Furthering its commitment to promoting books and literacy, Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) is organising the National Libraries Summit on November 8 – 9, 2021 at its headquarters in Sharjah. The two-day summit will be held in conjunction with the 40th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2021)under the theme ‘Visibility, Engagement, Impact, and Collaboration’, and convene 50 national library directors and senior staff from 20 countries in Europe, North America, Africa and the MENA region.

The National Libraries Summit will be free-to-attend for all participants, creating a unique opportunity for the sharing of ideas and expertise, and will enable a collective exploration of challenges faced by national libraries. The summit’s participants will analyse the present state of national library curation, discuss complex challenges faced by library professionals as they build and interpret collections, and look into practical approaches to address them.

The summit also aims to be a platform for professionals in national libraries to share current practices and learn new approaches to curatorship. It will boost networking opportunities geared towards international collaboration.

Library summit programme outline

The two-day event will host four panel discussions on the key issues and challenges facing national libraries in the region and around the world.

The summit will take off with two panel discussions on Day 1. The first session titled ‘Visibility through Communications’ will focus on getting users back into national libraries post the COVID-19 pandemic. The second session is titled ‘Engaging Digital Users’.

The Day 2 programme also includes two sessions – ‘Impact on Society and National Strategies’, and ‘Cooperation and Partnerships among National Libraries’.

The summit will also feature four networking breakout sessions on both days for participants to explore collaborations and partnerships.

The National Libraries Summit is being co-organised by the American Library Association. The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA)’s National Libraries Section and the Arab Federation of Libraries and Information (AFLI) are the event’s co-sponsors.

Individuals and institutions who wish to attend the summit need to complete the registration process here: https://www.sibfala.com/nlsummit/registration