Following our satellite meetings on advocacy organised for Berlin in 2017 and Kuala Lumpur in 2018, Government Libraries Section held a final satellite meeting on this theme in Rome in August 2019. The aim was to discuss the country case studies which would be included in the revised chapter on advocacy in the “Guidelines for libraries of government departments”, originally published in 2008. The basic text of this chapter had already been revised, but the examples given as case studies also required updating and expanding.

The main meeting was hosted by Standing Committee member Cinzia Iossa, in the premises of her library in the Ministry of Education (Ministero dell’Istruzione et della Ricerca) following the main Congress in Athens. There were 21 participants, of whom 10 were international delegates and 11 were ltalian. This number and mix was ideal for encouraging participants to exchange their experiences and share best practice. There was also good cross-over between the international delegates and the Italian participants, even though the Italians had not for the most part been able to attend the main congress in Athens.

Case studies were presented from the libraries of three Italian ministries: Justice, Economy and the host Ministry of Education. The latter was particularly memorable as it described how a forgotten collection relating to the persecution of Italian Jews before and during the Second World War had been rediscovered and made accessible to today’s school children. Overall, the desired outcomes were achieved and informal feedback received from participants indicated they were inspired by the meeting. Several useful case studies were presented which complemented those already collected.

The Ministry of Education generously allowed free use of their premises for the meeting, making possible free registration to participants. GLS appreciate the support of the Ministry and extend special thanks to Cinzia Iossa, who made our Rome meeting possible. In addition, the group was privileged to tour the Palazzo Chigi – home of the Prime Minister’s Office and Chigiana Library – all appreciated the considerable organisation to allow this. Thanks also to Prof. Annamaria Tammaro of the IFLA Library Theory Section, which held a Rome satellite meeting at the same time. We were able to offer our participants the opportunity to join the Library Theory formal dinner near the Vatican.

Papers given during the meeting are being added here:

Paola Maddaluno – Digitization and accessibility: best practice in the Luca Pacioli Library, Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance

Isabella De Cesare – overview of the Italian Ministry of Justice Library