Content area
Texte intégral
Introduction
In 2015, the United Nations established 17 broad Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. The goals recommend action on issues like quality education; gender equality; decent work and economic growth; sustainable cities and communities; peace, justice, and strong institutions (which includes access to information); and partnerships for reaching the goals. It is clear, at least to librarians, that libraries could play an important and positive role in achieving these goals. And IFLA, the International Federation of Library Agencies and Institutions, has developed polices and publications to make this point to the UN.
As work was beginning at the UN on implementing these goals, the UN Secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities created a group called MEDD (Monitoring and Evaluation for Disabilityinclusive Development). This group's purpose was to prepare a "Flagship Report" on how the needs of people with disabilities are addressed in the implementation of the SDGs.
The MEDD Committee asked IFLA to appoint a representative for libraries to the group and Nancy Bolt, Secretary of the IFLA Section on Library Services to People with Special Needs, was appointed. The MEDD Committee also asked if IFLA would conduct a survey of how libraries around the world support people with disabilities in relation to the SDGs.
Survey Results
In the fall of 2017, IFLA conducted a survey of all types of libraries, in order to obtain a snapshot of the formal policies, and practical assistance in support of information access - notably through technology - for people with disabilities. 470 complete responses from 92 countries were received.
Libraries with formal policies on accessibility - including physical, resource and program accessibility - were understandably more prevalent in larger libraries (66% of national libraries and 73% of academic ones). Around a third of public and school libraries had policies.
However, many libraries that do not have a formal policy still report both actual accessibility and a commitment to access. For example, the Tampere Public Library in Finland wrote in its survey response:
While there is no official access policy, our library serves a great many individuals with disabilities and pecial needs, including special needs schools, adults and seniors with visual and auditory issues, members of the Deaf community, as well as people...