6th annual German Library congress (Bibliothekskongress)

In March, IFLA President Donna Scheeder attended the 6th annual German Library congress (Bibliothekskongress) in Leipzig, Germany. The opening plenary address was given by the president of the German Commission for UNESCO, Dr Verena Metze-Mangold.

During her speech, Dr Metze-Mangold stressed the importance of how libraries have changed and adapted to the needs of the contempary users and drew attention to the crucial role of access to information for building an informed and participatory society.

Dr Metze-Mangold also spoke about the significance of IFLA's long relationship with UNESCO and mentioned the IFLA / UNESCO Public Library Manifesto, pointing out that freedom of access to information was already a key issue for both organisations even back in 1994. Later on she elaborated on how the Lyon Declaration On Access to Information and Development and IFLA’s current role in engaging libraries to advocate with their national and regional policy makers are helping to contribute to meeting the global 2030 Agenda.

Libraries can and will continue to make important contributions to development and IFLA is pleased to continue working with UNESCO and others in areas of such critical importance.