Join the EIFL online meet-up of open science trainers, which will discuss how institutions strategically plan open science training, balancing long-term capacity building with project- and funder-driven training requirements, and how these approaches can be aligned more effectively. 

Join the next meeting of the Community of Practice (CoP) for no-fee OA publishing in Africa. 

Date and time: 20 May 2026 at 10:00 UTC/11:00 WAT/12:00 CAT/13:00 EAT (Convert to your timezone).

Join this EIFL webinar to learn how to set up and implement a mentorship programme for editorial assistants.

We’re happy to share reports from three more projects strengthening the quality and sustainability of no-fee open access (OA) journals in Africa. 

Join this ‘Virtual Break’ - an informal online discussion organized by the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) on ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Public Libraries'. As AI tools become more widely used, we will explore practical training experiences and resources to help public librarians enhance their AI literacy and improve community understanding of this technology. In this session (up to 90 min), we will have two speakers:

Iryna Kuchma, EIFL Open Access Programme Manager, will give a keynote address at the 5th CARLIGH International Conference 2026, which is themed ‘The Open Movement in Times Of Urgency and Rapid Change’.

CARLIGH – the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana – is an EIFL partner library consortium. More information about the conference.  

EIFL’s Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, Teresa Hackett, will participate in a National Workshop on Public Lending Right in the context of the EU Acquis on Copyright. The workshop is organized by the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) and the Library Association of the Republic of Moldova, in collaboration with EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) and WIPO, with the support of EU4IP project and the Swiss PartnershIP Moldova. It is being held on the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April.

Ready to move from awareness to action? Join this interactive, hands-on 1.5-hour workshop to learn how to support and fund open infrastructures and help your institution to do the same. The workshop is organized by the Forum for Open Research in the Middle East and North Africa in partnership with the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS). 

Iryna Kuchma, EIFL Open Access Programme Manager and SCOSS Board Member, is among experts giving input at the workshop. EIFL is a member of SCOSS.

In April 2026, EIFL submitted comments for a public consultation organized by the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia on the Draft Law on Copyright and Related Rights (2026). The amendments seek to harmonize Serbian law with two EU Directives (Directive 2012/28 on orphan works and Directive 2014/26 on collective management organizations), and to implement the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with disabilities into national law.

EIFL has signed a three-year agreement with Encyclopaedia Britannica Ltd providing discounted pricing for Britannica Academic, a comprehensive, authoritative digital library featuring expert-reviewed encyclopedia articles, primary sources, journals, and multimedia.

Libraries in 29  EIFL partner countries are eligible to access Britannica Academic through this agreement. The agreement starts on 1 April 2026 and runs for three years, until 31 March  2029. 

EIFL has signed a three-year agreement with Encyclopaedia Britannica Ltd providing discounted pricing for Britannica Academic, a comprehensive, authoritative digital library featuring expert-reviewed encyclopedia articles, primary sources, journals, and multimedia.

Libraries in 29  EIFL partner countries are eligible to access Britannica Academic through this agreement. The agreement starts on 1 April 2026 and runs for three years, until 31 March  2029. 

In March, EIFL responded to two public consultations on proposed new copyright laws. The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) invited stakeholders to submit written comments on the Copyright and Related Rights Bill, 2026, while in Zambia, the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) encouraged stakeholders to review and send proposals on the Copyright and Related Rights Bill, 2025 (extended deadline 31 March 2026). The bills seek to modernize the copyright frameworks in Kenya and Zambia in line with technological developments and international best practices.

This EIFL webinar will explore practical experiences in using AI (artificial intelligence) tools for learning and training. There will be a particular focus on using AI tools for personal learning and for developing materials for open science training. The webinar is intended for trainers, librarians and anyone interested in AI-enhanced learning. 

Milica Ševkušić, EIFL Open Access Programme Project Coordinator, will speak at the Seventh Workshop for Open Access Journal Publishers organized by the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information. Her presentation, 'Building a Diamond Open Access Publishing Ecosystem', will explore approaches to strengthening Diamond open access publishing.

Join the EIFL online meet-up of open science trainers, which will discuss tools for creating illustrations for training materials. We will also continue a discussion on institutional open science training. 

Date and time: 23 April, 9:00 UTC (convert to your timezone)
Registration: Please register here to participate in the meet-up.

Join the next meeting of the Community of Practice (CoP) for no-fee OA publishing in Africa. 

Date and time: 15 April 2026 at 10:00 UTC/11:00 WAT/12:00 CAT/13:00 EAT (convert to your timezone).

How do you envision a project and design library buildings and facilities that will not be delivered for several years? The past 18 months has shone a new light on the need for resilient and responsive buildings. What library services and programmes will be provided in the future? How are innovative approaches to the delivery of library services imagined, implemented and accommodated in new facilities? What are the facilities that will fit future services not yet in existence? What are the challenges and debates within the design team and stakeholders as the planning and preparation are undertaken? What works best and what processes should be used? What differences, if any, are there in building a new facility or re-using and adapting an old site? On October 5th join Traci Lesneski, Philip Kent and thought leaders from Australia, Canada and The Netherlands to consider these important issues.

Register today!

The following statement was issued by Secretary General Gerald Leitner, on behalf of IFLA on 25 August 2021.

IFLA has followed closely recent legislative developments in Hungary, and in particular the provisions passed in June which prohibit the portrayal of homosexuality or gender reassignment in children’s books.

As has been noted by commentators, the breadth of the law creates the possibility that libraries, in providing access to books for young users, are covered by these provisions. As such, this raises significant questions about the ability and responsibility of libraries to fulfil their mission to provide access to information for all.

IFLA stands by its Statement on Intellectual Freedom (1999), which underlines that library collections shall reflect the plurality and diversity of society, and that selection and availability of materials should be governed by professional considerations and not by political, moral and religious views. 

In parallel, IFLA also underlines the message of the IFLA-UNESCO Public Library Manifesto (1994), which stresses the need to provide information to all, reflecting their needs, and evolutions in society. It also emphasises that ‘collections and services should not be subject to any form of ideological, political or religious censorship, nor commercial pressures’.

The IFLA-UNESCO School Library Manifesto underlines these same points, in connection with the development of children.

In the light of this, IFLA stresses that libraries should not face rules that prevent or hinder them from giving access to works which reflect the experience of any part of the communities they serve – including LGBTQ+ users and their families – or pressure to do so. This includes measures that make it harder for readers – in particular young readers – to find works, or the use of marks or other signs that stigmatise their use of such works.

Such steps limit the ability of library and information professionals to make their own judgements, based on professionalism and an understanding of the needs of users, in order to support the development of all members of their communities.

In parallel, IFLA also voices its support for publishers, authors and booksellers who have fallen foul of these new provisions, and calls for an end to similar restrictions elsewhere.

Gerald Leitner
​IFLA Secretary General 25 August 2021

Download the statement from our publications page.

Dear Friends,    

We are pleased to share with you the August 2021 issue of the IFLA Asia & Oceania Regional Newsletter.  

On behalf of my team, I would like to express our deepest appreciation to all our article contributors and supporters.  

Click on the PDF below to access the amazing articles we have curated for you this time!  

Happy reading and stay safe!  

Best regards,

Ms Lin Li SOH

Manager | IFLA Regional Office 
Asia & Oceania
c/o National Library Board, Singapore

For the next edition of the international Library Publishing Directory, please go to https://librarypublishing.org/lpdq-2022/ before 13 September 2021.  Your contribution will be accessible through the global library publishing map found at https://lib-pub.org/