‘‘ W
ITH tight budgets and packed schedules the sooner suppliers and delegates decide
what opportunities WLIC 2027 in London could deliver for them, the sooner they can start working on their plans.
“We know that it is important to have suppliers and delegates thinking about coming to IFLA WLIC 2027 now so they make sure it is in their budget forecast- ing for 2027,” Helen said. “What we’re hearing from around the world is that due to economic circumstances, many libraries can only support their librarians to go to one international conference a year. In 2027 WLIC is going to be the one that people will do. We want librarians to think ‘if I’m attending one thing in 2027 for my training and development, it’s going to be this.’”
“To be in London to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the world’s library feder- ation will be an extra special experience. Attending the IFLA World Library and Information Congress is a once in a life- time occasion for many librarians around the world. Each year as IFLA organises the Congress in another region of the world, around 50 per cent of delegates are first time attendees, with many from the host country. WLIC 2027 will be the IFLA Congress that librarians will aim to attend. An outstanding host city and a chance to be part of the centenary cele- brations is an attractive proposition.”
Who comes?
Around 75 per cent of WLIC delegates report that they have budget responsibil-
14
The IFLA Congress is an exceptional environment to have everybody together and they come to you instead of you as a supplier having to go all around the world to find your clients. How could you do better than that?
Buyers and suppliers: are you ready?
Delegate or exhibitor, the sooner you start planning, the better. Helen Mandl, Deputy Secretary General, Director Member Services at IFLA and Alain Zayan, IFLA Conference & Events Manager, explain why WLIC 2027 in London is going to be big.
ities and around 15 per cent are library directors. It means delegates have buying power while also being given a one-off global window-shopping opportunity. Helen said: “A large proportion of people who go are ones who control budgets. They might be looking to connect with their suppliers and discuss their relation- ship but they’re often looking for new ideas as well, for products or services that can make them an all-round community asset and that increase interactions with the community because they’ve moved on from being collections based.” As Alain says: “The IFLA Congress is an exceptional environment to have everybody together and they come to you instead of you as a supplier having to go all around the world to find your clients. How could you do better than that?” In terms of exhibitors, Alain said about 50 to 60 per cent of exhibitors are repeat exhibitors with regular returners – the rest being local or one-off international suppliers. However, some sectors are developing over time Helen said: “For instance, we’ve seen over the last years that some of the major libraries or library organisations in the Middle East and China want to be present and have booths. They will be interested in the UK delegates but also the international range.”
Big or small?
All suppliers are welcome from big estab- lished companies like platinum sponsor OCLC who is expecting to be there in 2027 (see p. 19). However, Helen also gave examples of variety and experimentation from smaller exhibitors: “In Rotterdam in 2023 we saw Social-ability (
https://social-ability.co.uk) which
Helen Mandl.
makes a station and toys to help people with dementia and ageing and although aimed at use in care facilities, libraries also saw a use for it with different client groups. They came and had a simple booth and it had enormous interest because people hadn’t seen anything like that. They realised that they could use it within a public library environment to bring out when they had sessions for the elderly, or those with disabilities.” Now libraries are a key audience for their product range. And from WLIC 2025,in Kazakhstan, she highlighted a company called, UBIDUS (
https://ubidus.com/). “It makes digital book kiosks. Something I’d never seen before. It is a Korean company that came to Kazakhstan and at the time I don’t think
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