The participants of the meeting that was held on 3 and 4 November 2003 in the Hall of the UN General Assembly in Geneva under the title "Libraries @ the heart of the Information Society" called upon the nations of the world to support and extend the existing global network of library and information services to make available and preserve knowledge and cultural heritage, to provide information access points and to develop the twenty-first century literacies essential for the realisation on the information society. High quality library and information services provide access to the information required by the communities they serve. A modest investment in them would quickly return significant dividends.

The IFLA Pre-Summit conference aimed at bringing together library and information professionals and national WSIS delegates. The purpose was to brief delegates of the issues which librarians believe to be important in order to make a real difference to people’s lives by harnessing the power of Information and Telecommunications Technologies.

In August this year, the IFLA Council, meeting in Berlin, Germany, passed a resolution on WSIS promoting library development programmes for poor rural and urban populations, literacy instruction through libraries, and the strengthening of library education programmes.

The full text of the resolution is as follows:

Whereas the World Summit for the Information Society offers a unique opportunity for the library community to be recognized as the heart of the information society,
And whereas IFLA has already devoted a great amount of work to influence the draft declaration and plan of action of the World Summit for the Information Society,
Therefore be it resolved that library associations and institutions are urged to advocate to their government representatives to the World Summit for the Information Society for libraries as a global public good,
And be it resolved that IFLA calls upon all governments to address the growing gap between the information rich and the information poor, and promote library development programs for poor rural and urban populations, literacy instruction through libraries, and the strengthening of library education programs,
And be it resolved that IFLA urges governments to eliminate fees for basic services broadly construed, assist in developing local content for electronic information services, and provide equitable access to the Internet,
And be it resolved that this resolution be sent to all national library associations and government delegations to the World Summit for the Information Society.