Libraries in EIFL partner countries perform a vital role getting reading and other materials into the hands of people who need information and knowledge for education, research, health or leisure. The seven point plan submitted by EIFL in response to the (ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/2013/copyright-rules/index_en.htm) European Commission's Public Consultation on the review of EU copyright rules highlights some issues that libraries want to see addressed.

"A lot of research has been undertaken over the years in Uganda and many seeming breakthroughs arrived at, however these have not been disseminated and subsequently have not added value to the lives of Ugandans," said Dr. J. C. Muyingo, Minister of State-Higher Education in Uganda.

This revealing statement was made at the very first national open access conference in Uganda, which EIFL co-hosted with the Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL).

Only between 1-7% of books worldwide are published in formats accessible to blind people such as Braille, large print, audio, DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System). The aim of the Marrakesh Treaty, that creates an international legal framework to enable the cross-border sharing of accessible materials, is to alleviate the “book famine” for people who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print disabled.

EIFL has released a new video which highlights the impact on farmers in a small community in rural Uganda when the local library receives laptops and internet connections.

Bwera Information Centre (BIC) is a tiny rural library in Kasese District in Western Uganda, featured in the EIFL video.

Happy New Year!

The EIFL team has been busy preparing and planning a wide range of activities to be implemented this year.

Read below to see what each EIFL programme will be focusing on in 2014.

EIFL-Licensing

The EIFL-Licensing programme will coordinate an exciting new project in Myanmar from January 2014. Funded by the Open Society Foundations' Higher Education Support Program, and backed by the Myanmar Ministry of Education, the eLibrary Myanmar project will open up new opportunities for education and research.

The latest phase of funding for the EIFL-FOSS programme ran from 2010 to 2013

As the EIFL Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) programme draws to a close, we look back on a four-year programme of innovative activities using and promoting free software in libraries.

In doing so, we celebrate the funding from Open Society Foundations Information Program that allowed the programme to take place.

EIFL‘s Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) is proud to present the results of the innovative public library services we have supported over the last three years.

The innovative services are all new to the public libraries and to the communities served. They were strengthened by working in partnership with a variety of government and non-governmental organizations – schools and universities, clinics and hospitals, employment bureaus, technology innovators, support agencies for farmers, youth and women, and many more.

The third day of December 2013 marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities – designated by the United Nations (UN) to promote understanding of disability issues, and to mobilize support for the rights of persons with disabilities.

Around the world, people with disabilities face physical, social and economic barriers that exclude them from participating fully and effectively as equal members of society.

An EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (PLIP) project that connects expecting mothers with needed health information through mobile phones has been featured in the Impatient Optimist development blog. 

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On November 11 – 13, 2013, 82 participants from 47 countries met to debate the latest developments in electronic content delivery, to discover emerging topics that have a significance for libraries, and to share achievements from library consortia over the last year.