Digital inclusion was one of the main themes at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2019 in Berlin (25 - 29 November), presenting opportunities to highlight the role of libraries in providing meaningful access to the internet. Ramune Petuchovaite, EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme Manager, shares highlights from the event.

The EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) was launched with a grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2009. The programme aimed to spark innovation in public libraries in developing and transition economy countries. Ramune Petuchovaite, EIFL-PLIP Manager, reflects on a decade of EIFL-PLIP.

Deborah Jacobs, former director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries Initiative celebrates 10 years of the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) in this guest blog for EIFL.

“In an unprecedented initiative called ‘Electronic Information for Libraries’ (EIFL Direct), libraries in 39 countries will have access to a wealth of electronic full-text scholarly journals.” This announcement, by press release, marked the birth of EIFL 20 years ago, on 5 October 1999. 

In June, Ethiopia adopted a national open access policy for higher education institutions. EIFL guest blogger, Dr Solomon Mekonnen Tekle, librarian at Addis Ababa University Library, and EIFL Open Access Coordinator in Ethiopia, celebrates the adoption of the policy.

Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, is the guest on the latest episode of Copyright Waffle, a podcast from the team at UK Copyright Literacy who aim to make learning about copyright fun and empowering. .

Our Guest Blogger, Colleen Campbell, from the Open Access 2020 Initiative, reflects on the similarities between the unknown heights of the Kyrgyz mountains and knowledge locked behind subscription paywalls, and discusses how Transformative Agreements with publishers are accelerating the transition to open access. 

Our Guest Blogger, Dr Jane Secker, is Senior Lecturer in Educational Development at City, University of London. EIFL invited Jane and partner, Chris Morrison, Copyright, Software Licensing and Policy Manager at the University of Kent, to the 2019 EIFL General Assembly.

In May 2019, six young African public librarians travelled to Denmark to take part in an intensive week-long learning, knowledge-sharing and networking experience that included participation in the Next Library 2019 conference in Aarhus (2 - 4 June), which was attended by over 400 people from 44 countries. The six young librarians, from Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Zambia, were participants in the EIFL Initiative for Young African Library Innovators (IYALI) 2019 programme. 

In May 2019, I joined six young public library innovators from Africa at the 3rd African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) Conference and 5th African Library Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference was a rich learning ground for the young librarians, who were all there as a result of their participation in the Initiative for Young African Library Innovators (IYALI).