An international conference held this week at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina highlighted the role of libraries in meeting the challenges of the formation age, writes Heba Sharobeem In a world where human rights are very much celebrated and at the same time threatened and where freedom of access to information is sometimes honoured more in the breach than in the observance, there is a need to create opportunities to discuss these serious contemporary issues and to see where we stand. In a new millennium where the importance of equal treatment, respect and tolerance of the "other" is frequently highlighted, we nevertheless find such slogans shattered in reality and cultural misunderstanding proliferating in the media around the world bringing about feelings of hostility and intolerance. We also see how anti-terrorism legislation and national-security concerns have caused chilling effects on freedom of speech and decreased access to information. It is for these reasons and others that a regional conference on "The Role of Libraries in Freedom of Expression, Tolerance and Access to Information" was held this week at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina organised by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in association with the Egyptian Library Association (ELIA), the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information (AFLI) and IFLA's Centre for Arabic Speaking Libraries and Information Institutions at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This Centre, which started its activities in October 2007, represents IFLA in the Arabic-language community and aims to become a bridge between IFLA and all Arab libraries. One of IFLA's core bodies is the Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), which is at the front of IFLA's advocacy activities and addresses the darker challenges of the information age. Internet surveillance, online censorship and erosion of library-user privacy are only a few of the obstacles in the way of librarians increasing access to information for library users. The FAIFE Committee, made up of senior library professionals from around the world, tackles these barriers by emphasising the positive role libraries can play in promoting freedom of access to information. This week's Alexandria conference aimed to raise awareness of freedom of expression and tolerance and to analyse the role libraries can play in promoting these two vital issues. This role comes from the fact that "libraries are not only learning organisations, but also social organisations that include all people in our communities and play a major role in the advancement of our societies." "Some of the most profound changes in the contemporary world have come about as a result of efforts made by social movements. These movements often germinated in the minds of a few people who rose up for a cause and then blossomed into mass mobilisations that have ended up bringing about major changes in the world." From this perspective, the conference aimed to help librarians find a way to uphold their commitment to human rights and defend the interests of library users. Major themes of the conference included the role of libraries as agents of freedom of access to information, the relationship between tolerance and freedom of expression and the responsibility of the producers of information to ensure the dissemination of information in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These themes were discussed by a distinguished panel of speakers from Egypt, South Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. One of the keynote speakers was Justice Albie Sachs, a tireless human-rights activist who worked with the ANC in exile in the 1980s and survived attempts on his life to fight for the rights of his people. Also speaking were Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow UNESCO Director General from 1974 to1987, Gaber Asfour, Head of the National Centre for Translation, Louis Greiss, a distinguished Egyptian journalist and a former chief editor, Adnana Omran, General Secretary of the Arab Parliament, Mostafa Al-Sherif, a professor at the University of Algeria and a former Algerian minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Tarek Shawki, Director of the UNESCO office in Cairo, Iyad Bargouthi, Director of the Centre for Human Rights Studies in Ramallah and famous Arab bloggers such as Wael Abbas and Ahmed Al-Omran. These distinguished speakers presented papers and participated in panel discussions intended to stimulate discussion and debate among participants. Though the conference mainly targeted library and information professionals and students from Egypt and the Arabic-speaking region, it also concerned other fields, such as media and education, that can promote human rights and safeguard intellectual freedom and freedom of expression. Whether the conference will make a big difference or create real change is a difficult question to answer. But all those present hoped that it would be an important step on the long walk forward towards increased freedom of expression and human rights. "Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land."
