What is the IFLA Library Map of the World?
“IFLA Library Map of the World (LMW) is a representative source of basic library statistics and a robust tool providing country-level data and a worldwide comparison of different library performance metrics by
region.” https://librarymap.ifla.org/
About the IFLA LMW project
Established in 2017, and now boasting data on libraries in over 134 countries, the IFLA LMW project acts as an information-sharing and advocacy tool for libraries around the world.
Country profiles are broken down into library types covering National, Academic, Public, Community, School and Other and within these categories data is collated under the headings: Number of Libraries, Libraries with Internet Access, Full time staff, Volunteers, Registered Users, Physical Visits, Physical Loans and Electronic Loans.
The LMW website offers a specialist area for the UN Sustainable Development Goals where libraries can highlight SDG stories demonstrating the impact of library initiatives aligned with the SDGs – a place of inspiration and encouragement for library staff everywhere!
The Countries tab outlines a profile of the library sector within a specific country, its libraries’ performance metrics, its SDG stories, its organisations and its policy & legislation.
IFLA Library Map of the World – Contributing for Irish Libraries For Ireland, the professional library representative body , the Library Association of Ireland, have nominated a team to reinvigorate Ireland’s contribution to the IFLA Library Map of the World, promote and market the LMW project to relevant stakeholders and raise awareness on the relevance of SDGs to libraries.
What next for Irish Libraries to contribute to the IFLA LMW or SDG Stories?
The project team are currently liaising with representative bodies from library sectors in Ireland. If you want to check if your library has been included in this process, contact the project team. If not, the project team will be able to liaise with you to ensure your library data is included.
Contact: iflalmw.ire@gmail.com
Project Team:
Lara Musto, Dr Johanna Archbold, Linda Kerr