Anthony Marx + Alicia Sellés + Luz Estela Peña Gallego
Libraries: where one learns to read and understand the world.
Libraries today are poised to continue the accelerated process of technological and functional change that have already transformed their role in the community in many places. In the course of this conversation, the participants will address the vital role of basic, universal cultural institutions in the community: Libraries are physical and virtual outreach spaces as centres of social transformation, places of meeting and collaboration, in addition to their essential function of universal access to reading, culture and knowledge.
Anthony Marx, President of the New York Public Library
Alicia Sellés, President of the Spanish Federation of Archival, Library and Documentation Societies (Federación Española de Sociedades de Archivística, Biblioteconomía y Documentación – FESABID)
Luz Estela Peña Gallego, leader of the Medellín Public Library System Project (Proyecto Sistema de Bibliotecas Públicas de Medellín)
Relevant links
Alicia Sellés
Alicia Sellés Carot holds a Diploma in Library Science and Documentation from the University of Salamanca, and a Degree in Documentation as well as a Master’s in Content and Legal Aspects in the Information Society from the Polytechnic University of Valencia.
She develops her professional career in the private sector as a consultant and works mainly on the design and implementation of technological solutions for information and documentation services. She combines these tasks with teaching in specialised courses, degrees and master’s degrees related to information management.
In the field of professional associations, she has been president of the Valencian Community’s Official College of Librarians (Col·legi Oficial de bibliotecaris de la Comunitat Valenciana) for 6 years and represents Spain in the Executive Committee of EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations).
She is the current president of FESABID (Spanish Federation of Archival, Library and Documentation Societies) but for some years now she has been collaborating with the Federation in two lines of work. On the one hand, the strengthening of the associative movement and, on the other, political awareness-raising actions to make the role of libraries and access to the information visible in the framework of the 2030 Agenda.
For the latter, she was elected as the Spanish representative for the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) International Advocacy Programme 2016-2018 and coordinates the “Libraries and 2030 Agenda” Working Group of the Library Cooperation Council (a body that channels library cooperation between Spanish public administrations and reports to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport).
Luz Estela Peña Gallego
Her professional life has always been linked to the library sector. She has worked in school, community and public libraries and has enjoyed taking part in all the processes that make up a library’s day-to-day: working directly with users, promoting reading, information processing, administration, etc. For 12 years she has had in her heart the management of the libraries of the city of Medellín.
