Participação dos países da América Latina e Caribe na International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions - IFLA

Abstract

This article investigated the participation of Latin Amer ican and Caribbean countries in one of the major inter national organizations of Library Science, the Interna tional Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). IFLA has aimed to strengthen libraries for a more literate, informed, and participatory society for 95 years with 130 member countries. From an exploratory inves tigation on the IFLA web pages, since 2015, a survey was made of the participation of Latin American countries in the entire structure of the institution, as well as the origin of Presidents and the cities of World Library and Infor mation Congress (WLIC). Brazil has the largest number of representations (47), although Mexico has more affili ated organizations (9). Three editions of WLIC have taken place in the region, being Cuba, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. So far, no Latin American president has been elect ed. Since 2018 IFLA is working hard to expand more par ticipation, however, it also requires the engagement of Latin American librarians to cooperate with the Institu tion and represent the demands of their countries.