National Libraries as Political Catalysts

This presentation was given by Eiman Al Shamari, Qatar National Library

In this talk, I will present the initial data of my research “National/Public Libraries Approach" where I interviewed 27 national library directors and experts from 27 different countries about their roles, functions, and values.  After analyzing the initial data about national and public libraries’ legislations, it was noticed that directors support the case of political advocacy and activism, which is a different role from the one we used to look into libraries with, the neutralism perspective. This lightning talk will highlight many stories behind the work of national librarians' political roles.