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IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto presented at the Transforming Education Summit
The IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto is very important because it serves as a powerful tool for national governments to engage with and to support the development of public libraries. It helps libraries engage with the formal education system. Libraries are essential partners in the transforming education effort.
This announcement stressed the Manifesto’s assertion that libraries help all members of society access, produce, create, and share knowledge – including through the promotion of open access to scientific knowledge, research and innovations.
IFLA presented the newly updated Manifesto during a side event “Transforming Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) by implementing the UNESCO Open Education Resource (OER) Recommendation within Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships”, offered on “Solutions Day”.
This updated version of the UNESCO-IFLA Public Library Manifesto was unanimously endorsed by the Bureau of UNESCO’s Information for All Program (IFAP) on 19 July 2022, encouraging national and local governments to actively support and engage in the development of public libraries. In July 2022, IFLA and UNESCO, officially launched the newly updated Manifesto during the 86th World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in Dublin, Ireland. The Manifesto has been voluntarily translated into Arabic, Chinese, Czech, French, Italian, Norwegian and Portuguese, available at the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto webpage.
IFLA also highlighted the newly updated IFLA School Library Manifesto during the event. These documents underline the role of libraries and library professionals – working both within their communities and within the formal education system – as essential partners for accessing information, implementing the UNESCO OER Recommendation, and transforming education for sustainable development.
IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto
The Manifesto was created in 1949 and has been updated over the decades as the role of libraries in society evolves. Since 2020, IFLA and Information for All Programme (IFAP) have collaborated to update the Manifesto in order to consider changes in technology and society and ensure that the Manifesto continues to reflect the realities and mission of public libraries today.
