Welcome to the August 2024 LIBER Mailing

This mailing is sent directly to LIBER Libraries and is posted publicly on the LIBER website. Please feel free to share this mailing with others.

Dear participants, members and friends of LIBER,

Welcome to the August 2024 LIBER Mailing.

It was great to see many of you at last month’s Annual Conference held at the Cyprus University of Technology in Limassol, Cyprus.

The conference was truly inspiring and provided ample opportunities for networking and meeting old and new friends. At the conference, the LIBER Meeting of Participants took place, offering members a chance to exercise their rights.

In this issue of the August Mailing, you will find the minutes of the Meeting of Participants, updates on the Executive Board Elections, and more information from the LIBER Office.

I hope you enjoy reading it!

Kind regards,

Anja Smit
LIBER Secretary General

WELCOMING OUR NEW MEMBERS
LIBER is thrilled to introduce its newest participants to the network. In the past months, we have welcomed:

• Faculty of Social Sciences LU, Central Social Sciences Library Jože Goričar, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Hertie School Library, Berlin, Germany

Launch of Supportive Membership Fee Programme 

LIBER’s strategy for 2023 – 2027 is full of ambition to better represent the voice of research libraries and to organise activities which strengthen the library workforce for all our members. To maintain the quality of our services, and at the same time, keep them affordable for everyone, we kindly ask for your support and participation in the 2025 Supportive Membership Fee Programme.

LIBER offers the opportunity to contribute a supportive membership fee for 2025. By taking part in our supportive membership campaign, you will help LIBER continue working for you, your institution and your colleagues. Are you curious how LIBER worked for its members in 2024? Take a look at our 2023 – 2024 Annual Report.

After launching the Supportive Membership Fee Programme in 2024 for the first time, in 2025, you can choose between a one-time contribution of € 2,500 or € 5,000. This amount will replace the standard annual fee for your institute for one year.

In September 2024, all official representatives of our LIBER members will receive an invitation to contribute in 2025. Keep an eye on your mailbox! If you have any questions regarding the Programme, please contact us at liber@libereurope.org.

LIBER Annual Conference 2024

Thanks to all speakers, participants, and organisers, LIBER 2024 (3-5 July, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus) was a great success!

You can read all about the conference here. The official LIBER 2024 pictures can be found here.

LIBER 2025: Lausanne, Switzerland – SAVE THE DATE

Join us at the 2025 LIBER Annual Conference hosted by the Bibliothèque Cantonale et Universitaire, Lausanne, Switzerland from 2 to 4 July 2025. The theme next year is ‘Engage, collaborate, innovate: libraries addressing global challenges.’ More information will be available soon.

Call for Programme Directors for the Emerging Leaders Programme

The Emerging Leaders Programme is one of LIBER’s flagship leadership programmes, established in 2011 to train and develop the next generation of leaders in European research libraries.

Are you a senior library leader with a vision of modern leadership and an interest in coaching the next generation of European library leaders? LIBER’s Emerging Leaders Programme is looking for two new Programme Directors who will shape and deliver Cohort 7 of the programme, starting in 2025.

Read the full announcement.

The application deadline is Friday, 6 September 2024

Call for the Host of Liber Journées 2026

Every two years, library leaders and eminent speakers from Europe and beyond gather for the LIBER Journées, LIBER’s flagship Leadership Programme for Library Directors.

Do you want your institute to be involved in this high-level development programme? LIBER is now looking for a library organisation to host the next LIBER Journées in May 2026.

Read the full announcement and get in touch!

Reclassifying the Tiers of Membership

Inclusivity and equity are part of LIBER’s core values. The LIBER foundation has always aimed to support its members with tools, training, and services and at the same time to keep annual fees affordable for a majority of Europe’s research libraries.

In 2019 a new fee structure was approved by the Meeting of Participants. Three bands – tiers – were introduced based on national GDP per capita based on IMF data (see: World Economic Outlook – GDP per capita, current prices), and the number of inhabitants per country. The three tiers reflect different financial realities among LIBER member institutes.

Based on the assumption that economies tend to grow, GDP will also increase. At the point when the GDP levels chosen for the tiers remain the same, it will entail that likely almost all countries in Europe will at some point move to a higher tier.

Reclassification Tiers per 1 January 2025

The Meeting of Participants on 4 July 2024 approved the proposal to reclassify the tier levels with $5,000 for all tiers. This leads to the following reclassification as of 1 January 2025:

This way equity and inclusivity of all members across Europe is guaranteed and the new classification can be used for several years.

Classification of the separate countries in the tiers per 1 January 2025. Following the request made by the Meeting of Participants in July 2024, the classification of countries in the tiers will from now on be based on the IMF data of 1 August of the current year. The structure for the Annual Contribution (Membership) Fees does not change. In addition to this newsletter, communication about the classification and possible consequences for institutes will take place via the LIBER Insider Monthly newsletter of September 2024, the LIBER website and a direct message to every affected institute.

Indexing of Membership Fees 2025

As approved by the Executive Board and Meeting of Participants in 2022, Annual Fees have been adjusted for inflation on a yearly basis since 2023.

The fees are indexed based on the consumer price index, calculated month by month by the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), based on the inflation level in the Netherlands and looking at the index for the previous financial year (2023). The transparency in LIBER’s financial model, with a distinction in tiers based on national GDP per capita, will be maintained.

The 2025 fees will be indexed by 3.8% based on the 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Netherlands in 2023. This Dutch index was chosen because almost all LIBER costs are made in the Netherlands.

More information about the LIBER Annual Contribution Fees and the Fee Tiers can be found on the LIBER website.

Meeting of Participants 2024

On Thursday, 4 July, the annual Meeting of Participants took place in Limassol, Cyprus. You can find the minutes of the Meeting here.

During the Meeting of Participants, changes in the Executive Board were announced, including bidding farewell to Prof. Lars Burman, Director of Uppsala University Library, who had completed his term. Following a selection process, Thomas Kaarsted from the University of Southern Denmark was chosen to join the LIBER Executive Board.

Prof. Lars Burman                                       Thomas Kaarsted

Approval of Minutes MoP 2023

The approval of minutes for the Meeting of Participants 2023 took place during the 2024 Meeting in Limassol. You can find the approved minutes here.

If you have any queries about the content of this mailing, or if there is any further information that we can provide, please let us know via email (liber@libereurope.org).

Kind regards,
Anja Smit
Secretary-General
LIBER EUROPE