[IFLA-L] Open Societies are Healthy Societies: IFLA rejects unjustified barriers to the free movement of persons | 1st February 2017

Open Societies are Healthy Societies

Libraries are at the heart of healthy societies. By bringing people together – students, researchers, creators, citizens – they support learning, sharing, and the creation of new ideas.

They also support the delivery of key human rights, as set out both in national constitutions and international conventions, most importantly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: freedom of expression and access to information, as well as the right to participate in cultural life and enjoy the benefits of scientific progress.

Libraries have long supported the flow of ideas and information across borders. IFLA has called for reforms to laws that hold this back. Evidence shows that such flows promote innovation and creativity, which in turn drives growth, jobs and equality everywhere.

However, arbitrary and unjustified barriers to the movement of people jeopardise this situation. Such policies run contrary to states’ obligations under international law, which prohibit discrimination of any kind on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, as set out in the UN’s New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.

The International Migration Convention also provides the right to temporary absence from the country of residence, a right which can be undermined by barriers to re-entry.

IFLA condemns such policies, wherever they take place in the world.  The recent Executive Order issued by US President Trump temporarily barring entry into the United States by individuals from seven countries is one such policy.

This policy will affect students, workers and academics, families and children. All use libraries to generate new ideas and perspectives which will benefit social, economic and cultural life.  

The policy also adversely affects refugees fleeing extreme poverty, persecution and conflict. Libraries’ doors are open to help them find support and encouragement to learn the language and develop the skills needed to find their place. Focusing on successful integration, rather than rejection, will produce the scholars, artists, workers and engaged citizens of tomorrow.

History has demonstrated that openness and exchange make countries great. We call on governments, for the sake of the future, to protect these principles.  

---

SOURCE: www.ifla.org/node/11176

Look Inside the Most Cutting-Edge Public Library in the World

An international library group just deemed it the best

Library lovers have a reason to visit Denmark: the Dokk1 in Aarhus was just crowned the best public library in the world.

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) awarded the Dokk1 with the best library title at a meeting in Columbus, Ohio, throwing a spotlight on the futuristic building that opened in June 2015. The largest public library in Scandinavia has books and workspaces like most public libraries, but serves other functions for the community by housing meetings, performances, art installations and places for kids to play. Read more...

Adam Mørk--The Dokk1 in Aarhus, Denmark

On the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack dissenting voices must be protected [IFLA January 7, 2016]

Reaffirming our commitment to protecting free expression

On the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, PEN International has issued a statement aimed at encouraging governments to protect critical voices and freedom of expression.

IFLA and dozens of other free-speech organisations, institutes, and associations have added their signature to the statement in support of the crucial principles outlined and addressed.

The statement calls on all Governments to:

• Uphold their international obligations to protect the rights of freedom of expression and information for all, and especially for journalists, writers, artists and human rights defenders to publish, write and speak freely;
• Promote a safe and enabling environment for those who exercise their right to freedom of expression, and ensure that journalists, artists and human rights defenders may perform their work without interference;
• Combat impunity for threats and violations aimed at journalists and others exercising their right to freedom of expression, and ensure impartial, timely and thorough investigations that bring the executors and masterminds behind such crimes to justice. Also ensure victims and their families have expedient access to appropriate remedies;
• Repeal legislation which restricts the right to legitimate freedom of expression, especially vague and overbroad national security, sedition, obscenity, blasphemy and criminal defamation laws, and other legislation used to imprison, harass and silence critical voices, including on social media and online;
• Ensure that respect for human rights is at the heart of communication surveillance policy. 
• Laws and legal standards governing communication surveillance must therefore be updated, strengthened and brought under legislative and judicial control. Any interference can only be justified if it is clearly defined by law, pursues a legitimate aim and is strictly necessary to the aim pursued.

Read the full statement: English | français

Public Libraries Support Refugees You are here: Home / Public Services / Public Libraries Support Refugees Public Libraries Support Refugees By April Witteveen

Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL), KY, welcomes Syrian refugees
Photo credit: Michelle Wong

n the midst of the ongoing international migration crisis, libraries worldwide are finding ways to support newly arriving refugees. Libraries across Europe are assisting the wave of newly arriving Syrian refugees, as illustrated by recent articles from Public Libraries Online and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). And they’re not alone: as cities in the US and Canada receive an influx of Middle Eastern refugees seeking asylum, libraries are using both traditional and innovative services to reach out and connect with these populations in crisis.

COLLABORATION IN SALT LAKE

Salt Lake City is a designated refugee relocation city. “Utah has resettled just 12 Syrian refugees, comprising two families, though the state is expected to receive a few hundred more between March and September,” according to a recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one agency working to resettle refugees in Salt Lake City, and it counts the library as a resource. The IRC offers guided tours of the Downtown Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL) in order to connect refugees with services. Brooke Young, manager at the Glendale Branch of SLCPL, told Library Journal about a community partnership with the University of Utah’s University Neighborhood Partners program (UNP) which works collaboratively with a wide variety of university departments and community agencies to “offer resources such as English language instruction, mental health support, citizenship classes, employment workshops, after school and summer programs, and educational resources to the community.” Young presented to UNP leadership on resources for new immigrants, and noted that “since talking to the leadership group, our meeting room demand has tripled and we have had people [from the immigrant/refugee community] come in and use our computers for resume help and job hunting.” Young shared that as SLCPL’s partnership with UNP grows, the institutions plan “to do a year of citizenship workshops, with an emphasis on voting in the next year.”

“We do have some really great partnerships happening,” Young told LJ. “Making sure that we are going to all the meetings of all the different partners can take up a lot of staff time, but it is really worth it. I also try and make sure that my teen librarian and children’s librarian are involved in the meetings so that we can help tailor our programs to the needs of the community. We also try and be really flexible. And I do mean flexible. I came into the library after hours on a Saturday to ensure that a Sudanese baby shower could happen. And we try and let as many meetings as possible happen in our space, even when if it means opening early or staying late. It can be time consuming, but we have won a lot of community support by opening the space.”

Public Libraries Support Refugees Read more...

Libraries in Times of Crisis By George Eberhart | August 20, 2015

Julia Brungs, IFLA policy and projects officer.

 

 

The IFLA Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) held a panel discussion Tuesday, August 18, at the World Library and Information Congress in Cape Town on “The Role of Library and Information Workers in a Time of Crisis.”

Simon Edwards, director of professional services for CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the UK, said the scope of potential crises that librarians face worldwide is vast, ranging from personal crises to community, national, and global crises that threaten the entire species. “Government agencies also classify crises as sudden (with an immediate impact) and smoldering (a long-term crisis of attrition),” he said. “Libraries play subtly different roles in supporting communities in each.”

Read more: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/libraries-in-times-of-crisis/

How Public Libraries Can Support Community Literacy | Beyond Access

A public library in Tbilisi, Georgia shows how comfortable spaces for enjoying reading together can be created cheaply and simply.

I recently had the fortune to participate in a UNESCO meeting
on mobile literacy solutions for out-of-school children in Thailand.
With a large population of migrants in some of the most
difficult-to-reach parts of the country, many children risk missing out
on school. Thailand’s official commitment to ensuring access to
education for all is impressive — an explicit mandate to include all
children, regardless of status — but there are many hurdles.




As the starting point for access to information, opportunity and
advancement, literacy is understandably a key priority for governments
and organizations across the development spectrum. Millennium Development Goal #2
targets universal primary education, and includes literacy rates as a
key indicator. USAID has prioritized early grade reading and aims to
improve the reading skills of a 100 million children by 2015.




So, with more than 230,000 public libraries in developing countries
around the world — institutions historically devoted to access to
reading materials — it’s confounding that libraries are usually left out
of systematic literacy efforts. It’s a huge missed opportunity. And as
new technologies start to become a realistic supplement to education
efforts, there’s even more of a need for a coordinated community
learning hub, a role libraries are suited to play. Read more...

Related articles

• Thailand Literacy Rate
• 2014 International Literacy Day
• UNESCO frowns on state of girl-child education
• UNESCO marks International Literacy Day 2014
• Boosting literacy development in Nigeria
• Working towards a literate Cambodia - The Phnom Penh Post
• Bangladesh to Shine at UN ILD 2014 by Colossally Impacting The MDGs and Post 2015 Archives
• What we are learning about reading on mobile phones and devices in developing countries
• Business community joins Int'l Literacy Day observance

Librarians Abroad: Lynn Yarmey, Data Curator | Peer to Peer Review

Librarians Abroad: Lynn Yarmey, Data Curator | Peer to Peer Review
By Dorothea Salo on August 23, 2012 



My students are their own people; what makes them amazing comes from them, not me. I see them for two or three semesters at most. Still they enrich my life considerably, and when I manage to enrich theirs in return, I’m happy.
With the “Librarians Abroad” series, I’d like to introduce Library Journal readers to various information professionals who were once my students. I’m intentionally choosing professionals who work either entirely outside libraries and archives, or who hold somewhat less traditional positions inside libraries and archives. I don’t believe all the doom-and-gloom talk about libraries, librarians, and the MLS; I prefer to demonstrate the expanded and still-expanding horizons of the information professions.
(If I once taught you, and you fit this rubric, drop me a line! I’d be pleased to interview you.)

Lynn Yarmey

It is my honor and my pleasure, then, to introduce Lynn Yarmey, who bravely took a chance on my first-time “topics in collection development” course at the University of Illinois. Read whole article.

Related articles

• MOOCs: Where are the Librarians? (hastac.org)
• playing librarian (angrychicken.typepad.com)

New Librarians Global Connection: best practices, models and recommendations

Image by Librarian Avenger via Flickr

“New Librarians Global Connection: best practices, models and recommendations“

“New Librarians Global Connection: best practices, models and recommendations“ is a new series of free quarterly webinars on issues of interest to new librarians, models of library associations and library schools working with new professionals, and groups by and for librarians. The free webinars are presented by IFLA Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning  and IFLA New Professionals Special Interest Group in partnership with ALA.

Below, the date and time of the first webinar. Save the date!

January 17, 2011

2:00 p.m. CST
3:00 p.m. EST
8:00 p.m. CET
7:00 a.m. EDT (next day)
World Clock

Instructions for Registration: Coming soon!

Speakers:

Dr. Alex Byrne, New South Wales State Librarian and Chief Executive of the State Library NSW in Australia. IFLA President 2005-2007. Highlighting the topics: LIS school curriculum, gained skills and degrees vs. “the reality” at work. Bridging the gap between theory and practice. How to deal with generational differences at work?

Janice Lachance, J.D., CEO of the Special Libraries Association. Featuring a model of a library association’s work with new professionals in various regions of the globe.

JP Porcaro, Head of Library Acquisitions and Technological Discovery at New Jersey City University. Co-founder of ALA Think Tank, and originator of the Make It Happen philosophy for librarians. Featuring a group by and for librarians.

Future webinars

Come back to this page and stay tuned for announcements of future webinars. Speakers featured in upcoming webinars include:

Kay Raseroka, IFLA President 2003-2005
Maureen Sullivan, ALA President Elect
Barbara Ford, Director, Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, ALA President 1997-1998
Jukka Pennanen and Mace Ojala, Cycling for Libraries
Rachel Bickley, LIS New Professionals Network

The series explore useful topics to help new professionals at various stages of their career, including:

·         LIS school curriculum, gained skills and degrees vs. “the reality” at work. Bridging the gap between theory and practice. How to deal with generational differences at work?

·         Mentoring and best practices including pros and cons of different approaches like peer-to-peer, and classical mentor-mentee relationships.

·         How to develop leadership skills as a new professional: programs, mentoring, learning by doing. Working abroad, leaving your home country.

·         Continuing Professional Development for new professionals, how to stay up to date from the very start even if conditions at work (funding/permission to attend conferences, support with writing articles, etc.) are not the best.

The webinars will be recorded and made available at a later date.

Questions and requests for information:
Loida Garcia-Febo
Coordinator of the series
loidagarciafebo~AT~gmail.com

Loida Garcia-Febo
ALA Chair, Committee on Membership Meetings
ALA Councilor-at-Large http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/council/index.cfm

IFLA CPDWL Standing Committee http://www.ifla.org/cpdwl/standing-committee
IFLA New Professionals SIG http://www.ifla.org/new-professionals
REFORMA Past President http://www.reforma.org/index.asp


Coordinator, New Americans Program
Queens Library, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., Jamaica, N.Y. 11432
phone: 1 + 718-990-8569; fax: 1 + 718-990-8626
-------------------------------------------------------
http://loidagarciafebo.wordpress.com/
http://www.youtube.com/Loidagarciafebo

Related articles

• One Year as a Librarian, and What a Year It Has Been (educationontheplate.wordpress.com)
• Discussion posted by Loida Garcia-Febo (library20.com)
• Buffy Hamilton on Librarians working with teaching staff (extracurly.wordpress.com)