Biblioteket tar saka #librarycase

There are probably tens of thousands of library Facebook pages around the world, but as of March 2022, the page of the Ukrainian Library Association is very special. Here librarians from different parts of the country write, also in cities under attack. Facebook has an automatic translation program; see links below each text for that purpose.

Today, March 21, there have been four posts. One of them goes like this (my translation into English from Norwegian):

«We have blown out some glass, in one department some bricks came in – well there was no one there at that time. But compared to the ruined school next to us, we have nothing to speak of! The collective is determined to win, support each other and help as much as we can. And if we can not – also 😉 We will stand and we will win! Honor to Ukraine!»

The IFLA Governing Board today issued a second, reassuring statement on Russia’s war against Ukraine. In connection with IFLA’s first statement of March 1, Mikael Böök commented it on this blog: «We are now witnessing a general drift towards a “Decoupling From Russia”, not only politically and financially, but also culturally and in the field of science and scientific communication. … How gratifying that IFLA deviates from that Cold War mentality and practice!»

And the same can be said today. After expressing «thoughts and sympathy … with the victims and our colleagues, the library and information workers in Ukraine», IFLA’s Governing Board says among other things:

«IFLA believes that librarians and information professionals around the world share the same intrinsic values. Therefore, it can not be the intention to exclude libraries and librarians on the basis of their nationality, or to isolate them. This is particularly important when the exercise of individual freedom of expression comes at great personal risk».

And furthermore: «The Governing Board of IFLA has discussed the correspondence and demands for the exclusion of the Russian Members of IFLA. According to the Statutes, the conditions for exclusion are currently not met and the necessary proof is lacking that Members are behaving in a way that would constitute a valid reason to exclude them. This decision was taken unanimously at an extraordinary Governing Board meeting on Friday, 18 March 2022».