The Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Library is a pillar in the institute’s work. The library holds one of the largest collections of literature on human rights and humanitarian law in Europe. It is an invaluable resource for those studying, researching and working with human rights around the world.
Why a Human Rights Library?
Libraries are an essential part of a healthy democracy. They provide us with new information and perspectives, acting not only as centers of knowledge but as forums for discussion as well. The free flow of information and ideas between students and researchers is fundamental for democracy to thrive.
The library is where we educate ourselves, and each other, learning through practice the foundational qualities of democratic citizenship.
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The Raoul Wallenberg Library (Swedish)Who is the library for?
The library is open to the public and welcomes anyone wishing to learn more about human rights.
First and foremost, the library serves as an important resource for students, researchers and visiting scholars. The democratic principles and guiding knowledge the students gain from the library plays a fundamental part in their future practices. Many of the students become future leaders and will come to hold important positions around the world. At the library they learn and develop human rights based approaches and perspectives, and make invaluable networks and connections. Researchers from all over the world use our resources to deepen and strengthen the world’s knowledge of human rights.
Libraries around the world
The library’s work expands its premises in Lund. The library supports our partner universities around the world. Together with local actors we have helped develop human rights libraries in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Belarus, and many other countries. For decades the library has worked, through our international programmes, to implement a human rights library concept around the world.
We help to collect and choose appropriate literature, while teaching local librarians the best practices for running human rights libraries.
Our vision: Towards a modern resource centre
The future matters to The Raoul Wallenberg Institute. We want to continue, and evolve, our work for democracy and human rights. The library’s aim is, amongst other things, to:
- Continue to keep our proficient and highly specialised human rights collection fully updated.
- Continue the successful drive to develop and support human rights libraries globally.
- Develop and share digital material on human rights, with increased accessibility.
- Contribute as a stage for ideas, education, and public discussions.
- Arrange seminars and meetings where students and reserachers can connect.
- Invite organisations and businesses to share knowledge, exchange ideas and create networks.
Why we need your support
The library depends on continued support to keep the specialised collection updated, to develop and share new digital material, to host staff to support students and researchers, as well as keeping a physical library in Lund, Sweden.
With your help we can continue our important work to support those studying, researching and working with human rights, and thus promoting and strengthening human rights globally.
Download our ‘pitch’ – Describes the library
The Raoul Wallenberg Library (Swedish)Feel free to spread this to friends, colleagues and people you believe would be interested in supporting a human rights library.
Testimonials from visitors near and far
We have had library trainings before, but they were either very technical and focused on library management, or only human rights based. The strengths of RWI’s training is exactly the bridging of this divide. For human rights librarians, it is essential that human rights be fully acknowledged.
– Librarian, Indonesian National Commission
RWI’s library helped us tremendously. It’s the best library in human rights and international humanitarian law I’ve ever seen.
– Pitikan Sithidej, Director-General of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, Ministry of Justice, Thailand. 2001 graduate.
The possibility to access multiple sources and material focused on human rights and humanitarian law at RWI has been a precious and inspiring opportunity for me.
– Visiting Masters Student