EIFL Communications Manager Jean Fairbairn celebrates the launch of the eighth EIFL Public Library Innovation Award, with this blog about how the awards have raised the profile of public libraries in their communities, boosted librarians' morale and built their confidence.

“It is smart to belong to a good network,” commented one delegate during the AfLIA 2015 post-conference organised by the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) on June 3, 2015, in Accra, Ghana.

The theme of networking came up repeatedly during both the AfLIA main conference (also held in Accra, from May 30 - June 2) and the EIFL-PLIP post-conference.

Zambia Library Consortium (ZALICO) has launched a national open access (OA) advocacy project that aims to transform Zambia’s research landscape.

The project is supported by EIFL, and aims to encourage OA uptake through advocacy, OA policy formulation, and to increase OA publishing in order to improve accessibility and visibility of research.

This blog was updated in July 2016 to include data from 2015 and to coincide with the termination of the British Library international, non-commercial document supply service.

Document delivery is a vital service in meeting the particular information needs of individual researchers, students and scholars.

“I am proud, because I am empowered and able to offer ICT training to other people,  and I am able to change others through this training.”

This feedback from a public librarian in Kenya came at the end of an intensive capacity building programme for public librarians organized by the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP).

One of the jobs of academic librarians is to promote e-resources to their users. This includes licensed e-resources as well as Open Access (OA) content that is available for free, without the need to register or sign a licence.

By Kristian Benic, Rijeka City Library, Croatia

​A small boy walks through the library door at 4pm. He is a fifth-grade student from the local elementary school, and a participant in our library’s 3D modelling workshop.

"But Emil", I tell him," the workshop is at 6pm, you have come too early."

"Yes I know, but I wanted to do something before everyone arrives. I have some cool ideas."

This year the Palestine Library and Information Consortium (PALICO) marks their 10th anniversary.

Members have organised a series of events to pay homage to many years of successful participation in EIFL programmes. 

EIFL Director Rima Kupryte joined PALICO in Birzeit on May 4, 2015, to highlight the occasion.

Celebrations will also include a workshop on Intellectual Property Rights, celebrating Open Access Week in both West Bank and Gaza, and marketing campaigns for the use of e-resources provided through EIFL by each consortium member institution.

Local users and global resources

Digital technologies have changed libraries, access to information, and indeed the world. The information landscape has been revolutionized, especially for academic and scholarly resources in university libraries.

Open Government Partnership Initiative (OGP) provides an international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. OGP has 65 participating countries, which include among others the following EIFL partner countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, Ukraine, as well as Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi.