Access to knowledge at the heart of the profession and a key to sustainable development

... Open access to scholarly literature, the role of knowledge production in development, and the continued inequality in information access among the world's populations are key areas of focus within the international community. The Paris Agreement of 2015 emphasizes the need for public access to information and the important role of knowledge creation and technology transfer in addressing successfully the astounding economic, social, and political challenges embedded in solutions to global issues such as sustainable development (United Nations, 2016). The Lyon Declaration (2014) and IFLA's key strategic initiatives make clear that the library and information community is keenly aware of these challenges and is working to partner with the academic community, civil society, private sector, governments, and the public as a whole to broaden access to knowledge through more equitable dissemination and broader participation in research. As this issue of IFLA journal makes clear, there is much progress in the field, but we still face many challenges.