Newsletter of the Section on Reading

No. 4 - August, 1997

Dr. Valeria Stelmakh
Russian State Library
3 Vozdvizhenka
Moscow 101000
Russia
Fax No. 7-095-200-2255

Secretary and Treasurer:

Prof. Shmuel Sever
Director of the Library
University of Haifa
Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905
Israel
Fax No. 972-4-8257753

Edited by : S. Sever and E. Isserles

Minutes of the Business Meeting of IFLA Section on Reading - Beijing, August 30, 1996

1. Members present:
   Adele Fasick (Canada), Martine Poulain (France), Pamela Spence Richads (USA), Shmuel Sever-Secretary (Israel), Catharina Stenberg (Sweden), Jadwiga Kolodziejska (Poland), Valeria Stelmakh-Chair (Russia).

2. The Annual Report on the Section Activity in 1995-96 was delivered by the Chairperson of the Section, Valeria Stelmakh. Special attention was given to the Vologda International Conference "Libraries and Reading in Times of Cultural Change" (June, 1996), which was the first Section project, joint with RTLH.

   RTLH Chairperson Pamela Spence Richards stressed the international significance and success of this event.

3. The Section Open Meeting held on 28 August during the 62nd IFLA General Conference was discussed.
   The following presentations were made at the Open Meeting:
   1. La Discours sur la Lecture et l'evolution des Bibliotheques Publiques au Quebec Depuis la fin du 19e Siecle.
      REJEAN SAVARD, Canada.

   2. Ambientes y Tiempos para que Viva la Lectura.
      STELLA MARIS FERNANDEZ, Argentina.

   3. The Juvenile Reader: Today and Tomorrow.
      IRINA V.BAKHMUTSKAYA and ZOYA A.YANKOVA, Russia.

   4. Illiteracy in Greece.
      EUGENIA KEFFALLINEOU, Greece.

   5. Thoughts on How to Improve the Reading Guidance Service for Teenagers and Children.
      QIANG YUANMING, China.

   6. Libraries in the System of Education (Education as Quality).
      JADWIGA KOLODZIEJSKA, Poland.

   It was stressed that the program of the Open Meeting had been overloaded, and there was actually no time for proper exchange of opinions and questions, but since this was the first Open Meeting of the newly established Section it was not considered expedient to decline the proposals. The Open Meeting was very well attended (more than 100 persons present), and the Section received much attention from the IFLA memebers and colleagues in general.

4. SC memebrs dicussed the program for the Copenhagen IFLA Session. Valeria Stelmakh informed that an application had been received from Catharina Stenberg (Sweden), who spoke to the colleagues about her scholarly interests and presented the topic of her paper. Inclusion of this paper in the Open meeting program was approved.

   Valeria Stelmakh informed the colleagues that the Section had received a proposal from EDA (European Dislexia Association) to hold a joint workshop together with the Section on the Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons during the Copenhagen IFLA Session. The proposed theme was "Access to Information: What about the Weak Readers". It was commented that it was quite a new aspect for the Section, but it surely was interested in all questions related to reading. The initiative for the workshop was supported on the condition that the principal organizers were EDA and the Section on the Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons. Jadwiga Kolodziejska suggested a speaker from Poland for this workshop.

   The Chair informed that it was decided to postpone the joint workshop with RT on Audiovisual and Multimedia that had been proposed for the Copenhagen IFLA Session and schedule it for the 64th IFLA Conference in 1998.

5. Upon the request by the PB notes distributed before the conference, the Information Coordinator (IC) for the Section had to be nominated. Jadwiga Kolodziejska accepted the unanimous request from the SC members for this appointment.

6. Pamela Spence Richards proposed a new joint project of the Section and RTLH for the 1998 conference "Library, Reading and Publishing in the Cold War". The idea was supported, and the details to be clarified later.

7. The significance of active membership compaign in the coming period of time was pointed out. Martine Poulain suggested that a Section leaflet be urgently prepared and widely distributed to recruit new members. This idea was strongly supported with appreciation to Martine for her initiative and help.

8. The Chairperson thanked the colleagues for their active participation in the discussion.

The workshop on DYSLEXIA will be held on September 4 in conjunction with the libraries serving the disadvantaged and the EDA. Section members and participants are encouraged to register for this workshop.

Planned Conference on Libraries, Reading and Publishing in the Cold War.

For almost fifty years following World War II much of the globe was divided into two opposing camps dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union. This ideological confrontation had profound implications for virtually all aspects of cultural activity, including libraries, reading and publishing. The IFLA Round Table on Library History in collaboration with the IFLA Section on Reading is planning a conference for the spring of 1998 as a forum in which some of these implications can be examined from an international perspective.

A call for proposals for this conference will be issued in early 1997. Proposals might address such topics as the effect of the geo-political environment from 1945-1991 on: the mass media, publishing, library collection development, library construction, library education, language instruction, reading, censorship, the international booktrade, international library programs and scholarly communication in general. Other topics of relevance are not excluded.

Every effort is being made by the organizing committee to have as broad an international representation at the conference as possible, and to have the conference proceedings published promptly in an English-language journal.

The IFLA Round Table on Library History and the Section on Reading will publish further details, exact dates and site information when they issue the formal call for paper proposals early in 1997.

Resignation of Dr. Valeria Stelmakh from the Chairmanship of the Section.

I hereby want to inform you that I am resigning from my position of the Chair of the Section on Reading.

I was very happy to work closely with all of you during these past years and extend my gratitude to you for your constant support and assistance. I hope the Section will fruitfully continue its activity and wish its members success.

I would also like to nominate the candidature of Dr. John Y. Cole, Director of the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress (USA)' for the future chairmanship of the Section.

Dr. John Y. Cole is a well-known expert in our professional field. He is the author of a number of books and papers on reading promotion and research on reading, a perfect organizer and a reliable colleague. John is involved in the activity of several IFLA sections and he is an experienced IFLA member. I am sure the work of the Section under his chairmanship will run smoothly and successfully.

I hope you will support his candidature for the position of the chair of the Section.

With all my most sincere wishes to you all and thanks,

Valeria Stelmakh

Due to the resignation of Dr. Valeria Stelmakh, elections for the post of Chairman will be held during the Section Open Meeting in Copenhagen.

Until the election, the Secretary-Treasurer will fulfill that task.

Reading Section Open Meeting.