The following are the outputs of the captioning taken during an IGF intervention. Although it is largely accurate, in some cases it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
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>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: All right, great. Walking through a couple of things which we are going to discuss about with the organization. And then we're going to dive into the inside of today's session, and from there, we'll go about what comes to mind when you think about the library. And from there, we will jump into the programme and question and answer session and also give you a guide of today's consultation. And we'll dive into questions, remarks, and we end the session. So, it's going to be interactive with our online participants and those that are present with us here today.
So, without further ado, I'm going to dive in and invite my colleague for the presentation. Over to you.
>> SEGUN ALETOGBE: Thank you, Damilare. Good afternoon, everyone. Nice to have you join us. So, I'll be taking us through what we do as an organization and who we are. Thank you. So, let's move in. Thank you. Next slide, please.
All right, so, at Library Aid Africa, we collaborate with partners using we use digital transformative tools and also community engagement to see how we can make and transform libraries to be a valuable space. Can we move to the next slide?
Now, based on what we've done so far as an organization, within the space of five years of establishment, we've been able to work with partners across nine African countries, and we've also been able to make impact that cuts across 22 African countries. And most of our impact, we are going to be sharing it with you, and you will get to know more about what we've done.
Now, some of the impact, just as I mentioned earlier on. We have that of the Young African Library Leader Fellowship. And we also have another of our programmes, that is the Community Library Centre. And we also have a programme that is the Library Selfie Series. And we also have the Mini Library Project. All of these programmes we do to make libraries a valuable space. Like YALLF, most of the participants carry out projects. What we do is train young library leaders, and then using digital tools, and at the end of the day, they try to company carry out a capstone, and that capstone is within their local communities, where they can be able to make impact.
And from what we've been able to do we started YALLF about four years ago and within that space of four years, we've been able to train about 100 participants, young library leaders, and then also those leaders cut across 19 African countries. And at the end of the day, about 50 and more have carried out capstone that have really been a positive impact to their communities. They have been able to do capstones that was able to make their libraries viable and their communities. So, we're going to listen to some of the testimonies of those participants, as we hear how they benefitted from the programmes we put them through.
>> SEGUN ALETOGBE: Sorry for the delay. The video will play. It's just a short one minute or so video, just to show testimonies of YALLF participants that have benefitted. They did a lot of projects that turned out to be very impactful to their communities in terms of building their libraries around their communities, equipping those libraries. And these are a result of
>> The video is playing already. Sorry to interrupt.
>> SEGUN ALETOGBE: All right.
>> SEGUN ALETOGBE: Please, Damilare, from those of us online, we are not able to see the video online.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Apologies, but we have to progress with the agenda, so you can go ahead with your presentation, Segun.
>> SEGUN ALETOGBE: Okay.
All right, so, based on the programmes we have, we develop and are currently working on some products that can help us seamlessly carry out those programmes and also make library a valuable space. One of the products we are currently working on is a platform for YALLF. And the platform is to upskill young library leaders from that platform.
Then we also have other platforms and products that we are working on. And one of the sorry about that so, yeah, this is one of products is Library Tracker. Library Tracker is next after YALLF. Yes, so, with Library Tracker, what the product does is, it tries to connect library users to library where they can be able to find libraries around them. They can be able to view resources about the library, and not just that the good part is they can also borrow books from this library using that app that we are currently working on.
And also, one of our products we're also working on is the LibraryX Africa. And what it ends up doing is equipping and upskilling librarians with digital skills to be able to transform them. They aren't just the normal bookkeeping, to also see how they can put up technical skills into the library ecosystem.
Also, another product we're also working on is the Library Volunteer Corps. And what this product seeks to do is see how to connect as many talents, digital talents we have out there with libraries, such that they can be able to volunteer their talent to see how they can improve on the libraries, and then also doing so, those volunteers will also get to improve on their experience, while at the same time servicing those libraries.
And then, also, these are some of the programmes that we have currently running, one of which is the Library Policy Fellowship, which is geared toward empowering librarians with the knowledge that they need to have to be able to influence and also change library policies and also legislation around the ecosystem.
And also, we have the Library Internet Governance Ambassadors Programme, which you will get to know more about, which is part of why we are here today.
And then also, we have another programme, which is the Community Library Centre Project, and that is geared towards setting up libraries in our local communities and seeing how we can make those communities a hub for the hub access to learning resources. So, these are just some of the programmes we have, and these are some of the things you need to know about Library Aid Africa. Thank you.
I believe you've been able to have an overview of what we do in Library Aid Africa. Thank you so much. Damilare, over to you.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Thank you so much, Segun, for that presentation. Bringing into this conversation is first the library tool. We are going to inquire today, inquire about what libraries can do as part of the IGF ecosystem, how libraries are essential partners to address or digital public goods, and how libraries are key partners towards accessing digital features in African countries.
And of course, we are also going to dive into ideas about what can libraries do better? What can we do or improve on? Who should we collaborate with and can we upskill our working library ecosystem as we progress?
However, I have a question for you: What comes to mind when you hear the word libraries? Anybody think? What comes to mind when you hear the word libraries? Books. Yeah, okay, you're correct. You? Books? Okay. Okay.
We have different responses in regards with what comes to mind with the word libraries, and looking at the response in chart books from online participants. What comes to mind when you hear the word library? All right, you're all correct.
However, libraries over time are transforming from the quiet space of borrowing books and so on, into a new environment. That's why librarian skills is important to upskill themselves to be able to make libraries much more vibrant in the typical system. Okay.
And diving further into this conversation will be let's go back. I'll be presenting to you what the programme is all about, African Library Internet Governance Ambassadors Programme, and what do we aim to achieve with this? What are we doing as a programme intervention? We're looking towards empowering leaders in Africa to integrate libraries into the discourse and actions of the IGF at the national and regional levels ensuring active participation across the board for libraries, and to ensure we can shape Internet governance policies and advance digital inclusion strategies for libraries in African countries. Why are we doing this? We are doing this to basically address the capacity gap among librarians to engage meaningfully in Internet governance ecosystem and also to contribute towards shaping policies around digital inclusion for libraries.
So, what's our approach as part of our intervention we're working on? Number one, we'll be working on an Annual Ambassadors Programme, where we get to engage with libraries and teach practical skills and knowledge about the Internet governance ecosystem and collaborate with IGF and ICANN Ambassadors in various countries. And the second approach here that we'll be deploying is to explore collaborative engagement in the context of to initiate and build collaboration between librarians and countries at all levels across the board.
Also, around community building. Develop a vibrant community of librarians, Internet governance ecosystem partners, to leverage expertise and networks, activities and programmes that will drive value for impact of library engagement at the higher IGF level in Africa.
And what do we aim to achieve with this? We're looking at building a vibrant team of librarians across African countries, fostering collaboration between libraries and the IGF ecosystem partners, leading to an increase of libraries in IGF discussions. The second point we're trying to achieve is to enhance, to advocate and lead engagement activities with libraries resulting in more effective involvement in country level IGFs and to increase awareness of libraries' importance in the Internet governance ecosystem evidenced by active collaboration with IGF ecosystem and countries in Africa.
So, that's an overview of the programme. I don't know if you have questions that you would love to ask, online and offline, on this first part of the presentation. Questions? Comments? Okay. Please pass him the mic.
>> Thank you very much. Thank you for the presentation. Interesting topic. I have not thought about this. I'm working with the capacity building for regulators in South Saharan Africa. So, I assume the library you are talking about is kind of a hub for information or something in a virtual or physical space, where I assume connectivity with the presumption? Some kind of processing going on and some structure. So, can you say anything on what is the realities on the hubs that you have described in your project? Where are the libraries today and what would you like them to be? If you can say something of that?
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Sure. Thanks so much for your question. I would say libraries are transforming from a boring, quiet space to a more innovative environment, right? And access to Internet is very integral in the ecosystem for libraries to transform to digital hubs I want them to be.
First, the library in the community is connectivity. The community is going to benefit from the digital tools and capacity the library has to provide digital access to them. So, libraries are not just access for books, but they are transforming to access points, opportunities, Internet hubs and environments where people thrive and create ideas and innovation. The reason why this programme sees how libraries are able to scale from what we know them to be to what they are currently. Libraries have moved from the book space alone, so it's a different environment that thrives and supports innovation.
Great. Any further question? So, online participants, please feel free to drop your question in the chat box as you progress. All right, great! So, at the present, there are no further questions, and I'm going to dive further into our discussion for today, which will be discussing about
Okay, so, for the next 20 minutes, we are going to have a couple of exercises to do with online and offline, and we will be getting responses on key questions around, based on the programme we presented to you just now, what can we do to make this a more concerted approach to do, and we have three main questions that we have for you to respond to, but the questions will be interactive. So, to share ideas and document your thoughts and share with us. All right.
So, we have three questions here. The three questions here have been designed to work together much better with the IGF ecosystem and creates ideas. The three questions are across three main categories. Category 1 is around digital inclusion and libraries. And the question is that, how can libraries be better positioned to serve as digital inclusion hubs within their communities, and what strategies can ensure equitable access to digital resources? And part of the question goes to around integration into the IGF, right? And the question is that what innovative approaches can libraries adopt to effectively engage with Internet governance forums and influence digital policy making at local, national, and regional levels?
And the last part of the question goes around sustainability and partnerships. Right. In the context of what collaborative models or partnerships can libraries leverage to secure resources and support sustainable digital transformation? So, these are the questions we have. However, since it's a small crowd in person, so I think we can interact with these questions and share our ideas. So, we have 20 minutes to discuss these things.
So, on the first question, all right, for those in the room and those online, also, right, how can libraries be better positioned to serve as digital inclusion hubs within their communities, and what strategies can ensure equitable access to digital resources and tools? It could be your experience on what you've seen in the ecosystems and the libraries can potentially align towards those priorities. Feel free to speak.
>> Okay, thank you. Availability. I mean, to be able to have access. I assume that's one factor. There are probably others as well.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Availability and access.
>> Yeah, availability, to be able to have access to these hubs, even though if they are virtual or if they are physical. So, I think there's a low threshold to enter, so something to be aware of and also to have the resources to really have the low barrier to access. I would say that was one contribution.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Great, insightful. Do you want to go ahead?
>> Especially nothing from my side. It's okay. It is a good point, and I have nothing to say.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Awesome.
>> Okay. Thank you so much, Damilare. I think how the libraries can be better positioned to serve as digital inclusion, especially if I look at our communities that are underserved, if possible, the libraries need to stock the tools and also upskill themselves to be well conversed with management of these tools, and then work with the communities, reach out to the communities, and not only to wait for the people to come to them, but also go to the communities. Invite, encourage all categories of people to come and access these tools, and maybe also train them, skill them and be able to meet their needs. Because if they're not able to meet their needs, then they're going to work in isolation, and the communities will not see these libraries as something important or a space that will be important for them to visit and access.
And maybe the strategies is that they need to work with other partners within the ecosystem and the ecosphere so they will be able to know what exactly is offered by others so that they come in to assist.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Interesting. You mentioned availability and access and you mentioned integration.
>> I would also complement the idea of Sarah, but also of what he mentioned about the first step for me would be the infrastructure, so already know if the libraries can have access to the Internet; what kind of access do they have? But also, perhaps to operate in a more contextualized way to make sure that they understand the needs of their communities, because they can rely also it can be quite different. But I also found very interesting what you mentioned about the Library Tracker, so that libraries can connect to each other. I found that a great solution, also. So, perhaps some libraries will have less resources or less access. Know that there's other libraries around in the region that they can also rely on, and perhaps even complement the resources they have or, yeah, some questions on challenges.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Interesting. Our points are interconnected, availability and assets, community and infrastructure. All these are essential components to bring together to make libraries thrive.
All right, diving into the next point of the conversation here, which is about integration in towards Internet governance and the question is what approaches can libraries use to effectively engage with the Internet Governance Forums and influence digital policy making at local, national, and regional levels? This is a more technical question. Sure, go ahead.
>> Yeah, thank you. The question is not obvious for me, probably because I don't know enough of the IGF's different forums, but I assume it has to be a possibility to advance the usage. But at the same time, you have to have, as underscored previously, the competence, capacity, ability, to be able to integrate. And assuming that you have access and connectivity and that it's stable, and also that the places are secure. I mean, you showed Abuja. In Nigeria, maybe the case point. So these are secure spaces where you can really get into this. And I assume there could then be ambassadors for research to advance, how do you step into the digital transformation, basically, where the Internet is a tool for doing anything, I mean, education, training, upskilling, and other things. So, that means the Internet becomes an integral part of the library as an information hub. Maybe that is a way for integrating. But I don't know enough about the different foras, but I'd say competence, upskilling, and also making the point of advancing the usage could be maybe one avenue, but there are probably others.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Great. Thank you so much for that comment. Interesting point you mentioned about competence upskilling, and that's why this programme is important for us to be able to empower librarians in African countries to understand how to engage in the Internet governance ecosystem. And we try to work on the issue that we are able to train librarians on what Internet governance is all about and engage them with local IGFs in local communities and engage in conversation and to progress Internet connectivity in societies. And through that conversation, we will see a more collaborative effort to drive capacity and confidence, as you mentioned, and also it leads to these libraries being more operation hubs where they are much more vibrant in technology. Thank you so much for that. Madam Sarah, do you have any comments to add on that?
>> Thank you so much. I think to begin with, librarians, libraries need to know that they are not always mentioned in the IGF. So, to begin with, they should start by participating in IGF and see what goes on in IGF so that they can relate with their work and then be able to innovatively practice and deliver services that speak to what IGF is talking about and also be able to participate in policy making activities at national and regional levels.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Thank you so much for those comments. Before I go to you, Maria, we have a hand up online. Gabriel Karsan. Gabriel, are you able to unmute yourself and speak? Excuse me? Someone wants to speak online. Gabriel wants to speak online.
>> GABRIEL KARSAN: Thank you, Damilare. I hope I am audible.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Sure, go ahead.
>> GABRIEL KARSAN: Great. An interesting conference. I wanted to share some context on how to integrate Internet governance and the library community.
When we think about the Internet and its principles of openness, accessibility, and providing a user the chance to have end to end access to resources, it's the same thing as the abstraction of the library, because the library is an open centre where records from different sources all over the world build on diversity and inclusion for the purpose of preserving knowledge, but also making information more utilized and also accessible without any barrier. So, these things already go hand in hand, as we see the synergy.
When we go back to think about how the Internet in itself got built, it was a lot of the academic departments or academia that had a lot of library initiation in collecting the data, but also possessing the data and preserving them so that the next generation could take on and build. And I think this is the case that we have now. So, I think the programme of having librarians and Internet governance equipped together is, first, a reminder of the role of academia, but also the role of librarians as the safe guardians of a collective, not just physical, but also virtual space of preservation of knowledge, but also history and integration of diversity, because they still stand with the same principles of openness, centralization, but end to end delivery of resources.
So, the first thing we could do is jump on the case of literacy, because the Internet is just a technology; it is a medium. Now a library can be anything a library of code, a library of books, a library of different intellectual property. And if you think about it, it is a library because you store particular forms of information within yourself, but now the Internet has established an infrastructure where we could store information, preserve, and make it utilized to each and every one of us. But when it is based on the principles of a library, community driven, and always accessible, as most of the speakers have mentioned, this will be something that can push for further integration within our purpose. Thank you.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Thank you so much for those insightful comments there, and the Internet serves as a commission of libraries on the Internet, and librarians, of course, I would say play a vital role in having the records information online. And I hope the conversation we are having now, we are able to get regular librarians on board to contribute meaningfully and actively in the Internet governance ecosystem. Maria, do you have comments on this question?
>> Yeah, just a quick point. I think everyone already mentioned Morales more or less everything, but another thing I would add that I think is important is something that I think it is also important, and maybe policymakers understand how libraries' ecosystem operates at a national level, because usually it's quite unique, so contextual. It also depends on the country. It can be very different. So, I think it's something that I also observe that can be interesting, is that libraries use their own case studies at a national level, and perhaps, you know, bring them into these spaces to talk about these success stories with all the policymakers and also so that they can have a better understanding on how the library ecosystem is perhaps built in a certain country and how can they collaborate with them for their projects.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Interesting point that you mentioned about story telling and communicating impact. And that's to upskill librarians on how to document the impact, communicate advocacy and get interested in a diverse society. Interesting.
To the last point we have here around sustainability and partnerships, right? And this is important because libraries can't do it alone. We need to work with other partners, collaborate with ecosystem partners to see how we can collaborate on ideas and innovation. And what collaborative models or partnerships can libraries leverage to secure resources and support sustainable digital transformation initiatives in societies? Do you want to go?
>> Thank you. It is a very good issue. I'm saying the full session. So, I'm just finding some points for this particular session only because I am working in terms of that. We are working on digital literacy.
So, library, you can collaborate in course and college levels so students can be learning many things from the library. Next part is the public private company, then they will support this programme. And in technologies company, also more than I oh, measure things, as local start up companies, they can develop this initiative. That's all from my side.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Sure. Thank you so much for that. From your point, you spoke about public private partnerships and how libraries can engage key partners in the private sector, technological partners
>> NGOs.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: NGOs and other partners to see how we can get the innovation, not just alone, but geting partners to skill impact. Thank you so much.
Going forward on that, any comments you have to the question? What collaborative models or partnerships can libraries leverage to secure resources and support for sustainable digital transformation initiatives? For those online, if you are willing to speak, kindly raise your hands, or you can drop your responses in the chat box, and I'm able to read on your behalf over here. Sure.
>> I think maybe it could be on the education sector, or it's training, so it's a combination of both on the school side and the other would be on the professional side. I mean, work related upskilling, to use the libraries as a hub or centre for a competence centre, if that could be possible, so both going school side and then the other professional companies, public institutions, other that would like to see advancement. And in particular, you're talking about digital transformation. A number of skills, soft skills of various kinds would be essential. So, there are some possibilities.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Interesting. Thank you so much for that. Madam Sarah?
>> Thank you so much. Personally, I think there is a lot to offer, but we can't offer aid as people from the library sector, so we need to work in a model which is taking on a multistakeholder approach so that we can contribute. I know we can contribute to so many of them. Health. We are coming to contribute. Education. Agriculture. We don't have to work alone anymore, but we have to work as a multistakeholder group to be able to attract funding, to be able to win resources, and then be able to take on the sustainability part of it, and also the digital transformation that we want to see.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Great. A few points, Maria?
>> Just a final point. Adding up to what Sarah said, I would also say, perhaps also a model could be for libraries to there to venture a bit beyond the library and information, not necessarily field, but ecosystem, also because libraries in the latest years, they also engage in a lot of different themes. They engage a lot in democracy related themes, peace building, support of digital skills, like you said. So, I also, perhaps, think it is also interesting to explore these intersections that libraries have and see if there is an opportunity to engage with the stakeholders that libraries are sometimes not used to engaging with in these spaces. Thank you.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: And that is the intercession of our work in the library space in terms of health, education, no poverty, zero hunger, connecting those dots to engage and speak a language that partners understand. Great. Thank you so much for your insightful responses. My colleagues are documenting these thoughts you shared with us, and that will further inform our decision going forward on how we shape this going forward on this part of the intervention.
Going forward on today's chart, we would love to hear general remarks from you on ideas/thoughts you have on your mind you would like to share that we have not mentioned in this conversation today. What we are exploring for libraries as we progress to be much more digital savvy and to build the strong capacity of librarians to be able to engage in digital economic opportunities. And not just that, how libraries can be best positioned as a hub for digital empowerment. So, if there are any comments or general remarks you have that we have not captured, I think it will be essential for us to capture as we progress in this conversation and afterwards, as we speak about those. Sure.
>> Yes, thinking about how do you reach the youth or the people, your customers, or say, your clients or the public? I think that's an issue that could be challenging, depending upon context, social setting, and capacity. So, I assume access will be how do you reach out, basically?
And also, in the media landscape, changing the different formats, short of communication from youth, et cetera. So, the ability to reach various information channels, to reach and get positive development for these. But otherwise, very interesting to hear this, because this was not something that I had been thinking so much about, but makes a lot of sense. Very good job you're doing.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Thank you so much for your comments. We will take that into consideration as we progress, yeah.
>> Thank you so much, Damilare. I found your presentation quite interesting. (Audio breaking up) .
I can say that from a librarian perspective, I think we are not going to fight the digital tools. We are not going to fight AI. But rather, we work to ensure that we encourage everyone to use these tools responsibly, to use these tools maybe in governings, in information access. We can also maybe get this space in an ethical way so that we can benefit from the benefits that they come along with. Otherwise, if you want to fight the other digital tools, we are likely to lose the war. We cannot afford anymore to do that.
And also, we start from our youth, the kids at home. We should encourage them to use the digital tools, other than telling them how bad they are, but just question them that use them responsibly, meaningfully, engage in this space, because we want A, B, C, D, and don't engage in this space because of A, B, C. So they will benefit, otherwise they will be left behind and we are saying no one should be left behind.
And also, to the elderly, we should also tell them how beautiful digital inclusion is in their activities and the communities, as well. Because if they are farmers, they also need to get the best prices of their crops/produce. But if they are not digitally literate, they are not able to find the best prices for their commodities.
And also, to the learners, we need to inform them that they can pass well their course works, their exams, if they engaged so well in the digital space and do a little preparations, seminars, group work, and the like.
And then, of course, there are the traders. They will do the same. I thank you.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: I love how practical you are with your interventions, and these are the comments we're taking note now and these are the things we're going to see integrated going forward and improve on them as we dive in towards implementing this as part of our intervention. Yes. Maria.
>> Not final comments, really, just to congratulate you on everything you're doing. I think it's really great, because you're doing not just capacity building, but also you're keeping the field stronger by keeping the libraries interconnected, and yeah, that's also what makes the field stronger in the long term, so congratulations on everything.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Great. Thank you so much for the feedback, for the interaction, and for the conversation. I believe we've been able to dive into a couple of things today, which I think formed that decision which will inform our decision going forward, I must say, on some points we're going to do. Gabriel Karsan, do you have any comments you have as we end this session this afternoon? Gabriel, any comments you want to make?
>> GABRIEL KARSAN: Yes. I hope I'm audible.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Sure, you're audible. We can hear you.
>> GABRIEL KARSAN: First of all, congratulations. And I think we have received quite insightful comments that still are pivotal in how we move forward in the agency of having more inclusion, more openness, and the ability of access, but access in a very localized manner. And when we think about libraries, libraries birthed from the matter of community, and I think we can view the community from there and using the Internet now, which is a collective of digital intelligence, with the emerging technologies. It's quite pivotal, where we have the principles of libraries to connect to the Internet is how we evolve and progress to make it more equitable and interoperable that every person can have access to intelligence, information to further their own lives. So, I think this will build a lot of cohesion in our policy element, where the policymakers could also understand, and also a good marriage to the tech community and the whole multistakeholder approach, especially now when we are at the IGF. So, those are my few comments, and I'm looking forward to your wrap up. Thank you all for the insightful comments.
>> DAMILARE OYEDELE: Good, thank you so much for your comments. Please, check the QR code for the attendance sheets. I will connect with you to share the reports of this conversation and share the progress we make as an organization. We appreciative of the time and the conversation we had today. You can check out our website, and we look forward to working with you further to collaborate on ideas and engage other multistakeholders to make libraries an ecosystem for all of our lives. With that, thank you for your time and commitment and conversation, and we'll engage with you further as the conference goes by. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Thank you so much and bye for now.