Libraries for Lifelong Literacy: Unrestricted Access to Information as a Basis for Lifelong Learning and Empowerment. IFLA/FAIFE Theme Report. World Report Series Volume IV

The IFLA/FAIFE (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions/Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression) Theme Report 2004 presents visions of how libraries can promote literacy and lifelong learning. The literacy process has to be recognised as inclusive of all ranges of communication, and it occurs at all levels and ages of societies, whether they are predominantly oral societies or have a culture of reading as a basis for accessing information. The authors explore the relationship between unrestricted access to information and lifelong literacy in a wide variety of ways. Their approaches, however, have an underlying link in common. Each approach seeks to tell us something important about the way information nourishes the skills that a human being requires to function as an autonomous actor in the world. What is seen in the Report is that libraries in developing countries have to come up with novel ways to deal with problems that bigger, richer countries are able to tackle differently. The contributions to this report show how different processes--funding partnerships, community involvement, staff and user training--can be implemented to enable libraries to make a greater contribution to the lifelong learning process. The situations and solutions outlined here may inspire librarians in other countries in their quest to empower their users. Contents include: (1) Acknowledgements (Paul Sturges and Susanne Seidelin); (2) Preface (Kay Raseroka); (3) Introduction (Paul Sturges and Susanne Seidelin); (4) Democratic Access to Information in Chilean Public Libraries (Clara Budnik Sinay); (5) Central America: Diversity and Challenge for Literacy--The Case of Costa Rica (Ana Cecilia Torres Munoz); (6) Empowering People through ICT-Enabled Lifelong Learning, Role of Libraries and NGOs in South Asia (Basheerhamad Shadrach and Nikhil Raj); (7) Indigenous Knowledge, Minority Languages and Lifelong Learning: A Role for Public Libraries? (Peter Johan Lor); (8) Library Responses to Information Literacy and Life Long Learning in the SADC Region (Ellen Ndeshi Namhila); and (9) Conclusion: An Inclusive Information and Knowledge Society (Susanne Seidelin and Stuart Hamilton). Appendices contain: The IFLA Internet Manifesto; Statement on Indigenous Traditional Knowledge; and Statement on Libraries and Sustainable Development. (Individual chapters contain notes and references.)