[InetBib] cfp - IFLA 2012 Satellite Meeting: "The Homeless and the Libraries"

[Elke Greifeneder <greifeneder@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Liebe Liste,

wir würden uns sehr über einen Programmbeitrag oder Ihren Besuch bei der 
Satellitenkonferenz "The Homeless and the Libraries - the Right to 
Information and Knowledge For All" am 10. August in Tallin freuen. Alle 
nötigen Informationen finden Sie nachfolgend.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Elke Greifeneder
-------------------------------

World Library and Information Congress: 78th IFLA General Conference and 
Assembly
In Helsinki, Finland from 11-17 August 2012
IFLA's Library Services to People with Special Needs Satellite Program

Tallinn Central Library
Tallinn, Estonia, 10 August 2012
Call for papers: "The Homeless and the Libraries - the Right to 
Information and Knowledge For All"
Tallinn Central Library
Tallinn, Estonia, 10 August 2012

Colleagues from around the world are invited to submit an abstract for 
consideration for the Satellite Program sponsored by IFLA's Library 
Services to People with Special Needs (LSN) Section and Tallinn Central 
Library; Tallinn, Estonia.

In 1990 the American Library Association approved Policy #61, Library 
Services to the Poor. This policy was created based on the belief that 
“it is crucial that libraries recognize their role in enabling poor 
people to participate fully in a democratic society, by utilizing a wide 
variety of available resources and strategies.” The policy, overseen by 
ALA’s Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, includes sixteen 
objectives to accomplish this goal, from promoting food drives to 
eliminating fees for those who can’t afford to pay them, as well as 
creating low-income programs and services.

The “Poor People’s Policy,” as Policy #61 is called, is a statement of 
belief and a list of general tenets that all libraries are encouraged to 
adopt, similar to the Library Bill of Rights. However, as Sanford Berman 
described in a 2006 article in "Street Spirit," the Poor People’s Policy 
has not been accepted as widely as that older document. Berman’s 
observations on the tension between library ideals and reality are an 
insightful and passionate reflection of our profession’s unintentional 
hypocrisy. Library services, in general, serve the haves and exclude the 
have-nots, a circumstance he labels “classism.” Examples of classism 
include the small number of libraries carrying major serials on homeless 
issues; the fact that libraries in the lowest income areas are often 
open the fewest hours; and policies and laws banning “offensive body 
odor,” bathing, or sleeping.

How do librarians measure the impact of what they do?  What have we 
learned about evaluation and assessing impact the homeless may gain 
through active participation at their local public library. Libraries, 
especially public libraries, can play a major role in initiating, 
partnering and/or seeking out new ways to support the homeless in their 
community. Libraries can actively experiment with a variety of 
approaches and adjusting services and programs based on the feedback 
they receive. Libraries can take the lead within communities in building 
an environment of sensitivity and accommodation, to embraced the Poor 
People’s Policy and serve as model examples of a library-community 
agency partnership created for the benefit of the homeless in their areas.

Topics for suggested papers include, but not limited to, the following:
·   Measuring the impact of homelessness on libraries:  what models 
should we be using?
·   What should we be assessing?  We all gather data on usage but what 
does it actually demonstrate?
.   Developing partnerships between the library and community agencies.  
Papers on successful partnerships are most welcome.
·   How can libraries develope qualitative methods to measure impact and 
demonstrate value?
·   Why should libraries/city governments/management the poorest of 
their city's residents?  How aware are we of the needs of poor and the 
underserved and the issues that currently
     concern them?
·   We know what we do is valuable but how do we get it across? How do 
we communicate the findings of research and evaluation needs to be 
tailored to the audience needing the
     message.

It is anticipated that presentations will range between 20 and 25 
minutes with time for questions at the end of the session.

Important dates:
Friday March  17th 2012: Deadline for submission of abstract
Friday March  30th 2012: Notification of acceptance/rejection
Friday June      1st 2012: Deadline for submission of text

Submission Guidelines: The proposals must be submitted in an electronic 
format and must contain:
Title of paper
Summary of paper (250 - 350 words maximum)
Speaker's name, address, telephone and fax numbers, professional 
affiliation, email address and biographical note (40 words)
The final paper should preferably be presented as a paper (that may be 
published on the IFLA website and as an option in the IFLA Journal). If 
the final presentation will be in the format of a power point, a 
substantial abstract will be required, including references such as URLs 
and bibliographies
Submissions should be sent by email to: vlcsmoudamane@xxxxxxxxx by 05:00 
PM (Pacific Coast Time)  Friday 17th March 2012

Veronica L. C. Stevenson-Moudamane; MSLS, MA
Chair, IFLA Library Services to People with Special Needs Section, 2011-2013
Proposals will be reviewed by a sub-committee of members of LSN Standing 
Committee.

Please note:
All expenses, including registration for the Satellite Meeting, travel, 
accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No 
financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation can 
be issued to authors/presenters if that is required.

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