By Mikael Böök, Isnäs, Finland
In this writing I demand a paradigm shift or revolt. Or maybe not paradigm shift, because I want to show that IFLA and libraries have a great potential. But which is not used.
No, do not abandon all hope! You who enter here, remember that “our vision is a strong and united library field powering literate, informed and participative societies.”
The inscription at the gate to IFLA’s own vault on the World Wide Web – quoted in italics above – inspires to some further thoughts on the current crisis of of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.
First, however, some words about the special issue that Biblioteksbladet, the journal of the Swedish Library Association has published about the situation within IFLA.
Information has hitherto not been easy to obtain from IFLA itself, and neither have other sources of the international library community been keen on throwing light on it. Biblioteksbladet has already for some time been an exception, that is, for those who read Swedish. However, this changed at the end of last month when the journal attempted a synthesis, in English, of what has happened within IFLA. Their special issue in English is found here.
The special IFLA-issue of Biblioteksbladet is warmly recommended reading for library staff around the world. To begin with, it features a piece called “Fear. Illness. Silence”, based on a fact finding mission to The Hague (where IFLA’s headquarters are located) by Lisa Bjurwald. This is a decent journalistic job that serves the uninitiated as a valuable introduction while …
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