[governance] Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries

Mon Mar 5 03:26:10 EST 2012

Dear Colleagues

I am pleased to inform you of a new Dynamic Coalition on Public Access
in Libraries which has been approved by the IGF Secretariat. The
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
and Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) are the organisers of
this coalition and, as is traditional, we are now seeking further
interested members who are interested in the topic and wish to be kept
informed of the DC's activities, discussions and progress. This email
gives some background on the DC, and further information is available on
request.

Background

At the IGF 2011, Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) organised a
workshop to discuss the findings of a recent study of perceptions of
public libraries by policy makers in six countries in Africa. The study
revealed that policy makers still think of libraries in terms of printed
media, and not as spaces for catalysing internet access and use.
Evidence was presented that public libraries that offer innovative and
ICT enabled services based on free public access to the Internet can
contribute to positive change in their communities and support
development goals in vital areas including health, agriculture,
employment, education and children and youth at risk. The lively
workshop discussion underlined the need for a shared vision and dialogue
by policy makers, civil society, private industry and librarians, on how
Internet-enabled public libraries can contribute to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. The workshop discussion finished with an
agreement between participants to move ahead with the creation of a
Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries to explore these issues
further in an IGF setting.

Necessity

While the number of Internet users worldwide now tops two billion, it is
important to remember that a significant percentage will not have their
own network connection. Instead, hundreds of millions of people utilise
the Internet through shared connections, or through providers of public
access to the Internet such as libraries. It will not be possible to
maintain or increase the number of worldwide users without continued
support for public access to the Internet - something that is even more
important in times of financial austerity when the role of public
libraries, and the gateways they offer to free or low-cost Internet
access, becomes even more crucial to people's opportunities in areas
such as employment, education and health.

However, libraries still remain largely overlooked as community
development partners. Within the context of the IGF, no arena currently
exists for the discussion of Internet governance issues relating to
public access intermediaries such as public libraries. Public access to
the Internet is tackled in a cross-programme sense, but the sheer reach
of libraries - there are over one billion registered library users on
the planet - demands that special attention be paid to the challenges
and opportunities faced and offered by these crucial institutions.
Everyday libraries face challenges offered by serving disparate user
groups - children and young people, the unemployed, the elderly, the
disabled and many other mainstream and marginalised groups. They may be
the only places in communities that allow access to social media or
Internet telephony, or provide gateways to e-government services. Public
library staff must be aware of and able to serve the needs of users,
while at the same time remaining aware of privacy and human rights
issues. 

The formation of a new Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries
creates a space within the IGF to address the Internet governance issues
relating to public access, and will enable a discussion to take place
about how the existing expertise, networks and infrastructure offered by
public libraries can contribute to the goals and spirit of the WSIS
process. This discussion would be truly multi-stakeholder - public
libraries are funded by the taxpayer and embedded in government
infrastructure, they are frequented by members of civil society and the
entrepreneurs behind SMEs, and they frequently partner with the private
sector to provide buildings and services. A Dynamic Coalition on Public
Access in Libraries would benefit from the participation of
representatives from all these groups.

Objectives

*         To place public access to the Internet through public
libraries on the agenda of the IGF as a cross-cutting issue on a number
of IGF key themes e.g. Internet Governance and Development; Access and
Diversity; Security, Openness and Privacy; Youth. 

*         To ensure that representatives of libraries and their users
are consulted on issues of Internet Governance within, and outside of,
the context of the IGF.

*         To create a dialogue between library representatives and
policy makers on the potential of public libraries in major policy areas
such as social cohesion, education, employment, community development,
health and agriculture,  in pursuit of sustainable funding and
favourable policies towards libraries.

*         To feed in IGF-related activities to existing EIFL and IFLA
work programmes for ICTD in 2012 and beyond, such as the Beyond Access
Campaign on libraries and development, European Union activities on
e-Inclusion and the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC)
in Helsinki in August 2012.

Interested Members?

We are seeking interested organisations and individuals from all
stakeholder groups to contribute to the work of the Dynamic Coalition.
As with other coalitions, collaboration can range from following and
participating in discussions on the DC mailing list, to active
participation in workshops and events at the main IGF and related
regional/national IGFs. IFLA and EIFL already plan to participate at the
EuroDIG, and those interested in this topic may also be interested in
the forthcoming Beyond Access Campaign
(http://www.beyondaccesscampaign.org/) which works to promote the role
of public libraries in delivering development goals. Please send me
(stuart.hamilton at ifla.org)  an email with your/your organisation's
details if you are interested in being a member of this DC.

I apologise for the long email but I hope that this background
information is useful. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you
require any further information.

Kind regards,

Stuart

Stuart Hamilton

Director of Policy and Advocacy

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

P.O. Box 95312
2509 CH The Hague
Netherlands

00 31 70 314 0884

Twitter: @iflaspa

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20120305/0acd42bd/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t