As gateways to knowledge and culture, libraries play a fundamental role in society. The resources and services they offer create opportunities for learning, support literacy and education, and help shape the new ideas and perspectives that are central to a creative and innovative society. They also help ensure an authentic record of knowledge created and accumulated by past generations. In a world without libraries, it would be difficult to advance research and human knowledge or preserve the world’s cumulative knowledge and heritage for future generations.

Libraries are keenly aware of the need to maintain the balance between protecting the rights of authors and safeguarding the wider public interest. Copyright exceptions, which are currently under discussion in WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), form an integral part of national copyright systems. They play an essential role in enabling the delivery of library services to the public and in achieving the copyright system’s goals of encouraging creativity and learning. This article explores the enduring importance of libraries and some of the intellectual property-related challenges they face.

Libraries represent different things to different people – from a place where mothers can take toddlers to read their first stories and students can study, to a service allowing anyone to borrow a book, access the Internet or do research. Quite simply, libraries offer a means by which we can gain access to knowledge.

Supporting education

Libraries are synonymous with education and offer countless learning opportunities that can fuel economic, social and cultural development. The inspiring story of William Kamkwamba from Malawi underlines the difference a library can make. Having borrowed a book about windmills from his local library, Mr. Kamkwamba learned how to build an energy-producing turbine for his village. On the strength of this experience he went on to study at