On 27th April, 2016, at the Headquarter of Organization internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), Paris – France, General Assembly of Francophone Digital Network (RFN) has held a meeting with the participation of representatives from OIF and Directors of network’s member libraries. To the National Library of Viet Nam, we have Mrs. Kieu Thuy Nga – Director attending the meeting which is held on the 10th Birthday occasion of RFN.
Speaking at the meeting, the RFN Secretary General emphasized the role of the network in promoting cultural diversity, maintaining and preserving French heritage through a digitization program to documents stored in the member libraries. This content has been emphasized at the session of RFN in Dakar - Senegal in 2015, which aimed to facilitate readers in Francophone to access French-language knowledge. During the past year, a number of pilot projects have been implemented by some members with technical assistance from French, Belgian, Canadian members, especially the Project provides digital materials for portal Gallica Marque Blanche of the National Library of France.
At the meeting, the representatives also agreed to strengthen the documents’ digitization to share in the future, along with to train young technical staff at the member libraries.
One of the important issues covered in this session is the legal status and operation regulations of the Network. The participants agreed upon the proposal of the Managing Committee about the renaming from Network to Association of Francophone Digital Library, based at the Royal Library of Belgium, established and operating under the laws of Belgium, while respecting international law and the laws of the member states. The mission of the Association will be executed with the help of the OIF with a new structure in which the Royal Library of Belgium will assume the role of focal point in the near future. The Association will have an Executive Board for a term of three years, with the Chairman, the Vice Chairmen, secretary and treasurer. Since 2017, the members will pay annually dues to maintain the operation of the Association.
Ending the session, the General Assembly of Francophone Library Network decided that the 2017 session will be held at the Royal Library of Belgium.
Overview of the Session
Representatives listening to the presentation of the National Library of France
Visiting the National Library of France
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News, pictures: Tran Van Cong