The adventures of a wee Italo-Scottish librarian at the big scary IFLA WLIC 2019 (24-30 August, Athens, Greece)
Hello dear readers and apologies for our prolonged silence. As they say, life gets in the way and we have all been very busy with various things.
In this post I – Laura – will tell you about my amazing experience attending the IFLA WLIC (International Federation of Library Associations – World Library and Information Congress) 2019, which was hosted in sunny and roasting Athens. I believe the title gives it away a bit! The theme of this edition was Libraries: dialogue for change, and this was echoed throughout all of the sessions. Dialogue to enable understanding among all stakeholders, to spark change and development. Athens, the birthplace of democracy, of the first public library, of dialogue as methods for reasoning, thanks to the great philosophers Socrates and Plato, was the perfect location for this year’s IFLA WLIC.
This edition also saw the IFLA President, Glòria Pérez-Salmerón, stepping down and welcoming the newly elected President, Christine Mackenzie. I made a note of some of Gloria’s quotes that I found particularly inspiring:
“To change the world we must be ready to change ourselves”
“I am so proud to be a librarian!”
“Libraries are an investment, not a cost”.
My path towards IFLA WLIC adventure started a while back, over a year ago to be precise. I was chatting to a very experienced information professional, who has attended this event on several occasions, and she was warmly recommending me to go, stressing how inspiring and refreshing the whole experience is. Fully aware of the fact that I would not be able to afford the costs on my own, I then set my mind on keeping my eyes peeled for bursaries or grants that could help me cover the expenses. When I saw about the Alan Hopkinson Award, offered by CILIP ILIG (International Library and Information Group), I knew it was my golden ticket and I quickly started working on my application. I was not expecting - I am being very honest here – to ever being selected for the award, so when the notification email arrived I was over the moon!
My journey to Athens was smooth and the city welcomed me with a sunny and very hot (30° C) weather, which, coming from gloomy Glasgow, I truly enjoyed! I lived the whole experience with excitement and curiosity and fully aware of how lucky I was to being part of it! The conference venue was wonderful, but quite dispersive and slightly mazey! The programme offer was so vast that it was quite hard to choose which session to attend. It happened a couple times that I went to a session and, after having realised that it was not what I was expecting, I moved to a different room. The IFLA WLIC app was a useful tool to have handy at all time, to create your own schedule, obtain various information on the Congress and the city in general and also connect to the other participants.
Some of the sessions and talks were eye-opening for me, since they made me consider things from a viewpoint that I had never assumed before. I learnt about topics and areas of research within our profession that I did not know existed. An example is the work around offline Internet: there are professionals looking for solutions to provide digital resources to those areas that cannot connect to the Internet. I had never even considered this need before.
I had a great time in Athens. I mean, sunshine, tasty food, lovely scenery, good vibe…what’s not to enjoy??! I thought I would be knackered by the end of the Congress and willing to hide myself from the rest of the world. Instead, I was gutted when it was all over and I was begging for more! I clearly remember that the level of excitement was equal during the opening and the closing ceremony, although, during the second one, I had that unpleasant feeling of something good coming to an end.
I am not sure whether I will be able to attend IFLA WLIC again, but I hope so. It is definitely an experience that I recommend to everyone. And you know what the best part of the entire IFLA WLIC is? It is not the opening and closing ceremonies, as much as entertaining and inspiring they are, nor the sessions, as much as interesting and enlightening they may be; not even the exhibitions, with their latest products and services for libraries on display. It is the PEOPLE. I had the best time chatting to people I met over lunch or coffee breaks, people sitting around my same table in the workshops, people who were with me on the library tours and at the social evening. Participants from over 140 countries were gathered in one venue to present their work, to share ideas, to seek advice, to make connections and feel part of one, global community of library and information professionals. I felt emotional when the Congress numbers were enunciated: I was part of this huge community!
Some of the highlights of my experience in Athens:
● Meeting professionals working at the Library of Congress - it may sound silly, but I was really excited to meet some of them in person for the first time!
● Meeting in person Miriam Björkhem from the National Library of Sweden, whom I had previously watched in a YouTube video whilst presenting at the Library of Congress the work that her institution has done with linked data
● The stunning sunset I enjoyed from the terrace of the National Library of Greece
● Visiting the Onassis Library
● Visiting the Acropolis, a life-long dream, after years of studying the Greek classics, Ancient Greek (language), Greek art and architecture.
After having praised the event and my experience there, I have a confession to make: I was maybe expecting something more mind-blowing, cutting-edge and striking from the presentations. However, IFLA WLIC is, to me, not just a showcase of ideas, but the place where significant connections are established and nurtured. As I said, IFLA WLIC is about the people you meet. It is the place where to find inspiration, motivation, answers and work collaboratively to update standards, develop new services and compare results. This was the key goal of the IFLA Global Vision Ideas Store, the biggest idea store for actions in the library field, which was launched at this year’s WLIC. I was particularly interested in seeing the results of the IFLA Global Vision presented, since I had myself contributed to the discussions when attending the CILIP Conference 2018 in Brighton, UK. The Ideas Store has stemmed from the voice of thousands of librarians across the globe, many of which had never had the opportunity of expressing and sharing their opinion before.
I want to seize this opportunity to thank once again CILIP ILIG for having granted me the Alan Hopkinson Award and I warmly invite you all to apply next year, since it is a once in a life-time experience awaiting you!
Cheerio,
Laura
In this post I – Laura – will tell you about my amazing experience attending the IFLA WLIC (International Federation of Library Associations – World Library and Information Congress) 2019, which was hosted in sunny and roasting Athens. I believe the title gives it away a bit! The theme of this edition was Libraries: dialogue for change, and this was echoed throughout all of the sessions. Dialogue to enable understanding among all stakeholders, to spark change and development. Athens, the birthplace of democracy, of the first public library, of dialogue as methods for reasoning, thanks to the great philosophers Socrates and Plato, was the perfect location for this year’s IFLA WLIC.
This edition also saw the IFLA President, Glòria Pérez-Salmerón, stepping down and welcoming the newly elected President, Christine Mackenzie. I made a note of some of Gloria’s quotes that I found particularly inspiring:
“To change the world we must be ready to change ourselves”
“I am so proud to be a librarian!”
“Libraries are an investment, not a cost”.
My path towards IFLA WLIC adventure started a while back, over a year ago to be precise. I was chatting to a very experienced information professional, who has attended this event on several occasions, and she was warmly recommending me to go, stressing how inspiring and refreshing the whole experience is. Fully aware of the fact that I would not be able to afford the costs on my own, I then set my mind on keeping my eyes peeled for bursaries or grants that could help me cover the expenses. When I saw about the Alan Hopkinson Award, offered by CILIP ILIG (International Library and Information Group), I knew it was my golden ticket and I quickly started working on my application. I was not expecting - I am being very honest here – to ever being selected for the award, so when the notification email arrived I was over the moon!
My journey to Athens was smooth and the city welcomed me with a sunny and very hot (30° C) weather, which, coming from gloomy Glasgow, I truly enjoyed! I lived the whole experience with excitement and curiosity and fully aware of how lucky I was to being part of it! The conference venue was wonderful, but quite dispersive and slightly mazey! The programme offer was so vast that it was quite hard to choose which session to attend. It happened a couple times that I went to a session and, after having realised that it was not what I was expecting, I moved to a different room. The IFLA WLIC app was a useful tool to have handy at all time, to create your own schedule, obtain various information on the Congress and the city in general and also connect to the other participants.
Some of the sessions and talks were eye-opening for me, since they made me consider things from a viewpoint that I had never assumed before. I learnt about topics and areas of research within our profession that I did not know existed. An example is the work around offline Internet: there are professionals looking for solutions to provide digital resources to those areas that cannot connect to the Internet. I had never even considered this need before.
I had a great time in Athens. I mean, sunshine, tasty food, lovely scenery, good vibe…what’s not to enjoy??! I thought I would be knackered by the end of the Congress and willing to hide myself from the rest of the world. Instead, I was gutted when it was all over and I was begging for more! I clearly remember that the level of excitement was equal during the opening and the closing ceremony, although, during the second one, I had that unpleasant feeling of something good coming to an end.
I am not sure whether I will be able to attend IFLA WLIC again, but I hope so. It is definitely an experience that I recommend to everyone. And you know what the best part of the entire IFLA WLIC is? It is not the opening and closing ceremonies, as much as entertaining and inspiring they are, nor the sessions, as much as interesting and enlightening they may be; not even the exhibitions, with their latest products and services for libraries on display. It is the PEOPLE. I had the best time chatting to people I met over lunch or coffee breaks, people sitting around my same table in the workshops, people who were with me on the library tours and at the social evening. Participants from over 140 countries were gathered in one venue to present their work, to share ideas, to seek advice, to make connections and feel part of one, global community of library and information professionals. I felt emotional when the Congress numbers were enunciated: I was part of this huge community!
Some of the highlights of my experience in Athens:
● Meeting professionals working at the Library of Congress - it may sound silly, but I was really excited to meet some of them in person for the first time!
● Meeting in person Miriam Björkhem from the National Library of Sweden, whom I had previously watched in a YouTube video whilst presenting at the Library of Congress the work that her institution has done with linked data
● The stunning sunset I enjoyed from the terrace of the National Library of Greece
● Visiting the Onassis Library
● Visiting the Acropolis, a life-long dream, after years of studying the Greek classics, Ancient Greek (language), Greek art and architecture.
After having praised the event and my experience there, I have a confession to make: I was maybe expecting something more mind-blowing, cutting-edge and striking from the presentations. However, IFLA WLIC is, to me, not just a showcase of ideas, but the place where significant connections are established and nurtured. As I said, IFLA WLIC is about the people you meet. It is the place where to find inspiration, motivation, answers and work collaboratively to update standards, develop new services and compare results. This was the key goal of the IFLA Global Vision Ideas Store, the biggest idea store for actions in the library field, which was launched at this year’s WLIC. I was particularly interested in seeing the results of the IFLA Global Vision presented, since I had myself contributed to the discussions when attending the CILIP Conference 2018 in Brighton, UK. The Ideas Store has stemmed from the voice of thousands of librarians across the globe, many of which had never had the opportunity of expressing and sharing their opinion before.
I want to seize this opportunity to thank once again CILIP ILIG for having granted me the Alan Hopkinson Award and I warmly invite you all to apply next year, since it is a once in a life-time experience awaiting you!
Cheerio,
Laura
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