Those of us who have been following the recent tweets, The Guardian chat, and the IFLA Presidential meeting in Mexico City, last week, would have been excited by various affirmations that libraries are indeed central to the development of humanity. It was even more refreshing, in Mexico City, to hear it from none Librarians. It was refreshing to hear it affirmed that all good communities have libraries at the centre. One wanted to respond "Yes indeed!"
The old saying that "Libraries are at the heart of all academic activity" was not misplaced. I recently heard a university leader assert , " a university worth its name needs a good library". However, those accolades are no longer enough to attract resources to libraries.
In order for libraries to continue to be central to development, libraries and library communities will have to communicate back to communities just how we impact learning, teaching, social programmes, research and development. Our work is measurable. The impact of what we do should be demonstrable. Our successes are not fuzzy feelings. Our successes must speak for Libraries so that libraries can attract resources that enable them to continue contribute to human development.
