In the last week of September, the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) team attended the Occupy Library 2020 conference, organized by the Progress Foundation, a small NGO based in Romania, that has successfully implemented some exciting public library initiatives and projects in the field of education, training, social and digital inclusion and community development. 

South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill had been sitting on the desk of President Cyril Ramaphosa for over a year, waiting to be signed into law. But instead of signing the bill, the President returned it to parliament citing constitutional concerns with certain aspects, including new exceptions for libraries, education and persons with disabilities. If enacted, the bill would have helped teaching, learning and research during COVID-19 lockdowns. Instead South Africans are forced to struggle under the current, outdated law. EIFL guest blogger Denise R.

Since the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme (EIFL-IP) was launched 15 years ago, it has had some remarkable achievements, gained international recognition and staff have won awards. Jean Fairbairn, of EIFL, asked Programme Manager Teresa Hackett about the programme’s past and present, and hopes for the future. 

JF - What inspired the launch of the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme?

Teresa Hackett, Manager of the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme, reports on an unusual five days at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).

In 2018, the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) and the Namibia Library and Archives Service (NLAS), which leads a network of 66 public libraries, staffed by over 260 librarians, entered into partnership to strengthen continuous professional development of public librarians in Namibia. The partnership developed the skills and knowledge of 16 talented public librarians, positioning them to become expert trainers for their colleagues.

In Part II of this two-part blog, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager Teresa Hackett examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the right to research through two key issues, text and data mining and digital preservation by cultural heritage institutions, and how WIPO’s proven formula could address the issues.

June was a busy month for the LIBSENSE Initiative - a collaborative space through which libraries and research and education networks (RENs) are advancing open access and open science in Africa.

In Part I of this two-part blog, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager Teresa Hackett looks at the immediate challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has posed for the copyright and licensing framework as education moves online.

In February 2020 five young public librarians from Africa travelled to Nashville in the USA to take part in an international learning, knowledge-sharing and networking experience organized by EIFL and partners. The five were participants in the EIFL Initiative for Young African Library Innovators (IYALI). After their journey, we asked them about the experience and how they might apply what they had learnt in their libraries back home.

In May 2020, member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) appointed Mr Daren Tang to WIPO’s top job in Geneva. As leader of WIPO, the global body that sets international law and policy on intellectual property issues, the new Director General takes charge of an organization whose direction on copyright determines how libraries do their work, especially in the digital environment.