Presidential Newsletter
No. 1 September 2007
Dear IFLA Members,
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I have only just returned from IFLA's World
Library and Information Congress 2007 in Durban. It was a great
congress, filled with hospitality and joy, abounding with
excellent papers and good discussions about the most diverse
aspects of libraries and the information society. It mirrored
our organisation's active professional life. |
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As the new IFLA president I welcome all new members of standing
committees and I congratulate both officers and members of the new
governing board on their election or re-election. I hope that my
presidential theme "
Libraries
on the Agenda" will foster the advocacy competencies of
our organisation and of librarians throughout the world.
In Durban, we happily announced a one million dollar grant from the
Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation to IFLA to continue our work to highlight
the importance of providing public access to technology and the
Internet through libraries to help improve lives.
We are able now to set up the long-hoped-for advocacy position at our
Headquarters in The Hague to support Free Access of Information and
Freedom of Expression as well as other advocacy initiatives aiming to
put libraries on the agenda and strengthen our members' advocacy
competencies. I firmly believe that advocacy competence is a key
element in sustaining the development of libraries.
We also introduced our newly established IFLA language centres for
Arabic,
French
and
Russian
and the new
Regional Office for
Africa in Pretoria.
The presentation of IFLA publications proved to be a rather successful
event in Durban. The more than seven publications are another effective
outcome of our association's work [
http://www.ifla.org/V/saur.htm].
With best wishes to all of you
Claudia Lux
President of IFLA 2007 - 2009
September 2007
The Letter of the President
"LOP" is distributed by e-mail at least once a month to
provide an overview of some of the current activities of the IFLA
President, President Elect, the Governing Board and the Headquarters.
It contains LINKS for further consultation and will be sent to IFLA-L
and all other mailing lists organised by IFLA.
