World Library and Information Congress, Milan, 2009 - IFLA

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World Library and Information Congress, Milan, 2009
World Library and Information Congress,
Milan, 2009: Opening Address by the President
of the Italian Library Association
Mauro Guerrini
Minister of Culture, Mayor of Milan, President of
Province of Milan, President of Lombardy Region,
Madam President, dear Claudia Lux, Delegates
and friends:
Italy’s librarians are very proud to welcome you
all to the 75th IFLA General Conference and
Assembly in Milan. For the fourth time Italy has
the honour of hosting the IFLA Conference. We
can say that IFLA was born in Italy 80 years ago:
in fact, on the occasion of the fi rst World Congress
of Librarianship and Bibliography, opened in
Rome in June 1929, with about 1300 delegates
from 40 countries, the new name of a newborn
Mauro Guerrini
I FLA
association was proposed: the ‘International
Federation of Library Associations’. The second
IFLA meeting in Italy was held in 1951, and the
third one in 1964, again in Rome.
The establishment of IFLA has been a milestone
in making our profession truly international. The
history of the IFLA General Conferences can
indeed be considered a success story, which is
clearly confi rmed by the fact that about 3,500
librarians and information professionals from
180 countries have come together here in Milan.
As you know, Italy has different typologies of libraries
for different kinds of users. Italian libraries
have a long history. In recent years, Italy has been
extremely active in funding restorations of historic
buildings, in investing in new libraries and
in information technology, and in establishing a
national library network (SBN).
At the same time, Italian librarians have experienced
considerable professional improvement,
thanks to the spread of library science in university
courses, the professional training by the Italian
Library Association (AIB) and by public and private
agencies, the growth of LIS periodicals, and
the participation of an increasing number of librarians
in the international scientifi c debate.
The title of this IFLA Conference is ‘Libraries create
Futures: Building on Cultural Heritage’. Libraries
must keep a balance between past and present.
The advent of digital information, especially of the
Internet, as a common denominator in modern
society have led to a radically different quality of
information and communication.
How must we react to this development, as librarians?
Major issues – apart from the well-known
systematic collecting, cataloguing, archiving of
our heritage, and reading promotion – include
Copyright © 2009 Author. IFLA Journal 35(4): 359–360.
ISSN: 0340-0352. DOI: 10.1177/0340035209352437
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