IFLA releases IFLA Trend Report Update 2023

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has released IFLA Trend Report Update 2023. The report highlights the potential obstacles to sustainable development that libraries face, the importance of addressing them, and ways to overcome them. Since the first Trends Report in 2013, IFLA has been publishing updates to the report with a focus on identifying long-term trends in the library sector and preparing for the future. The 2023 edition identifies 12 trends affecting libraries' ability to achieve sustainable development, and proposes solutions for each, including

1. Libraries are increasingly seen as irrelevant in a changing world

2. The world is going down a path that discounts the value of community-driven infrastructures, and of information for development

3. In many countries, public spending – and so scope for investment – is tightening

4. More diverse societies make delivering universal services and achieving equity more complicated

5. Regulation of digital spaces is accelerating, but without consideration of impacts on how libraries support development

6. An increasingly uncertain world intensifies challenges and complicates service-delivery

7. There are persistent and growing barriers to building partnerships for development

8. Persistent geographical inequalities are reinforced by unequal investment in public services

9. Library and information workers are seen as auxiliaries, rather than development actors in their own right

10. Globalisation continues, opening up new expectations for information access

11. Even as connectivity improves, the digital divide is persistent and getting more serious

12. We are too busy dealing with crises to think strategically

IFLA hopes that this report will inspire library relations to further develop. The report can be downloaded from the IFLA Repository.

(Source)

https://www.ifla.org/news/influencing-impact-ifla-trend-report-update-2023-explores-what-shapes-libraries-ability-to-shape-development/