Public and School Libraries debated in Rabat, Morocco

Representatives from 23 African and Arab countries attended a conference in Rabat, Morocco, to promote the IFLA/UNESCO manifestos on Public Libraries and on School Libraries and the new IFLA/UNESCO Public Library Guidelines. Delegates were also consulted on the content of the School Library Guidelines, which are in draft.

Kay Raseroka, elected to become IFLA's President 2003-2005, gave the keynote address Seizing the moment: issues and opportunities towards the creation of an information society.

Delegates from most of the countries represented in Rabat, presented country reports. They are remarkable accounts of the dedicated effort by many librarians in Africa to develop public and school library services in difficult and sometimes appalling situations. Lack of resources, profound social problems and, in some countries, continuing military conflict are some of the factors which African and Arab librarians are working to overcome to provide their communities with public and school libraries.

For ease of communication a part of the discussions were held in Anglophone and Francophone groups. A summary of these discussions and the resolutions and recommendations of each group have been reproduced here in English and French.

This meeting was held at the Ecole des Sciences de l'Information (ESI), Rabat, Morocco. It was the third in a series of conferences organised with the IFLA regional sections. Earlier "versions" were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1997) and in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil (1998).

This IFLA sponsored conference could be organised thanks to financial support of the United Nations Eductional, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, the US National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SIDA), The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Library Association.

Proceedings of the PanAfrican PanArab Conference on Public and School Libraries / Compiled and edited by IFLA Headquarters under the auspices of the IFLA Africa Section, the Public Libraries Section and the School Libraries and Resource Centres Section. The Hague, IFLA Headquarters, 2002. - 205p. 30 cm. - (IFLA Professional Reports : 71) ISBN 90-70916-85-1

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