Please share with colleagues.  Any questions, please contact Fred Gitner, Queens Library, as indicated below.  Thanks.

Please excuse any duplication.

Call for Papers

Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section

Theme:

Libraries as Modern Towers of Babel: Fostering Development from an Individual to a Social Being: the Role of Multiculturalism for Mutual Understanding

The above IFLA Section invites proposals for papers to be presented at a two-hour session at the next IFLA General Conference in August 2014 in Lyon.

This session focuses on the issues of diverse communities and the means libraries are using to provide equal access to all kinds and forms of information in our modern multicultural and multilingual society; becoming a universal public, social, neutral and welcoming space for every patron, and a unique resource for self-development, building relationships and careers. While some countries have been successful in providing local communities with the above mentioned services, some areas of the world need help with advocating for, developing and sustaining these programs. This session will further the awareness of the importance of rendering equal services to multilingual communities and offer an opportunity for exchange about the best examples of library initiatives in creating a multicultural public space and providing informational and human support to diverse populations.

Subjects of interest include:

Multicultural collection development (including multilingual cataloguing)

Equal digital multicultural access

Social inclusion through library programs

Libraries as a multicultural community space

Promotion of cultural competencies to politicians and decision makers

Best practices and knowledge sharing about cultural competencies and civic education/social inclusion library programs

Proposals should include:

Title of presentation

Abstract of no more than 500 words in English

Name, e-mail address, position (title) of presenter(s), plus a brief presenter(s) biography

Presenter(s) employer or affiliate institution

Important dates and timelines

Please send your proposal for papers no later than February 15, 2014 to all four Program Committee members: Svetlana Gorokhova (svetagorokhova@gmail.com)

Roberto Morelato (rmorelato@libriliberi.bz.it) , Siri Tidemann-Andersen (siri.tidemann-andersen@kul.oslo.kommune.no) and Fred Gitner (fred.j.gitner@queenslibrary.org)

The proposals will be evaluated by the Program Committee members of IFLA Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section and notification of acceptance will be sent by March 15, 2014.

The presenters selected for the program at the Lyon conference will be asked to submit a formal paper (to be published on the IFLA conference website) no later than May 1, 2014.

If full papers are written in any IFLA language other than English they should include an abstract in English as well.

Both abstracts and full papers should be submitted as a MS Word file by e-mail. Proposed papers must be original and not have been published elsewhere.

Submissions

All proposals must be received no later than February 15, 2014.

Please note:

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation, etc., are the responsibility of the authors /presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation can be issued to authors.

Congress Attendance Grants

IFLA is working hard to secure funds for Conference Participation Grants. Up-to-date information will be available on IFLA’s Conference Participation Grants webpage : http://conference.ifla.org/ifla80/conference-participation-grants

Fred J. Gitner

Assistant Director for New Americans Program & International Relations

Queens Library

89-11 Merrick Blvd.

Jamaica, NY  11432

Tel: 718-990-0892

Fax: 718-990-8626

E-mail: fred.j.gitner~AT~queenslibrary.org