Front cover of the Skills AgendaFaced with an uncertain future, shaped by a variety of different trends, what are the capacities we should be developing? The Skills Agenda for the Trend Report, prepared by emerging leaders from around the world, offers insights. 

Skills are key to resilience in the face of change. They empower us to approach new situations, find how to make the best of them, and so offer the best possible service to our communities.

IFLA’s Trend Report already offers a key tool for thinking in a more structured, effective way about an uncertain future, both through the trends it identifies and the means it offers of working with them.

A constant in terms of how we can increase or readiness is through developing skills throughout the library and information sector.

These are not just about those skills traditionally at the heart of the profession, but also broader (and often softer) abilities which allow us to go further.

In order to identify which skills in particular will matter, the emerging leaders who participated at the IFLA Information Futures Summit in Brisbane, Australia on 30 September – 2 October took part in a dedicated workshop on 4 October.

At this, they drew on the Trend Report itself, as well as the discussions over the previous days, in order to explore a potential skills agenda for the future of libraries. Following the workshop, they then collaborated online to turn these reflections into a full skills agenda for the field, as a guide and conversation starter for others.

The chosen skills fall into three main categories:

  • Practical skills refer to technical abilities that can help us make better – and safer – use of technology and other opportunities to achieve greater impact.
  • Partnership skills are those which allow us to collaborate more effectively, as well as to engage with our colleagues, communities and partners.
  • Personal development skills are those which help us to think further and more broadly, helping us to become leaders ourselves, and to bring out the best in others.

 

The Skills Agenda was prepared by the following emerging leaders:

  • Waleed Al Badi (Oman)
  • Paria Aria (USA)
  • Esther Bravo Govea (Mexico)
  • Anaïs Cayzac (UK)
  • Nilay Cevher (Turkiye)
  • Brad Chugg (Australia)
  • Roana Marie Flores-Solemos (Philippines)
  • Lyric Danee’ Grimes (USA)
  • Jonathan Hernandez Perez (Mexico)
  • Mahmoud Khalifa (Egypt, Germany)
  • Donna Labangon-Gonzaga (Philippines)
  • Eric Njabulo Mdunge (South Africa)
  • Damilare Oyedele (Rwanda)
  • Katie Scott (USA)
  • Madiareni Sulaiman (Indonesia)
  • Elīna Veļa (Latvia)
  • Sandun Weerasinghe (Sri Lanka)

We are also grateful to Basheerhamad Shadrach for his support, and to the team behind the original Trend Report.

The workshop behind this work was made possible by the support of the Gates Foundation, via Stichting IFLA Global Libraries.