Public Library Governance by Edward Abbott-Halpin Carolynn Rankin

Author:Edward Abbott-Halpin, Carolynn Rankin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Published: 2020-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

How Did Developments Affect the Library Sector?

Around the millennium, libraries worldwide became more aware of their political contexts. In 1992, it was impossible to speak with the IFLA Board on human rights as the general framework for libraries but around 2000, IFLA picked up signals from its member library associations that libraries should be more involved in the international agenda setting, and advocate for their place in the global information society. The participation in the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva and Tunis in 2003 and 2005 (https://en.unesco.org/themes/building-knowledge-societies/wsis) was a first test case, learning the human rights topics, the international advocacy language and the need for increasing awareness in the library sector. It became clear that human rights represented the strongest values on which the library and information profession and the library mission could be based and that human rights instruments provided a mechanism to strengthen the library’s advocacy for access to knowledge.

Nevertheless, at that time IFLA and the library associations had little competence or capacity to participate in the UN monitoring mechanisms, such as submitting regular country reports, participating in international dialogue and accountability, and making representations to international committees. HRBA in library services as part of an explicit programme and professional principle and method had not been developed. It was only with the start of the Building Strong Library Associations’ Programme (BSLA) that international capacity building came into view, with consequences for the governance of library organizations at various levels. In other words, there is still space for extended implementation of HRBA in library governance and policies, and the further development of international library advocacy work.

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