IFLA Africa Section Newsletter no. 33, July 2008
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s25/news/s25newsletter-jul08-en.pdf
The sun disappeared at 4:20 in the afternoon on 26 November 2007, in a cold, wintry Middletown, Connecticut. This is the day I arrived from Cape Town, where the sun was setting at 8 PM in the evening and where the summer heat was sending everyone to the beaches.
Entrance to Hartford Public Library.
I was in this university town, the home of Wesleyan University, and our warm and gracious hostess, Barbara Jones, University Librarian and IFLA FAIFE Secretary, to kick off the 5 day United States Workshop. The next few days would take us through seminar presentations and many field trips to different types of libraries in Connecticut and New York. In New York we were hosted by Loida Garcia from the Queens Public Library, IFLA FAIFE member. We were joined by chair of the IFLA FAIFE committee, Paul Sturges. As one of ten attendees from all over the world; from Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, Rica and Thailand, and presenters from the US and Britain, we formed in those few short days a truly International Federation of Librarians. We met with courageous, inspiring and award winning librarians, and visited awe-inspiring Libraries.
I am sure that I don’t need to introduce IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) so soon after South Africa hosting IFLA’s 73rd annual congress. FAIFE (Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) does need some introduction. FAIFE is a Standing Committee of IFLA with its focus on promoting the basic human right of access to information, and was established in 1998.
FAIFE has been hosting several workshops in different. The US workshop focused on two issues, namely, the IFLA FAIFE Internet Manifesto and the role of libraries in public health issues, such as HIV/AIDS.
The Internet Manifesto was created by IFLA FAIFE and approved by IFLA In 2002. The Manifesto guidelines are available at www.ifla.org/faife/policy/iflastat/Internet-ManifestoGuidelines.pdf. The key principle is access to information for all regardless of age, race or any other differences. The Internet is considered a key tool to not only to freedom of access to information, in particular remote rural places, but also as a medium for free expression. It brings the rights enshrined in article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, closer to practice.
The role of the librarian therefore is to resist or overcome barriers to free access, to encourage the creation of local content on the Internet, but perhaps more importantly, to uphold user privacy and resist censorship. In other words, to encourage the open and free flow of information. What does this mean in practical terms? Amongst others, an Internet access policy and user privacy policy.
We had many conversations with the workshop presenters and the librarians at the libraries we visited about access challenges in our countries. We engaged with the challenge of safe Internet access for children, while providing unhindered access to all information. How does one protect the privacy of the users on the information they access on Internet Terminals in public spaces?. Flushing Public Library in Queens, New York, have sunk the Internet terminals and placed a hooded dome over the screen, so that only the person seated at the computer is able to see what is on the screen. Both the person accessing the information and the public is protected from inadvertently seeing materials they may find offensive.
Entrance to Hartford Public Library.I was in this university town, the home of Wesleyan University, and our warm and gracious hostess, Barbara Jones, University Librarian and IFLA FAIFE Secretary, to kick off the 5 day United States Workshop. The next few days would take us through seminar presentations and many field trips to different types of libraries in Connecticut and New York. In New York we were hosted by Loida Garcia from the Queens Public Library, IFLA FAIFE member. We were joined by chair of the IFLA FAIFE committee, Paul Sturges. As one of ten attendees from all over the world; from Uganda, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, Rica and Thailand, and presenters from the US and Britain, we formed in those few short days a truly International Federation of Librarians. We met with courageous, inspiring and award winning librarians, and visited awe-inspiring Libraries.
I am sure that I don’t need to introduce IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) so soon after South Africa hosting IFLA’s 73rd annual congress. FAIFE (Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) does need some introduction. FAIFE is a Standing Committee of IFLA with its focus on promoting the basic human right of access to information, and was established in 1998.
FAIFE has been hosting several workshops in different. The US workshop focused on two issues, namely, the IFLA FAIFE Internet Manifesto and the role of libraries in public health issues, such as HIV/AIDS.
The Internet Manifesto was created by IFLA FAIFE and approved by IFLA In 2002. The Manifesto guidelines are available at www.ifla.org/faife/policy/iflastat/Internet-ManifestoGuidelines.pdf. The key principle is access to information for all regardless of age, race or any other differences. The Internet is considered a key tool to not only to freedom of access to information, in particular remote rural places, but also as a medium for free expression. It brings the rights enshrined in article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, closer to practice.
The role of the librarian therefore is to resist or overcome barriers to free access, to encourage the creation of local content on the Internet, but perhaps more importantly, to uphold user privacy and resist censorship. In other words, to encourage the open and free flow of information. What does this mean in practical terms? Amongst others, an Internet access policy and user privacy policy.
We had many conversations with the workshop presenters and the librarians at the libraries we visited about access challenges in our countries. We engaged with the challenge of safe Internet access for children, while providing unhindered access to all information. How does one protect the privacy of the users on the information they access on Internet Terminals in public spaces?. Flushing Public Library in Queens, New York, have sunk the Internet terminals and placed a hooded dome over the screen, so that only the person seated at the computer is able to see what is on the screen. Both the person accessing the information and the public is protected from inadvertently seeing materials they may find offensive.
At Yale University, no logs are kept on user terminals of access or login in information. The computer is reset when a student logs out. Yale also has a very progressive public access policy. The public is not only allowed access to the collections, but also public access computers. And again no logs of access are recorded and the computer will automatically reset after a period of inactivity. Yale University Libraries, along with Wesleyan University libraries, and all the other libraries we visited, no longer records the user circulation information. As soon as a user returns an item, the link between the user and the item that was borrowed, is severed. The privacy rights of users are protected, since libraries cannot be forced to surrenders the information access by their users.
The date in the picture is incorrect. The State Library of Connecticut. We speak with the librarian whose job it is to make state information accessible. I am inspired by the strategies he has for making that happen.
The Queens Library Health Link program in partnership with Queens Health Network and American Cancer Society runs mobile mammography unit at 32 of the 62 libraries in the Queens Library network. The service is offered at no cost to those who do not have health insurance. While those with insurance are not turned away, the goal of the programme is to increase access to cancer screening and care among medically underserved communities. It is estimated that one in 6 of the residents in Queens live in poverty. The Mammography truck is parked in the parking area of each of the libraries in the programme and 12 people can be assisted in the allotted time at each library.
The Flushing Public Library, one of the libraries in the Queens Library Network, has a health literacy programme. As the name suggests it combines English language literacy with health education. The programme covers topics such as parts of the body and describing ailments and symptoms, colds and flus, reading medicine and food labels, finally, it includes Internet search for health information. It is intended for new immigrants and those who do not have speak English.
Queens Central Library offers an HIV/AIDS awareness programme as part of their Educating Seniors programme. Seniors are often excluded from the target population of HIV/AIDS awareness and education programmes. This is a good reminder for all of us about the target populations of our programmes !
These examples led me to believe that there is nothing that can stand in the way of an active librarian who is truly interested in serving the needs of the community. There is a role for information, and therefore librarians and libraries, in all of the challenges that we are face in building a strong South Africa. All we need is the willingness to engage.
But all was not hard work. We had an adventure carting our luggage with us as we traveled from Connecticut to New Tork; first to Yale where it was stored while we visited the library, and then onto the train – or the subway- to New York. New York was freezing cold.
We braved the weather, took the ferry to Staten Island, saw the Statue of Liberty, and visited the site of the Twin Towers. To me the Statue of Liberty- the French people’s gift to the people of America- a woman, with a light in one hand and a book in the other, is a perfect symbol and salute to the work of the IFLA FAIFE Standing Committee.
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LIASA FAIFE in liaison with IFLA FAIFE will be hosting a pre-conference workshop at the 10th Annual LIASA Conference to be held at the CTICC in Cape Town, in October 2008.
