PAJ FEATURE: Shh — Librarians Meet in Poland

Over 3,100 top-level library and information science and technology professionals met in Poland for the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions 83rd World Library and Information Congress. Opening ceremonies included performances by groups from the 122 participating countries. $31.1 Million Gates Grant Announced as Librarians from Around the World Unite in Poland around a Global Vision WROCŁAW, Poland — Nothing short of a unified global vision for the role of libraries around the world will satisfy the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and a $31.1 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now about to make that vision a reality. Capping a 15-country $13.5 million investment in the foundation’s “Global Libraries” program, the grant to IFLA aims to improve the lives of 1 billion “information poor” by positioning the world’s 320,000 public libraries as “critical community assets and providers of information through relevant technologies” by 2030. The grant was announced in Wrocław, where some 330 Americans registered for IFLA’s 83rd World Library and Information Congress, August 19-26. The Congress is the world’s largest such gathering, bringing together 3,100 top-level library and information science and technology professionals from academic, public, school, medical, technical, and government libraries from 122 countries. Bringing the weeklong IFLA congress to Poland was something of a coup for the Congress organizers, providing an opportunity to showcase Poland’s blossoming economy. The abundance of consumer goods evident in post-communist Poland belies the urgent need for information professionals in government and business to harness information technology in the service of education, economic development, and democracy. “Where were you going, Poland, before you were so rudely interrupted?” asked Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski during his keynote address. The professor of Polish-Lithuanian history at University College London summarized hundreds of years of Polish history during which the “interruptions” of war and foreign domination prevented Poland from “moving toward modernity without autocratic monarchs or violent revolution.” He reminded the international audience that the democratic Polish Constitution of 1791 was the second such document in the world, preceded only by the American Constitution that went into effect in 1789. Digitization of rare and unique library and archival material is accelerating in Poland at breakneck speed, said Krzysztof Szubert, a strategist for Poland’s Ministry of Digital Affairs, who pointed out that Poland currently has the distinction of being the fourth fastest growing economy in the European Union and is looking toward a “digital data driven future” where “data is a catalyst for economic growth.” Ensuring that information is freely accessible for public use in libraries and archives is one of IFLA’s core values, but the ministry, like the library federation, must also support equitable copyright law that is fair to those who create the data in the first place. Among the delegates from the United States were members of the Polish American Librarians Association (PALA), including President Leonard Kniffel of Chicago, Vice President and President Elect Ewa Barczyk of Milwaukee, Krystyna Matusiak of Denver, and Iwona Bozek and Krystyna Grell from the Polish Museum of America Library in Chicago. They helped staff the American Library Association exhibition booth and disseminated material from Polish libraries and cultural institutions in the United States. Marek Sroka of the University of Illinois Library delivered a paper about his research into a little-remembered Rockefeller Foundation project that funded the rehabilitation of Eastern European libraries following World War II. The congress began with country caucuses designed to give delegates an opportunity to strategize, and for seven-year-old PALA it was an opportunity to recruit members and remind American delegates that Polish people have lived in the United States for over 400 years, beginning in 1608 in the Jamestown Colony, and there are some 10 million Americans of Polish descent in the United States today, making it the largest diaspora of Poles in the world. One of the goals of PALA is to have a positive impact on library collections and services to the Polish American community and on the representation of Polish history and culture in the collections, programs, and services of our nation’s libraries. IFLA in Poland was a rare opportunity for U.S. librarians to learn from their Polish colleagues. A mere 20 years ago, a meeting of the library federation in Poland seemed like a pipe dream to many Polish and Polish American librarians, but change has been strong and steady. The library profession’s most important international organization, IFLA has held its annual congress only twice before in Poland during its 80-year history. The other conferences occurred in 1936 and 1959, both in Warsaw.  IFLA in Wrocław was also an opportunity to raise awareness outside the Polish community. Members of the American delegation began the congress by trying to learn how to pronounce Wrocław, which invariably led to laughter and then into a serious exploration of the city’s history and architecture and pre-World War II life as the German city of Breslau. A narrated interpretation of Wrocław’s checkered history through dance and music — as well as a cultural evening with a light show and an elaborate array of Polish food, from peasant to haute cuisine — made Wrocław’s historic and technologically well-equipped Centennial Hall (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the ideal venue the Congress, which convenes annually in a different spot around the world. Next year’s congress will meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The exhibition boasted some 60 exhibitors — high-tech companies, university presses, and professional associations, including the Polish Library Association, which is headquartered in Warsaw. Around its periphery, 248 sessions involved the delegates in seminars, meetings, and presentations that fostered discussion of the similarities between libraries, no matter where in the world they are located. Rafał Dutkiewicz, mayor of Wrocław; Tomasz Makowski, director of the National Library; and Elżbieta Stefańczyk, president of the Polish Library Association greeted the delegates, and IFLA President Donna Scheeder of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. presided over the general sessions. PALA members met with Stefańczyk and mapped out a strategy for cooperation that will benefit Polish and Polish American librarians and library patrons. The Polish Museum of America Library in Chicago, for example, holds many books and materials that are not available in Poland because of the destruction that occurred during World War II. The Polish Library Association, on the other hand, has Polish genealogical and historical resources and connections that American librarians could use to help their patrons with genealogical and scholarly research. At the closing session, Mayor Dutkiewicz praised the congress theme: “Libraries. Solidarity. Society.” and the national pride so evident throughout the event, but he warned that the wave of “nationalism” that seems to be sweeping over the world is quite another matter, and librarians seem to know the difference. “Nationalism is like a sweaty man who needs to take a shower,” he asserted. “Take a shower Europe. Take a shower Poland,” he said.” Having just launched the quest for a unified vision for libraries, the audience cheered Dutkiewicz with a standing ovation. Librarians and library supporters alike can learn more about the Polish American Library Association on its website at www.PALAlib.org, the American Library Association at www.ALA.org, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions at www.IFLA.org, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Libraries at www.GatesFoundation.org.