IFLA Conference Showcases Québecois Culture
Canada is playing host to the 74th World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), which convened August 10 in Québec. The annual IFLA conference is the largest and most diverse international gathering of library and information science professionals in the world. The five-day conference offers more than 3,280 delegates from 150 nations an opportunity to meet colleagues from around the globe, to hone their skills at 224 sessions, and to enjoy the cultural offerings of the host city. IFLA also serves as a backdrop for the announcement of the annual $1-million Access to Learning Award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The major conference programs are conducted in seven languages, with live simultaneous interpretation.
Kicking off an elaborate opening session, Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean welcomed the delegates to the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of Quebec City. Delivered in French, her speech was a heartfelt paean to libraries as an antidote to the “forces of destruction and opponents of liberty” that threaten civilization. “Libraries, big or small, virtual or traditional, have a unique role,” she said, “through the diversity of their services and collections.” Her speech echoed the conference theme, “Libraries Without Borders: Navigating Towards Global Understanding.”
Preceded by a performance by First Nations dancers, the governor general’s speech and words of welcome from organizing committee chair Claude Bonnelly and representatives of Quebec government were interspersed with dancing, poetry, and a pair of Inuit throat singers, leading to a keynote speech by author Dany Laferrière. IFLA President Claudia Lux of Germany delivered her presidential address, calling the conference “a great opportunity for more professional exchange.” Said Lux, “Our network within IFLA and the network of library associations in the individual countries are the guarantee for the further development of information services through libraries, to improve the lives of people throughout the world.”
Amid great pomp and circumstance, Ismael Serageldin received an honorary doctorate from Laval University for his leadership as director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. Robed faculty members from Laval University filed onto the stage to present the honor. Known to many as “the most intelligent man in Egypt,” Serageldin serves in an advisory capacity to a number of academic, research, and scientific organizations internationally and has been the recipient of 21 other honorary degrees.
The 2008 winner of the Access to Learning Award is the Vasconcelos Program in Mexico’s Veracruz state. The $1-million award honors the organization’s innovative efforts to connect the public to information and knowledge through free access to computers, the internet, and training. William H. Gates Sr. was in Quebec to present the award, and he talked about his son Bill Gates’s philanthropic objectives and dedication to libraries, while praising the strong support the Vasconcelos Program receives from the government of Veracruz.
OCLC CEO Jay Jordan announced the Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Fellows for 2009—six library and information professionals from Armenia, Kenya, Pakistan, Serbia, Uganda, and Zambia. OCLC recently renamed the award in Jordan’s honor because of his commitment to its continuance. Australian librarian Ros Dorsman picked up first place in the IFLA International Marketing Award, sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing. Dorsman won for a classroom partnership involving homework help for students in the Central West Libraries service area in New South Wales. The Shawky Salem Conference Attendance Grant for 2008 was awarded to Mahmoud Khalifa, a cataloger at the Library of Congress Cairo Office in Egypt.
Plenary session speakers included French-born artist, sociologist, and philosopher Hervé Fischer; Herman Pabbruwe, CEO of Brill Publishing in the Netherlands; and James Bartleman, Canadian diplomat and member of the Chippewas of Mnjikaning First Nation. Fischer began by showing photographs of new national libraries around the world and praising government investment in both digitization and monumental buildings. While defending the eternal value of books, Fischer also decried the notion that private companies such as Google somehow represent an evil threat to libraries. He admitted, however, that “I prefer the dust of library shelves to digital dust.” Pabbruwe talked about his 325-year-old company’s work in preserving the record of the world’s languages, many of which, particularly those of small indigenous populations, are threatened with extinction by the globalization of media.
Loriene Roy, immediate past president of the American Library Association, keynoted a session called “Indigenous Knowledge: Language, Culture, and Information Technology.” Along with another past president of ALA, Barbara Ford, and Veronda Pitchford of the Urban Libraries Council, Lesley Farmer of California State University at Long Beach, Michele M. Reid of North Dakota State University in Fargo, Lori Driscoll of the University of Florida in Gainesville, and delegates from the U.K. and Canada, she participated in a discussion group on “Women, Information, and Libraries,” with a focus on “empowering women professionals to lead in the information society.”
At an August 11 press conference, IFLA Headquarters Secretary-General Peter Lor explained the circumstances surrounding what became the major downside of the conference—the refusal of Canada to grant visas to 27 delegates, 13 of whom were ultimately turned away despite the federation’s attempts to intervene. Among those denied entry was Fariborz Khosravi, deputy director of the National Library of Iran. Five Colombians, two delegates each from Egypt and Nepal, and one each from Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa were also turned away. The August 9 Toronto Star reported that Citizenship and Immigration Canada spokesperson Danielle Norris said that with more than 3,200 participants, only 13 outright rejections means “they did very well.” Claudia Lux said the government had “expressed regret.”
Lux also introduced Jennefer Nicholson, who will replace Lor as IFLA secretary-general in September. The former executive director of the Australian Library and Information Association said she was looking forward to leveraging the “intellectual capital” of IFLA’s membership. “IFLA is what it is and who it is because of its members and partners,” she said. The conference also marked the release of Reaching Out: Innovations in Canadian Libraries, from Library and Archives Canada and the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec.
Posted on August 13, 2008; corrected August 30, 2008. Discuss.