Forget Valentine’s Day, across Australia 14 February has been re-named Library Lovers’ Day! This provides an opportunity to celebrate those who love and support libraries and to remind decision makers how loved and cherished libraries are by the entire community. Maybe you could introduce Library Lovers’ Day into your community in 2015. Not everyone receives flowers on Valentines Day but everyone is welcome at their local public library.
The NEXT Library 2014 Conference is being co-presented by the Urban Libraries Council, Aarhus Libraries, Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Public Library Foundation in Chicago, Illinois on June 20-25, 2014.
The NEXT Library Conference is a global gathering of forward thinking library professionals, innovators and decision-makers who come together to explore bold new visions and approaches that position public libraries as the learning center of local communities worldwide. To ensure that NEXT includes robust and diverse participation from throughout the world, scholarship support is available to support travel and conference registration fees for one week of conference attendance in Chicago. Scholarships will be awarded on a competitive basis. The deadline for scholarship applications is Monday, March 3.
Continuing the discussion about library services for homeless people Libuše Nivnická from the Czech Republic reports that in 2012 SKIP ( The Czech Library Association) has created a standard Handicap Friendly Libraries and this category cover all groups with any special needs. It means more than physical or mental disability and also includes homeless citizens.
Over the past few weeks members of the Public Libraries Section have been discussing programs for homeless citizens.
Our member Ljiljana Sabljak has sent in this report about the programs the City Library of Zagreb offers around social inclusion. The project is called With Book to a Roof Over the Head:
Our homeless citizens are not only users but also creators of the program, they become students who adopt new information and teachers who share knowledge and experience.We started because of the social role of the public library with a class of information literacy for homeless people. Free workshops for information literacy and computer literacy were offered in the library. After a year we donated some computers to their shelters.
We also started free art workshops for homeless people with the purpose of animating creative expressions. Today they sell their magazine Light of the Street, post cards, Christmas cards and souviners.All this helps them to be included, and increase their budget.
More than 12,000 librarians, exhibitors, authors, staff, paraprofessionals, teachers, and friends made the most of ALA Midwinter Meeting conversations, networking, exhibits, programs, award ceremonies, speakers, institutes, social events, and the city of Philadelphia. Read all about it in the retrospective Highlights issue of Cognotes, the meeting’s official newspaper. Some great Public Library leads.
Download or view the Highlights issue of Cognotes in the most convenient format:
View the interactive version
View the mobile version
View the accessible version
View a PDF
Our friends at the American Library Association advise that advance registration for PLA 2014 closes this Friday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Looks to be a great program.
World Library and Information congress 80th IFLA General Council and Congress
“Libraries, Citizens and Societies: Confluence for Knowledge”
16-22 August 2014, Lyon, France
Are you involved in an interesting project or in an area of work that you would like to discuss with or show to other congress attendees? Why not present your work in the IFLA Poster Sessions?
Your topic could be described on a printed poster or by photographs, graphics and pieces of text that you attach to the presentation panel. All IFLA official languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian and Spanish – are welcome. Presenters of a poster will be expected to be present on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 August 2014 in order to explain their poster and to hand out any leaflets, or other information materials, they have available for viewers of their poster. Each presenter can therefore only present one poster. Any organization that submits more than one application should indicate a priority to their submissions.
Conference participants interested in presenting a poster should complete the online registration form.
It is important that applicants describe how they intend to illustrate the project in the poster format. The poster has to be an experience in itself for the one who looks at it – and should show awareness of the poster format.
Special consideration will be given to ensure that a variety of topics and geographical/cultural range will be represented.
The deadline is 03 February 2014, after the deadline applications will no longer be accepted. A jury comprised of 2 members of the IFLA Professional Committee will review all submissions and at the congress they will select the winner of the Best IFLA Poster 2014 based on the following criteria:
Does the topic of the poster:
Look interesting and/or inspiring;
Look lively;
Lend itself to a poster session; is not too abstract;
Present new ideas or present an application of technology;
Appear to be clearly explained;
Not duplicate another poster, nor have the same presenter as another poster (a presenter must be present during the poster session to explain the poster to viewers);
Have a relationship to the theme of the WLIC;
Have a clear library relevance or perspective;
Describe a project that is ongoing or near completion, not one that is yet to start.
For complete and up-to-date information concerning Poster Sessions, please see the Call for Posters webpage on the IFLA WLIC 2014 conference website
If you have any further questions, please contact [email protected]
