A quarterly round-up of news, events, and updates from program partners #

Insights from the IFLA (WLIC25) World Library and Information Conference 2025

The IFLA World Library and Information Conference 2025 (WLIC25), held in the vibrant city of Astana, Kazakhstan, brought together over 1600 delegates from over 110 countries to discuss the role of cultural heritage in shaping our understanding of the past, present, and future. The city itself, a blend of futuristic architecture and deep-rooted traditions, provided the perfect backdrop for a series of engaging sessions centered on preserving global heritage.

Some of the sessions highlighted the need to safeguard heritage in nations experiencing conflict, such as Ukraine and Sudan. Experts and practitioners explored how underlining the importance of documentary heritage could empower local communities to take ownership of their histories. The emphasis was on not only preserving these stories but also ensuring they are accessible and interoperable with newer technologies.

Discussions also touched on the integral connection between cultural heritage and economic development, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A workshop with case studies, including those from meetings in Cape Town, South Africa, highlighted how crucial it is to define cultural heritage’s role in society's progress. Participants expressed the importance of recognizing contemporary developments—whether in digital or physical contexts—as valuable components of our cultural narrative, deserving careful preservation and documentation.

Advocacy emerged as a prominent theme, including the need to advocate for making cultural heritage digitally accessible as envisioned by the HCA partners. The conference underscored our shared global responsibility to preserve cultural heritage while increasing its accessibility and collaboration across institutional and national borders. As we look ahead, the insights from Astana and other professional networks can help clarify a path forward for HCA. The CLIR team remains eager to learn about new contacts, opportunities, and insights emerging from within the HCA partnership so that we can continue moving toward establishing practical and impactful initiatives for the constituents we serve.

Blessing Mawire

Program Manager

Partner Updates #

AAU

A video tribute to our colleague Nodumo Dhlamini, who played a key role in building momentum and enthusiasm for HCA among the AAU membership and in identifying potential project sites (see Funding Search).

Upcoming:
Responsible Use of AI and Emerging Technologies in Higher Education: Bridging African and Diasporan Perspectives
Dates: October 1–3, 2025
Location: Windhoek, Namibia

CLIR

Shaneé Willis is the new Digital Library Foundation Senior Program Officer. She was formerly the HBCU Library’s Program Manager.

HBCU Library Alliance

Sandra Phoenix, former Executive Director of the HBCU Library Alliance, has retired. Loretta Parham is the Interim Director. A search for a new Executive Director is ongoing.

Réseau Francophone Numérique (RFN)

A General Assembly in Québec City Reinforces the Role of Heritage Institutions

This summer, the Réseau francophone numérique (RFN – Francophone Digital Network) held its Annual General Assembly in Québec City, gathering some 30 participants from over 15 countries. The event coincided with the Conférence des ministres de la Culture de la Francophonie (Conference of Ministers of Culture of the Francophonie).

CLIR board chair Guy Berthiaume opened the program with a talk and discussion titled "The discoverability of African collections – A participatory and intergenerational project." This session emphasized the importance of preserving and sharing rare and unique materials held in Francophone Africa.

The Assembly featured a professional development session delivered in collaboration with the École d’été de l’AIFBD (Summer School of the International Francophone Association of Librarians and Documentalists), further strengthening cross-border cooperation across the Francophone documentary heritage ecosystem.

The Conference of Ministers adopted the Déclaration de Québec sur la découvrabilité du patrimoine documentaire francophone sur le Web (Québec Declaration on the Discoverability of Francophone Documentary Heritage on the Web)—a document that aligns closely with the RFN’s priorities, particularly:

  • Article 23 calls for the ethical development of cultural data banks that reflect the diversity of Francophone heritage;
  • Article 26 promotes the standardization of data and metadata to ensure the long-term preservation and discoverability of digitized collections; and
  • Article 33 highlights the essential roles of libraries and cultural institutions in connecting youth with Francophone content.

These commitments are especially meaningful where Francophone populations exist as linguistic or cultural minorities. Access and discoverability will empower these communities to share, protect, and celebrate their documentary heritage.

In the weeks ahead, the RFN, in collaboration with Senghor University in Alexandria, will finalize a comprehensive needs assessment to better understand members’ capacity-building priorities and preferred forms of support.

UbuntuNet Alliance

Upcoming:
Resilient and Sustainable Research and Education Networks for the Future
Dates: October 30-31, 2025
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe

In recent months, the HCA team has worked closely with staff from the following organizations to identify potential funding opportunities aligned with their preservation and digitization goals. The team welcomes partners’ suggestions of potential funders or other organizations ready to lead projects that demonstrate the impact of preserving and sharing African heritage.

Archives Nationales du Cameroun (ANC)

ANC seeks to consolidate, preserve, and share publicly owned photographic collections that retrace a century of socio-political, cultural, and economic history (1884-1984). Due to decades of insufficient funding and the lack of a coherent cultural preservation policy, these materials are now threatened by unsuitable conditions and dispersed among government agencies and private collections.


Images from the photo collection to be preserved. ANC

Côte d’Ivoire - Bibliothèque Nationale de Côte d’Ivoire (BNCI)

Originating from the colonial-era Institut Français d'Afrique Noire (IFAN) and constituting an irreplaceable resource for understanding the history and culture of Côte d'Ivoire, the BNCI’s rare and unique collections (periodicals, postcards, recordings, and maps) urgently need conservation due to the BNCI’s hot, humid, aging building. The conditions are worsening due to poor environmental control and storage, which have weakened the materials to the point where they tear or crumble when handled. Stabilization, inventory, and documentation (including digitization of the most fragile items) are urgently needed to ensure the survival of the content as well as to make it accessible.


Damaged documents to be conserved. BNCI

National University of Lesotho (NUL)

Rare materials held by NUL include colonial-era missionary publications, periodicals, newspapers, and government reports. These records–many of which are in the Sesotho language–provide important context for the heritage of the people of present-day Lesotho, along with the colonists and missionaries who came to Lesotho in the 19th and 20th centuries. NUL seeks to undertake a collection inventory, preservation assessment, and digitization initiative centered on the rarest and most at-risk materials within the collections. The long-term goal of this project will be to make the entire contents of the collection easily accessible to NUL students and researchers without putting the physical materials at risk of further damage.

Tanzania Library Service Board (TLSB)

TLSB is seeking funding to preserve and digitize three unique collections that have been inaccessible due to inadequate cataloging and a lack of secure public access spaces. These materials document the nation’s political, social, and cultural development. They include the Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Medicine Collection, which connects local wisdom to global health and environmental sustainability by documenting pre-colonial ways of living; the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Archives and Heritage Collection, contributing to global discussions on leadership, justice, and Pan-Africanism; and lastly, the Swahili Language Resources Collection, enhancing Africa’s cultural and linguistic presence in international dialogues and education.

Women's University Africa (WUA) Zimbabwe

The archival heritage of the WUA represents its distinctive history and social impact, thereby ensuring that the legacies of its founders, Professor Hope Cynthia Sadza and Dr. Fay Chung, remain accessible for future generations. Inadequate storage and environmental conditions, exacerbated by frequent flooding, as well as the fragility and obsolescence of many significant artifacts, are threatening this endangered heritage; it is urgent to safeguard WUA’s legacy before it is permanently lost.

National Archives of Namibia (NAN)

NAN seeks funding to preserve and create access to 6,657 historical maps that document the architectural, historical, and environmental landscapes of the nation. Dating back to 1838, these maps showcase early depictions of Namibia’s geography, settlements, and infrastructure development. The oldest map in the collection is 185 years old. This historical map collection faces a preservation crisis due to inadequate conservation treatment and storage. Currently, the maps are hung rather than placed in flat storage cabinets, compromising their structural integrity and legibility. Due to poor storage conditions and overuse, the fragile maps have begun to degrade, with tears, creasing, and fading now prevalent. Urgent measures are required to preserve these historical treasures and prevent further deterioration.