European libraries should embrace SDGs, conference hears

Even Sustainable Development Goals outside libraries’ traditional remit suggested as areas for action

European libraries, including at universities, should embrace the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals to better serve society and maintain relevance, according to library heads.

Seventeen SDGs, including goals on gender equality and hunger, were adopted by all UN member states in 2015 and are intended to be achieved by 2030. They were a focus of an event hosted on 11 June by the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations, which has university libraries among its members.