it was an early start, attending the national libraries second standing committee meeting with hella to report on noir. thankfully the section will continue its support for the sig and for our new convenor guido. after the meeting i dashed to the v&a whaft food market to pick up some wines, cheeses and snacks, and to the wine merchant for, not surprisingly, wine for my hotel/appartment. then a dash back to the cticc to meet my friend victoria for lunch. from there i headed into the officers training session where i met new mlas chair barbara and other new setion leaders for a briefing on our duties and responsibilities from ifla hq staff.
popped to the room next door for the mlas session on (inter)national advocacy initiatives. there was a series of presentations from national association reps and ifla leaders on recent successful advocacy initiatives. then participants divided up for round table discussions. i moderated the group of people who are just getting started on advocacy initiatives within their own associations. it is clear that there is a demand for “how to” support from the mlas. for many associations, particularly those run entirely on volunteer capacity, national-level advocacy is a daunting prospect, but a necessary undertaking, as ifla increasingly depends on associations to brief government representatives to international bodies such as wipo and unesco.
next, on to the general assembly, ifla’s agm. i must admit, it’s become an increasingly placid affair in recent years; no resolutions for members to vote on, no demands or debates. almost makes me want to stir the pot – if i didn’t know what it’s like to be on the stage side of such events, where you cross your fingers and hope for a placid meeting.
some of the mlas group headed across to the westin bar for a drink between the assembly and the reception to mark the end of the ifla presidential term, as well as impending retirement, for sinikka sipila. it was a lovely event – long on sparkling wine, short on speeches – with good food and good conversations. eventually i slipped out with chris, back to my hotel for wine (signatures of doolhof single vineyard collection pinotage 2013) and cheese and more conversation. it’s unprecedented that we get two evenings together in one conference week, so we took advantage of the opportunity and had a good long chat.
i’m not used to 16 hour days…