Earlier this year, a call for volunteers went out to the IFLA membership to serve on the Code of Conduct for Volunteers Working Group.

The group has been tasked to develop a draft Code of Conduct for IFLA Volunteers that provides guidance on the standards of behavior appropriate for volunteers within the context of the approved Statues and Rules of Procedure, and Core Values of IFLA. The group has been asked to develop this code to present to the IFLA Governing Board for approval with the expectation it will be implemented in 2025.

The working group is made up of representatives across IFLA’s Board, Divisions, Sections, Committees, Councils and interest groups. Additionally, all representatives have experience crafting and implementing similar policies or codes with other organizations.

At our initial meeting in March, we reviewed the charge, identified a deputy chair, confirmed our use of the Triple Diamond Design Method as a systematic approach for project planning, and set an action item for each member to submit a few examples of codes of conduct for cultural heritage, non-government, library, and professional/membership organizations and that all members read through those examples in preparation for our April meeting.

At our April meeting, we confirmed the creation of a communications sub-committee, agreed on a timeline for work deliverables for our May meeting and we agreed on a methodology to review the data we’ve collected – but you’ll have to wait until next month to learn more about our approach.

We plan to provide regular, public updates of the progress of our work, and will be reaching out to the membership in for feedback on the proposed code before it goes up to the IFLA Governing Board for approval in December.