WLIC 2026 has come and gone, and we are impressed and still excited with the outcome! The final numbers are in: in just four days, we welcomed 3,233 delegates (back to pre-pandemic levels of attendance, the highest since 2019!) from 111 countries and territories, of whom 50% were first-time attendees – and almost 1600 of delegates were from Korea. We also platformed 305 speakers and 50 exhibitors and hosted 205 open sessions and meetings.
We would like once again to thank our Korean hosts, for the excellent hospitality and flawless organisation. They managed to create a great space for delegates to not only learn and meet each other, but also to learn about Korean culture, whether it was at the K-zone in the exhibition area, or at the Opening Session and Cultural Evening.
In case you could not join us in Busan, we recorded the Opening and Closing Session, along with more than a dozen other key sessions throughout the Congress week. You can find them all on a playlist on our YouTube Channel. You can also read our daily recaps, look through our 1K+ photos on Flickr, and go back to our live coverage of the event on Instagram.
Now, onto WLIC 2027! We will be back in the United Kingdom, the country where IFLA started, 100 years from our foundation. This alone will make London WLIC 2027 very special for us, but the congress would not be possible without the participation and enthusiasm of the delegates, so we hope to see you in even bigger numbers next August.
In the meantime, we have launched our IFLA100 commemorative logo, designed by South Africa’s Stellenbosch University Library Team, and published new materials, including the first Quest in our Great IFLA100 Futures Challenge.
Our Li-Sci-Fi: IFLA100 Library Science Fiction Short Story Competition remains open until 1 September.
Keep following us for more exciting news!
