At the WLIC conference last week IFLA President-elect Barbara Lison led a session identifying long term trends for librarians and libraries. Through a discussion and voting process the participants narrowed the original 10 topics down to 5. I think it is interesting to think of all of them in relation to information literacy: the "lifelong learners" priority springs out immediately, but information literacy has a contribution in all (and can be reflected on in relation to all of them):
- Virtual is here to stay: people continue to prefer to access library services remotely, putting into question the value of spaces and physical offerings
- Diversity gets taken seriously: a growing awareness of the existence and impacts of discrimination leads to a radical reform in our collections, services and practices
- An environmental reckoning: climate change brings new threats to libraries and the communities they serve, forcing radical adaptation in order to avoid disaster
- Lifelong learners: there is no such thing as a job for life any more, meaning that more and more people need to retrain throughout life. Libraries intensify learning activities in response
- Inequalities deepen: with technology creating new possibilities for those with access, the gap between them and those without grows, risking confining large shares of the population to poverty unless action is taken.
More information at https://www.ifla.org/node/94113
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