Five International Organizations Linking Children and Books

Under-Resourced, Inadequately Staffed, and Little Used: Some Issues Facing Many School Libraries, Seen through the Lens of an Exploration of the Situation in Iraq

“…While not specifically addressing the limited ability of the Iraqi library profession to motivate the government to make these changes, she nonetheless implied that the assistance of international agencies would still be required. Discussing the challenges facing school libraries internationally, Knuth (1994) pointed to the dearth of books in vernacular languages; the barriers to the flow of books; the lack of infrastructure supporting school libraries and children's literature; and the lack of adequately trained personnel in school libraries. Having examined these issues in terms of the evidence from Iraq, the rest of this paper aims to discuss their international relevance and how they might be overcome.…”

“…IASL could play a useful role in encouraging further reviews along these lines and in providing a framework that would ensure some compatibility between the resulting reports that emerge from different countries. Knuth (1994) pointed out that, although there was an element of cross-representation in the membership of IFLA and IASL, and sometimes common leadership, the lack of coordination between all the international agencies in the field was an obstruction to progress, as they mostly work separately towards their particular goals.…”

“…Through the organization of the annual World Book Day events, IFLA and IASL already have some contacts with IBBY, founded in 1953, which includes publishers of children's books amongst its members, has Consultative status with UNESCO and, like IASL, has a strong basis in related national organizations. In addition, Knuth (1994) suggested the International Youth Library (IYL), founded in 1949, as another key organization, with a reach that extends to other specialist organizations interested in children's literature.…”