World Refugee Day 2025 is June 20th! This international observance, designated by the United Nations, honors the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence.
World Refugee Day 2025 Webinar | May 27
Libraries Supporting Displaced Persons: International Guidelines (IFLA) and Global Experiences
Tuesday, May 27, 2025; 11am-12:15 pm CT/Chicago (12-1:15pm ET / 6-7:15pm Poland/Netherlands / 7-8:15 pm Greece – Check local time at https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/)
This webinar commemorating World Refugee Day 2025 (June 20) will highlight the recently published IFLA Guidelines for Libraries Supporting Displaced Persons: Refugees, Migrants, Immigrants, Asylum seekers (December 2024) and be complemented by presentations on international experiences and/or research on providing library and information services to refugees and other displaced persons, with commentary on how the Guidelines are/may inform their work.
Speakers:
- Despina Gerasimidou, Community Mobilisation and Capacity Building Consultant, IFLA – From Shelves to Shelter: Libraries Making Room for Displaced Communities – IFLA Guidelines
- Magdalena Gomulka, Curator, Silesian Library in Katowice, Polish Librarians Association – Ukrainians in Poland: How Did Libraries Help Refugees?
- Lisa Hussey, Professor, School of Library and Information Science, Simmons University – School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA) Library: Working with Afghan girls in Rwanda
- Ana Ndumu, Assistant Professor, College of Information, University of Maryland College Park – Partnerships and power: Reflections on the ILPI Project amid hardline anti-immigrant policies
Co-organized by the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), the American Library Association (ALA), and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).
Join in commemorating World Refugee Day 2025. Theme: Solidarity with Refugees
As partners on the 2016-18 IMLS-funded planning grant: Project Welcome: Libraries and Community Anchors Planning for Resettlement and Integration of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and the American Library Association (ALA) invite libraries to commemorate World Refugee Day.
⇒ SEE ideas for libraries to commemorate this day from prior years at https://publish.illinois.edu/projectwelcome/world-refugee-day/
=> Stories of Strength: Books to Read for World Refugee Day
=> World Refugee Day Resources (American Association of School Librarians)