​The Global Week of Action for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) comes to an end today. The week falls around the time of the anniversary of the agreement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda on 25 September 2015.

The 2019 edition has also coincided with the first United Nations General Assembly session focused on the SDGs since their agreement four years ago, as well as some relevant major international days for libraries, notably on peace (21 September) and access to information (28 September).

Libraries around the world have answered the call to show what they are doing for development.

In France, the French Libraries and the 2030 Agenda group engaged libraries across the country in an awareness raising drive. Producing cubes with each of the SDGs as a talking point, over 1300 libraries nationwide organised discussions, events and displays on the connection between libraries and the SDGs, including a visit from the Minister for Ecological and Social Transition.  

In Australia, libraries have worked from the local to the national level, succeeding in building understanding in government of their potential to deliver change. With the Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Goals Summit last year, they took this message to the wider region. SDG Action Week was the opportunity for a round table of senior library leaders, in order to look at how the SDGs can be integrated in strategic planning for libraries.

In Canada, a community book distributor – GoodMinds.com – focused on the work it is carrying out to support the development of indigenous libraries as a key means of promoting education and equality in communities which are often at risk of disadvantage. In Egypt, the Egyptian Programme for Libraries, Information and Instructional Technology has been working to promote awareness of the SDGs in general.

These initiatives join the many others taken by libraries over the past years in order to raise awareness of the SDGs and the role of libraries in delivering them. You can find more examples on the SDG Stories page of IFLA’s Library Map of the World, as well as in the updates provided by participants in IFLA’s International Advocacy Programme.

We look forward to seeing more into the future!

See our blogs for Peace Day, the International Day for the Universal Access to Information, and the launch of the Global Sustainable Development Report.