IFLA in Gothenburg, Day 1: The American Agenda

August 11, 2010

For American delegates, the annual conference of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) traditionally begins with a pep talk, officially known as "Caucus: U.S.A." The August 10 meeting was an opportunity for old friends to reunite and for first-time delegates to get the lay of the land—in this case Gothenburg, Sweden—from seasoned IFLA-goers who are serving on the Governing Board, Professional Committee, or on committees in the federation's five divisions: Library Types, Library Collections, Library Services, Support of the Profession, and Regions.

Among the speakers were Donna Scheeder, Judith Field, and Steve Witt, all members of the Governing Board. Scheeder urged delegates to visit the IFLA website and check out the board's new strategic plan. She also mentioned the board's work in providing assistance to earthquake-stricken libraries in Haiti. Witt and Field, along with Winston Tabb, are members of the Professional Committee, and Witt talked about a topic of perpetual interest: how the IFLA conference cities are chosen. He noted that the PC has been evaluating conferences and looking for new models, including this year's move to five conference threads to help attendees find programs geared to their professional interests. Tabb talked about the work of the Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters, noting the committee's work with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) that focused on drafting a new "instrument" for a global copyright strategy "based on real library needs." Loida Garcia-Febo, secretary to the Committee on Access to Information and Freedom of Expression, reminded the dozen or so first-time U.S. delegates to attend the Newcomers Session available for their orientation, and she urged everyone to attend the 2011 IFLA conference in Puerto Rico.

Agneta Olsson, chair of the Swedish National Organizing Committee, stopped by to extend warm greetings to the Americans and emphasized the conference theme: Open Access to Knowledge: Promoting Sustainable Progress. Maija Berendtson, representing the organizing committee for the 2012 IFLA conference, scheduled for Helsinki, Finland, updated the caucus on the committee's plans. Because Gothenburg stepped in to host the 2010 conference at the eleventh hour when the originally scheduled hosts in Australia had to bail out, the conference will be in Scandinavia twice in three years, but Berendtson urged the American group not to think that because they had experienced Gothenburg they could skip Helsinki. She pointed east, noting Finland's proximity to and cultural connections with Russia, and to the Baltic nations Estonia and Latvia.

The Gothenburg conference marks a sea change in the federation's use of technology and social media, which could be seen on the IFLA website, where photos and stories from the conference were posted daily on the "Follow the Conference as It Happens!" pages.

IFLA President Ellen Tise of South Africa said she came to the caucus simply to express her gratitute to the American delegation for its ongoing support of her and the work of the federation. She said that the Swedish organizers had chosen to energize her presidential theme, "Libraries Driving Access to Knowledge," by incoporating the concept in the conference theme, and for that she was also grateful.

The session was emceed by Carla Funk of the Medical Library Association, which hosted a reception after the caucus along with the American Library Association, Association for Library and Information Science Education, Association of Research Libraries, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, Special Libraries Association, and Urban Libraries Council.

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