Interest Group

World Statistics Day is celebrated around the globe on 20 October quinquennially, first celebrated in 2010. The theme of the third World Statistics Day was "Connecting the world with data we can trust", reflecting the importance of trust, authoritative data, innovation and public good in national statistical systems. The celebration of World Statistics Day is a global collaborative endeavour, organised under the guidance of the United Nations Statistical Commission.

See what Patrick Cher, Convenor of IFLA's Big Data Special Interest Group has to say about why Big Data matters to libraries.

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POLICY AND ADVOCACY

IFLA Policy and Advocacy Officer Claire McGuire at the Transforming Education summit in New York.

IFLA Brought the Voice of Libraries to the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – MONDIACULT 2022

IFLA's core message at MONDIACULT 2022 was a call to policymakers, including ministers of culture from around the world, to look to library associations and institutions as partners in realising the potential of culture to leave no one behind. We stressed that, through its transversal impact across the development agenda, culture is critical for achieving sustainable development goals.

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October 2022 IFLA Journal: Special issue on FAIFE and Intellectual Freedom

The October 2022 issue of IFLA Journal was developed in collaboration with the IFLA Advisory Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) to mark the 20th anniversary of the IFLA Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom.

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Nurturing Trust through Media and Information Literacy: Get Involved in UNESCO Global MIL Week 2022

Every year, the UNESCO Global Media & Information Literacy (MIL) Week (24-31 October) helps raise awareness of the need for an international effort towards helping all people become informed consumers and creators of information and media.

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IFLA Submits Contribution to the UN Global Digital Compact Consultation

Every year, the UNESCO Global Media & Information Literacy (MIL) Week (24-31 October) helps raise awareness of the need for an international effort towards helping all people become informed consumers and creators of information and media.

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Mind the Gap: Libraries Combatting Inequalities, Within and Between Communities

Urban October 2022 – which started with World Habitat Day yesterday, and ends with World Cities Day at the end of the month, focuses on how we can realise the potential of cities and human settlements to be drivers of sustainable development.

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Mobilising for intellectual Freedom: Interview with the Observatory on Censorship of the Italian Library Association

In the first of an occasional series about how national library associations are addressing questions around freedom of access to information and freedom of expression, we asked the Italian Library Association (AIB) about their experiences, and the lessons they can share.

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WLIC 2023

WLIC 2023 Rotterdam logo with a geometric red and blue windmill

IFLA and the Rotterdam National Committee are delighted to announce that online registration for WLIC 2023 will open early next month!

For now, we suggest you save the date in your agenda - 21-25 August 2023 - and follow the WLIC social media accounts below to ensure you don't miss any updates!

LIBRARY MAP OF THE WORLD

Cities are hubs for ideas, commerce, culture, science, productivity, social, human, and economic development.

Urban planning, transport systems, water, sanitation, waste management, disaster risk reduction, access to information, education and capacity-building are all relevant issues to sustainable urban development, set out in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.

Explore our SDG Stories to learn how different library programmes from around the world help governments make cities and human settlement inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Learn how the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) Library's resources and services increase output of institution's urbanisation research.

Read how the Hamburg Public Library System, Bücherhallen Hamburg, through its 'Dialogues for Integration', Dialog in Deutch, programme help refugees find their way in Germany.

REGIONAL FOCUS

Catch up with library news across the Asia-Oceania region

IFLA's Regional Office for Asia and Oceania proudly presents the latest issue of the IFLA Asia & Oceania Regional Newsletter.

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Smiling delegates in Fiji

A Librarian's School of Internet Governance Experience

This year, Nina Nakaora from Fiji, a member of IFLA's Asia and Oceania Regional Division Committee, took part in the Asia-Pacific School of Internet Governance. Find out about her experience and how she benefitted from being involved.

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Successful 3rd meeting of the Network of Parliamentary Libraries for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Third Meeting of the Network of Parliamentary Libraries for Latin America and the Caribbean was held at the Congress of the Argentine Nation on September 19-21, 2022. Authorities of libraries and information agencies of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Uruguay shared experiences and proposals on different activities. The legislatures of the Argentine provinces were also part of the event.

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Missed the regional sessions at WLIC?

Watch the webinars of IFLA's Asia-Oceania and Middle East and North Africa Regional Division Committees and learn all about their open sessions at IFLA WLIC in Dublin.

Watch now →
A speaker at the LAC session in Dublin.

Libraries and inequality: The role of regional cooperation in building fair and sustainable societies

Revisit highlights from the Open Session of IFLA's Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Division Committee during WLIC 2022 in Dublin.

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OPEN CALLS

Knowledge Rights 21

Knowledge Rights 21: National Coordinators

Applications are still welcome for the position of national coordination for the European countries mentioned in the call on the Knowledge Rights 21 website.We currently have vacancies for National Coordinators and open calls for National Initiatives.

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IFLA MEMBERSHIP

Excited IFLA members.

Become a Member Now and Have Your Say in IFLA's Future

Did you know that if you join now as an IFLA member or affiliate you pay at the 2022 rate and your fee will cover your membership for the rest of the year and all of 2023?

It's true, and there's more if you join now!

Join today →

UPCOMING EVENTS

To the events calendar →

SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT

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