Author Archives: richards

Lo Claesson PLS Nominee

 

Lo Claesson from Sweden is also standing for a second term on the PLS Standing Committee. If you watched the streaming of STEAM into Sydney you would have heard several of our nominees speak including Lo.

 

 

Name: Lo Claesson
Institution: Vaggeryd Public Library
Country: Sweden

I´m running for my second term as a Standing Committee member of PLS and bring valuable experience from planning, working and networking for this section. I have presented papers in WLIC in Quebec 2008, in satellite conference in Cape Town 2015 and in several other national and international conferences. I also had a poster presentation in WLIC, Columbus, last year.

I have got long library experience, first as a children´s librarian, then as a regional library developer and since 2009 as library director. As I´m working in a small town library I want to bring that view in all my commitments. I am passionate about the role of library in the local community and by networking finding valuable partnerships. My library has managed to be at the forefront thanks to good municipal relationships. We also listen closely to our user´s needs and wants.

Other fields from which I also have experience are digital literacy, STEAM and sustainable development. I also worked for some years with accessibility issues and as most Swedish libraries; my library also is very much involved in integration issues. So in other words: I think I can bring a broad experience into the section work.

I am a member of the Swedish Library Association Board.
I am also the co-writer of a book on library and makerspaces (Skaparbibblan, 2015).

Pirkko Lindberg

 

This morning we  introduce you to Pirkko Lindberg from Finland. Pirkko has just completed her first term on the Standing Committee and is seeking re-election for a second term.

 

 

 

Name: Pirkko Lindberg
Institution: Tampere City Library
Country: Finland 

 

What experience will you bring to the role of Standing Committee Member?
As a director of a big city library, Tampere in Finland, I have a good overview of a modern and active library. Tampere City Library, as many libraries in Finland and Scandinavia are living in a big transition – actually the change has been going on for several years. Libraries are important actors in the society as helping people in everyday needs as it-skills and civics. Of course in Finland we have still a lots of lendings in our libraries and reading is still going strong!

Also one important task in Finnish libraries is to advance democracy and equality. We have a new Library Act in Finland, which was introduced 1.1.2017, and I was happy to be a member of the group which prepared the act in the Ministry of Education and Culture. The act is very important for libraries, because in defines our existence in the society and gives us our tasks, possibilities and frames. It also defines that using libraries is free of charge, which is one very important way to advance democracy. I am happy to share my information in the IFLA Public Library section of the impact of the Library Act.

I am the Vice President of the Finnish Library Association and a member of the board and many jobs in the national level. I have just been elected to the group which is preparing an IFLA statement on digital literacy.

I am happy to share my wide information of the modern libraries in the Public Library Section. I think my long career, 35 years in library field, gives me good professional experience and understanding how to develop libraries in a modern society.

Qiang Xu

 

Our fourth nominee Qiang Xu is from China. Here he shares his story.

 

 

 

 

Name: Qiang Xu
Institution: Shanghai Library & ISTIS(Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of Shanghai)
Country: China

What experience will you bring to the role of Standing Committee Member?
My relevant expertise and interest is library management and digital services, which focuses on the patron’s service standardization, document reference service and digital reading services. For a five-year period, from 1991-1996, I was a full-time acquisition member at Shanghai Library, where I was responsible for science and technical books and materials procurement. When I moved to the system librarian for information technology department in 1996, which served as a staff of library integrated system and information management for the new library building. As a Director of System & Network Center, I worked for library IT department and digital library for nineteen years. From 2001-present, after researching and analyzing the change of library filed, my team and I activated to establish the “one card through” program, which goal is cooperated with all public libraries in Shanghai. There have been 256 libraries to join the library consortium, annual 66 million circulations, sharing more than 20 databases of electronic resources in the whole city. Due to this, my team was a winner of innovation awards by Ministry of Culture of China. It makes me has some new experiences and new research results in the field of library consortium management. From 2003-2011 I led the library to strengthen the program management of digital library and successfully overcoming challenge. Over the past decade, a large number of history documents were digitized, digital assets were being established, and long-term preservation of digital resources strategy was being implemented. Recently I am focusing on the e-book lending and digital reading program and reference service system as a Director of Reader’s Service Center since 2015. I also take part in to draft some library standards in China. Now I am a standing committee member of the branch of public library and library management in Library Society of China, also a standing committee member of Shanghai Computer Society.

Leikny Haga Indergaard – Norway – Nominee for PLS Standing Committee

Leikny Haga Indergaard has also nominated for the PLS Standing Committee for the term 2017-2021. Leikny is currently in her first term on the Standing Committee.

 

 

 

Name: Leikny Haga Indergaard 
Institution: Bergen Public Library
Country: Norway

What experience will you bring to the role of Standing Committee Member?

First of all I will bring my experiences as the director of a public library which has changed from a traditional library to a modern, user oriented library. Bergen Public Library facilitates and lead change by linking all generations in the community together to build local capacities and multiple literacies through library programs and activities. We create networks in the local society, and invite our users to be a resource in the sculpting of the library´s services, and we want to be the cultural meeting place and learning space required by future citizens.

Bergen Public Library is the host of the IFLA Satellite meeting Managing change- Libraries in transition August 16-17th 2017, and we invite librarians from all over the world to our city. Together with presentations from colleagues from the IFLA society we will also present our library and our ongoing projects that aim to shape a library for the future!

As a member of IFLA Public Libraries Section I have given papers about library strategies, smart ideas and experiences from our library on the IFLA conferences in Sydney, March 2017, in Philadelphia and IFLA Congress Columbus Ohio in August 2016; and about literacy matters in other international conferences.

I have had the position as a public library director in different libraries, and have also experiences from public library strategies at a national level as a former director at the National Library and earlier from the National Authority of Archives, Libraries and Museums and my engagement in different projects about literature and cultural activities.

I have also other international experiences and engagement, and I ´m now the vice chair of the board of ICORN, The International Cities of Refuge Network. ICORN is an independent organization of cities and regions offering shelter to writers and artists at risk, advancing freedom of expression, defending democratic values and promoting international solidarity.

In IFLA I have had the position as chair of the Literacy and Reading Section and as a member of the Children and Young Adult Section. I have organized IFLA preconferences and satellite Meetings in Stavanger 2005, Oslo 2007 and Bergen 2017. I have also been a part of the National Committee of IFLA 2005 in Oslo.

Meet Susan Considine

 

Continuing our profiles of those standing for election to the Public Libraries Standing Committee we meet Susan Considine. All those who have nominated have been invited to share their story.

 

 

Name:Sue Considine
Institution: Fayetteville Free Library.
Country: USA

What experience will you bring to the role of Standing Committee Member?
As an administrator of a busy, progressive public library, Sue has successfully recruited and developed a team of dynamic professionals, support staff and community members who offer cutting edge library services in a state of the art environment to an engaged community. During Sue’s administration the Fayetteville Free Library has received the Library Journal’s Five Star rating for nine years. Sue is a leader of innovation in the library field, pioneering new transformative methods of community engagement including integration of participatory STEAM learning into all library services and launching the first ever Fabrication lab, the FFL FabLab, in a public library. Sue is a passionate advocate for librarians and is committed to the development of the next generation of librarian leaders through the identification of and creation of leadership opportunities in the information field for new graduates and emerging library leaders. Sue is a seasoned national and international public speaker who has presented on contemporary library issues including, future libraries, innovation, leadership, organizational design, team development and more. Sue is a proud recipient of the 2012 NYLA Mary Bobinski Innovative Public Library Director award and both the 2013 Library Journal Mover & Shaker and the WCNY Women Who Make America awards. Sue received the White House “Champion of Change” award and had the honor to participate in a panel discussion, representing the FFL, CNY and Public Libraries, at the White House. In 2015 Sue received the Central NY Business Journal Not for Profit Excellence award and was invited to present on a panel at the first annual day of Making at the US Capitol in DC . Finally in 2016, Sue Considine received the PLA Charlie Robinson award for innovation and excellence in public library leadership.

Introducing Hitomi Takeuchi

Voting for members of the IFLA Public Library Standing Committee is now open. If you’re an IFLA member and registered for the Public Libraries Sectionyou should have received your ballot paper.

We invited those who have nominated to share some information about themselves and we’ll be posting it on the Blog over the next week. This post we introduce Hitomi Takeuchi.

 

Name: Hitomi Takeuchi
Institution: formerly National Diet Library,
presently Jissen Women’s University
Country:Japan
 

 

 

What experience will you bring to the role of Standing Committee Member?
Two years ago I presented Hukushima tragedy in Japan 2011 at the Satellite Meeting in Cape Town IFLA Conference. It could remind many world librarians to think and prepare disasters of the library. We Japanese public librarians had very sad experiences in that time, however we could contribute the world public libraries through talking and writing our important experiences to the other countries librarians.
The last year I translated into Japanese and published the book titled “IFLA Public Library Service Guidelines, 2nd ed.” The book has great power to improve Japanese Public Library services through knowing the world best practices in it.
I tried to discuss to make the Japanese young Public librarians open mind and join the various meeting including the PLS’s mid-term meeting and the Conference. Through these meetings I could introduce the new trends and high quality and unique services in Japanese Public Libraries to the world librarians.

More people use public libraries in England than attend Premier League football matches!

CILIP’s PMLG Newsletter reports that the Annual Report to Parliament, reports  that Libraries are still popular and there are a large number of visits each year. In 2015/16 alone there were 177 million book loans and 211 million visits to libraries in England – more than the total attendance at English Premier League football matches, cinema admissions in England and the top 10 UK tourist attractions combined.

The report demonstartes that public libraries in England contribute to cultural and creative enrichment
● increased reading and literacy
● increased digital access and literacy
● helping everyone achieve their full potential
● healthier and happier lives
● greater prosperity
● stronger, more resilient communities

However the report indicates that the way in which people use libraries and their expectations  are changing.