By JOHN Y. COLE
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
The Center for the Book, which promotes books, reading, literacy and library use nationally and internationally, is closely involved in the activities of IFLA's Section on Reading. Established in 1995, the section assists IFLA in fulfilling one of its key professional priorities: promoting literacy, reading and lifetime learning. This writer, a member of the IFLA Standing Committee on Reading, served as chair of IFLA's Section on Reading from 1997-2001 and now edits its "Newsletter," which the Center for the Book produces and distributes. The current section chair is Gwynneth Evans of Ottawa, Canada; the "Newsletter" and information about the section's activities are available on IFLANET at: www.ifla.org/VII/s33/33_scmembers.htm.
The 70th IFLA general conference will be held from Aug. 22 to 27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In keeping with the conference theme, "Libraries: Tools for Education and Development," and the theme of "lifelong literacy" emphasized by IFLA president Kay Raserowa of Botswana, the Section on Reading's program in Buenos Aires addresses the topic "Libraries, Languages, and Literacy: Linking Continents Through Reading Promotion Programmes." The section's program at the last IFLA general conference in Berlin presented three papers on the theme, "The Impact of the Internet on Reading and Libraries," which surveyed the situation in China, Mexico and Iran. These papers are available on IFLANET; three other papers on the topic were printed in the July 2003 issue (no. 16) of the "Newsletter," which is available from the Center for the Book.
The development and publication of "Guidelines for Library-Based Literacy Programs; Some Practical Suggestions" has been a major Section on Reading initiative in recent years. The guidelines have a two-fold purpose: to encourage libraries to become involved in literacy programs and to serve as an informal checklist for evaluating library-based programs that are already in place. The English version of the seven-page brochure was published in 2003 and distributed at the Berlin conference. The guidelines are available on IFLANET along with the Spanish and French-language versions. The Spanish version, published in cooperation with the International Reading Association, one of the Center for the Book's organizational reading promotion partners, also is available as a brochure; it will be distributed at the Buenos Aires conference in August. Plans are underway for translation into German and Russian, the other two official IFLA languages. The Section on Reading is also promoting IFLA participation in the United Nations Literacy Decade, 2003-2012. For further information about the decade, see www.unesco.org/education/litdecade/.
Reading Promotion Trip to South Africa Planned for May 2004
The Center for the Book, in cooperation with Alterra International Travel, has organized "South Africa: A Journey to Promote Reading & Literacy," a trip from May 25 to June 4, with an extension through June 7 for those who want to visit the Kruger National Park. The trip will be led by this writer and Judith R. Casey, the founder of the Colorado Center for the Book and the president-elect of the Colorado Council of the International Reading Association. It features programming of special interest to librarians, educators, and reading and literacy promoters and includes working visits to the South African Centre for the Book in Cape Town; the National Library of South Africa; the South African Children's Book Forum; and "Sesame Street South Africa," where an initiative is underway to help children appreciate all of South Africa's 11 official languages. Discussions with South African government officials, educators, authors, librarians, publishers and reading professionals will be part of the program. Three symposia are planned with South African colleagues: Reading Promotion Strategies; "Book Famine" in South Africa; and the "Digital Divide" in South Africa and the rest of the world. There also will be visits to two high schools. Cultural and leisure activities include visits to Robben Island, the Malay Quarter, the District Six Museum and the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town; the Cape Peninsula and Cape Winelands regions; Soweto Township; the Bruma Lake Flea Market; and Johannesburg's powerful new Apartheid Museum. Further information about the trip is available on the Center for the Book's Web site at www.loc.gov/cfbook.
South African Centre for the Book Wins IBBY Award
The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress helped inspire the creation of the South African Centre for the Book, which was established in 1998 in the National Library of South Africa in Cape Town. The Centre for the Book's goal is "to develop a culture of reading in South Africa." It helps to coordinate, promote and encourage all book-related activities in South Africa and promotes the writing, publishing, reading, marketing, and distribution of South African books in order to develop a truly South African literary culture—in all South African languages. The centre works in partnerships with all sectors of the South African book world. Its core functions are "book development, lobbying, advocacy, awareness, and acting as a hub of information and as an advice centre for the book world, for readers, and for writers."
The South African Centre for the Book is the winner of the 2004 IBBY-Asahi Shimbun Reading Promotion Award, sponsored by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and the Japanese newspaper company Asahi Shimbun. The award honors the centre's "First Words in Print" literacy project, a cooperative project between the centre and local institutions and organizations that produce children's books in South Africa. The award citation praises the project for its ambitious and effective promotion of literacy among South African children and their families and its commitment to the development of a national literature for South Africa's young people.
John Y. Cole is director of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.