Bachelor of Library and Information Science

Department of Library and Information

Science
Dr. Zakir Husain Library
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi- 110025

Assignment-1
(BLS-101 Foundation of library and information science)

UNESCO AND ITS ROLE FOR LIBRARIES

Prepared for:
Dr Syed Mohd Abbas
Documentation officer, AIS, JMI

Prepared by:
Sonam Chhaprana
Roll no- 202002153
Session- 2020-21

Page 1 of 12
 Contents

❖ About UNESCO
❖ UNESCO’s history
❖ Member states
❖ Offices and headquarters
❖ Funding
❖ Activities
❖ Functions
❖ UNESCO and education
❖ Functions in the field of education
❖ UNESCO and libraries
❖ UNESCO network of associated libraries (UNAL)
❖ The public library manifesto
❖ UNESCO’s school library manifesto
❖ UNESCO digital library
❖ World digital library
❖ Conclusion
❖ References

Page 2 of 12
About UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a
specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and
security through international cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture. It has
193 member states and 11 associate members as well as partners in the
nongovernmental, intergovernmental, and private sector. Headquartered in Paris, France,
UNESCO has 53 regional field offices and 199 national commissions that facilitate its global
mandate. Today, UNESCO functions as a laboratory of ideas and a standard-setter to forge
universal agreements on emerging ethical issues. It also serves as a clearinghouse – for the
Dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge – while helping Member States to
build their human and institutional capacities in diverse fields.
Article I Clause 1 Sub-clause of its Constitution stipulated that the “Organisation shall
maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge by assuring the conservation and protection of the
world’s inheritance of books, works of arts and monuments of history and science, and
recommending the nations concerned the necessary International conventions; by
encouraging cooperation among the nations in all branches of intellectual activity, including
the international exchange of persons active in the field of education, science and culture
and the exchange of Publications, objects of artistic and scientific interest and other
materials of Information; by initiating methods of international cooperation calculated to
Give the people of all countries access to the printed and published materials Produced by
any of them”.

UNESCO's history
UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of
Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, to elect a Commission to study the feasibility of
having nations freely share of culture, education and scientific achievements.
As early as 1942, in wartime, the governments of the European countries, which
were confronting Nazi Germany and its allies, met in the United Kingdom for the Conference
of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME). The Second World War was far from over, yet those
countries were looking for ways and means to reconstruct their systems of education once
peace was restored. Very quickly, the project gained momentum and soon took on a
universal note. New governments, including that of the United States, decided to join in.

Page 3 of 12
Upon the proposal of CAME, a United Nations Conference for the establishment of an
educational and cultural organization (ECO/CONF) was convened in London from 1 to 16
November 1945. Scarcely had the war ended when the conference opened. It gathered
together the representatives of forty-four countries who decided to create an organization
that would embody a genuine culture of peace. In their eyes, the new organization must
establish the “intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind” and, in so doing, prevent the
outbreak of another world war.
The first General Conference took place from 19 November to 10 December 1946, and
elected Dr Julian Huxley to Director-General. A new Director-General is elected every four
years by the General Conference. The 39th session of UNESCO’s General Conference elected
Audrey Azoulay as Director-General of UNESCO, succeeding Irina Bokova. She took office on
15 November for a four-year term.

Member states
As of January 2019, UNESCO has 193 member states and 11 associate members. Some
members are not independent states and some members have additional National
Organizing Committees from some of their dependent territories. UNESCO state parties are
the United Nations member states except Liechtenstein, United States and Israel, as well as
Cook Islands, Niue and Palestine. The United States and Israel left UNESCO on 31 December
2018.

Offices and headquarters

UNESCO headquarters are located at Place de Fontenoy in Paris, France.
UNESCO’s field offices across the globe are categorized into four primary office types based
upon their function and geographic coverage: cluster offices, national offices, regional
bureaus and liaison offices. Field Offices in the five regions (Africa, Arab States, Europe and
North America, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean). Their role is to
coordinate and implement the work of the Organization at regional and national level.

Funding
UNESCO gets its funding from contributions by member states, voluntary contributions,
fundraising, and other, smaller sources of funding.

UNESCO activities
UNESCO’s activities are divided into four major programme areas: education; the natural,
social and human sciences; culture; and communications, as well as covering a number of
cross-disciplinary areas such as environment, population and development, culture of

Page 4 of 12
peace, and action in favour of priority target groups such as women, youth, Africa and least-
developed countries.

Functions of UNESCO
The main functions of UNESCO are:
▪ Laboratory of ideas, including foresight: anticipating the great upheavals which will
affect societies and assess the future of education, sciences, culture and
communication.
▪ Standard-setter: setting, applying, monitoring and reviewing international norms and
standards. This function is illustrated by UNESCO’s constant production and adoption
of declarations, conventions, monitoring mechanisms etc.
▪ Clearing house: collecting, exchanging and disseminating information in its
designated fields of competence.
▪ Capacity-builder in Member States in UNESCO’s fields of competence: providing
advice and assistance to Member States on national policy and development
programmes.
▪ Catalyst for international cooperation.

UNESCO and Education

Education transforms lives and is at the heart of UNESCO’s mission to build peace, eradicate
poverty and drive sustainable development.
UNESCO believes that education is a human right for all throughout life and that access
must be matched by quality. The Organization is the only United Nations agency with a
mandate to cover all aspects of education.
UNESCO provides global and regional leadership in education, strengthens education
systems worldwide and responds to contemporary global challenges through education with
gender equality an underlying principle.
Its work encompasses educational development from pre-school to higher education and
beyond. Themes include global citizenship and sustainable development, human rights and
gender equality, health and HIV and AIDS, as well as technical and vocational skills
development.

Functions in the field of Education:

➢ To raise educational standards throughout the world—specially for women
and girls, who in turn will educate their children.
➢ To make primary education compulsory for the removal of illiteracy.
➢ Spread of knowledge by training teachers, educational planners,
administrators, to encourage local building programmes and equipment of

Page 5 of 12
 schools. To provide grants and fellowships to teachers and scholars, organise
library systems and promote international understanding through education.
➢ To guide and expand education to enable the developing countries to take
their own development in hand more effectively.
The main thrust of UNESCO’s action in education is on the promotion of education for all
throughout a person’s lifetime. Knowledge and information have significant impact on
people’s lives. The sharing of knowledge and information, particularly through Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has the power to transform economies and
societies. UNESCO works to create inclusive knowledge societies and empower local
communities by increasing access to and preservation and sharing of information and
knowledge in all of UNESCO’s domains. Knowledge societies must build on four pillars:
freedom of expression; universal access to information and knowledge; respect for cultural
and linguistic diversity; and quality education for all.

UNESCO about library

According to UNESCO, a library is: an organized collection of published books and periodicals
and of other reading and audio-visual materials, and the services of a staff able to provide
and interpret such materials as are required to meet the informational, research,
educational or recreational need of the users.
Libraries are essential to the free flow of ideas and to maintaining, increasing and spreading
knowledge. As repositories of books and other printed material, they are key to promote
reading and writing. UNESCO promotes the work of libraries since 60 years.

Having traditionally supported the strengthening of the institutional capacity of libraries as

gateways to information, UNESCO continues to assist them to acquire appropriate
technologies and network resources. Training programmes are being developed with
specially-designed training materials to meet the needs of library staff.

UNESCO Network of Associated Libraries (UNAL)

UNAL is a network of public and community libraries. It aims at encouraging the libraries to
conduct information dissemination at grass-roots level, making appropriate use of ICT.

UNALUNAL was established in 1990 to promote co-operation among public libraries to

build international understanding and to establish contacts between libraries of the North
and of the South.

UNAL’s principal objective is to encourage libraries that are open to the public to undertake
activities in UNESCO’s fields such as the promotion of human rights and peace, cultural
dialogue, protection of the environment, fight against illiteracy, etc. Over 500 libraries
around the world are members of the Network.

Page 6 of 12
An essential element of the strategy is the integration of libraries into information, media
and information literacy programmes. Libraries provide resources and services in an
environment that fosters free and open inquiry and serve as a catalyst for the
interpretation, integration, and application of knowledge in all fields of learning.

Building the capacity of libraries requires a continuous process of improving the knowledge
and skills of the professionals who work within them, as well as widening the general
knowledge and awareness of users. It is essential that information specialists have access to
training, continuing education and lifelong learning.

The public library, the local gateway to knowledge, provides a basic condition for lifelong
learning, independent Decision-making and cultural development of the individual and
social groups

The Public Library Manifesto, adopted in 1994, proclaims UNESCO’s belief in the public
library as a living force for education, culture and information and as An essential agent for
the fostering of peace and spiritual welfare through the Minds of men and women.
UNESCO, therefore, encourages national and local Governments to support and actively
engage in the development of public libraries.

The document was globally introduced in 1949.

The following key missions which relate to information, literacy, education and Culture
should be at the core of public library services:

▪ Creating and strengthening reading habits in children at an early age;

▪ Supporting both individual and self-conducted education as well as formal
Education at all levels;
▪ Providing opportunities for personal creative development;
▪ Stimulating the imagination and creativity of children and young people;
▪ Promoting awareness of cultural heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific
Achievements and innovations;
▪ Providing access to cultural expressions of all performing arts;
▪ Fostering inter-cultural dialogue and favouring cultural diversity;
▪ Supporting the oral tradition;
▪ Ensuring access for citizens to all sorts of community information;
▪ Providing adequate information services to local enterprises, associations And
interest groups;
▪ Facilitating the development of information and computer literacy skills.

The UNESCO’s School Library Manifesto adopted in 1999, aims to define and Advance
the role of school libraries and resource centres in enabling students to Acquire the learning
tools and learning content that allow them to develop their Full capacities; to continue to
learn throughout their lives; and to make informed Decisions. The following are essential to
the development of literacy, information Literacy, teaching, learning and culture and are
core school library services:

Page 7 of 12
• supporting and enhancing educational goals as outlined in the school’s Mission and
curriculum;

• developing and sustaining in children the habit and enjoyment of reading And learning and
the use of libraries throughout their lives;

• offering opportunities for experiences in creating and using information for Knowledge,
understanding, imagination and enjoyment;

• supporting all students in learning and practising skills for evaluating and Using
information, regardless of form, format or medium, including sensitivity To the modes of
communication within the community;

• providing access to local, regional, national and global resources and Opportunities that
expose learners to diverse ideas, experiences and opinions;

• organising activities that encourage cultural and social awareness and Sensitivity;

• working with students, teachers, administrators and parents to achieve the Mission of the
school; proclaiming the concept that intellectual freedom and Access to information are
essential to effective and responsible citizenship And participation in a democracy;

• promoting reading and the resources and services of the school library to the Whole
school community and beyond.

Activities
Access to Information: UNESCO aims at helping individuals and organisations In improving
access to information and knowledge. It strives to create conditions Conducive to free flow
of information. Universal access to information is high On its agenda. To achieve universal
access to information it sets standards, creates Awareness and develops management tools
to strengthen libraries.

Archives: Archives are important components that help at improving information Access,
both for the public at large and for specialised groups. Since its creation, UNESCO has
contributed to the reinforcement of these types of services. The Development of
information technologies and in particular the Internet, Networking, cooperation and
digitisation modify substantially the functions of Acquiring, storing and disseminating
information and knowledge. UNESCO pays Special attention to the underdeveloped
countries so that they do not lag behind Technological advances.

In the area of archives, UNESCO, through its Records And Archives Management
Programme – RAMP (established in 1979) aims at:

• making the general public and decision-makers aware of the importance of Records
and archives for planning and development safeguarding of the National heritage;

Page 8 of 12
 • assisting Member States in the establishment of efficient records and archives
Management infrastructures through standardization , archival legislation, Training,
and enhancing infrastructure (buildings and equipment);
• promoting international debates on main issues in the archival field.

E-Governance: E-governance is the use of ICT by different actors of the society With the aim
to improve their access to information and to build their capacities. The principal on-going
UNESCO activity in the field of e-governance is a cross-Cutting project on E-Governance
Capacity-Building. This project aims at Promoting the use of ICT tools in municipalities to
enhance good governance Through the development of training modules for local decision-
makers in Africa And Latin America.

Information Processing Tools: UNESCO develops, maintains and disseminates, Free-of-

charge, two interrelated software packages for database management (CDS/ISIS) and data
mining/statistical analysis (IDAMS). CDS/ISIS is a generalised information storage and
retrieval system. The Windows Version may run on a single computer or in a local area
network. The JavaISIS Client/server components allow remote database management over
the Internet And are available for Windows, Linux and Macintosh.

UNESCO digital library

The UNESCO Library, created in 1946, is a special library whose “main purpose is to serve”
members of the Secretariat by providing them with the library materials and information
needed for the execution of the Organization’s programmes, as defined by the
representatives of UNESCO’s Member States in the General Conference.

Collection
Ever since 1946, UNESCO librarians have been developing a collection of research and
reference materials on subjects pertinent to the work of the Organization. Language
dictionaries, encyclopaedias, guides and other reference books can be consulted in the
reading room.

Reading room
The reading room is a place for UNESCO staff, delegates and external researchers to carry
out research and find reference sources. It is an ideal place to discuss research interests
with a reference librarian, access the collections, borrow books, learn how to search
UNESCO’s database UNESDOC, e-resources and other relevant resources, and work in an
intellectually stimulating environment.

Readers have direct access to reference works, handbooks, encyclopaedias and dictionaries,
newspapers and magazines on the shelves in the reading room.

Page 9 of 12
All other publications are located in the stacks, which are not accessible to the public. The
reference collection provides quick answers and redirects researchers to resources on topics
such as UNESCO, the United Nations, education, cultural heritage, social and human
sciences, water security, natural environment and human rights.

The reading room is open during the Organization’s working days: Monday to Friday from
12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

World Digital Library

In December 2006, UNESCO and the Library of Congress convened an Experts Meeting at
UNESCO headquarters in Paris to discuss the project. A team at the Library of Congress then
developed the public, online version of the WDL, which was launched at UNESCO in April
2009. Twenty-six institutions in 19 countries contributed content to the launch version of
the site. Launch partners included the national libraries of China, Egypt, Russia, France, the
United States, and several other countries.
Therefore , Launched in 2009 the World Digital Library (WDL) is an international digital
library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress. Its mission is to
promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume and variety of
cultural content on the Internet, provide resources for educators, scholars, and general
audiences, and to build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within
and among countries.
The library intends to make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual
format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts,
maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural
drawings, and other significant cultural materials.

Collection
The materials collected by the WDL make it possible to discover, study, and enjoy cultural
treasures and significant historical documents including books, manuscripts, maps,
newspapers, journals, prints and photographs, sound recordings, and films. Books,
manuscripts, maps, and other primary materials on the site are presented in their original
languages.

More than 100 languages are represented in the WDL collection, including many lesser
known and endangered languages.

Page 10 of 12
Conclusion
The acronym UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization. It denotes the specialized agency of the United Nations that was
outlined in a constitution signed November 16, 1945. The constitution, which entered into
force in 1946, called for the promotion of international collaboration in education, science,
and culture.

It was originally founded to focus on rebuilding schools, libraries, and museums, assisting,
supporting, and complementing the national efforts of member states to eliminate illiteracy
and to extend free education. UNESCO works so that each child and citizen has access to
quality education. By promoting cultural heritage and the equal dignity of all cultures,
UNESCO strengthens bonds among nations. UNESCO fosters scientific programmes and
policies as platforms for development and cooperation.

In connection to this, UNESCO has a major role in libraries and their services as well. It laid
great emphasis on Public libraries which are defined as the local gateway of knowledge for
the general public. Therefore, UNESCO established it’s digital library in 1946 with the
purpose to serve. Later on in 2009, with the collaboration of UNESCO and Library of
Congress, World digital library (WDL) was formed with the aim to promote, encourage and
expand the information and knowledge to the common citizens on internet that too free of
charge.

Page 11 of 12
References
• IGNOU BLI-221 Library, Information and Society (UNIT 14 ORGANISATIONS AND
Associations INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARY AND
INFORMATION SERVICES)

• Websites
o https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO

o https://en.unesco.org/

o https://www.britannica.com/topic/UNESCO

o https://www.wdl.org/en/

Page 12 of 12