Library mythology: regarding the authorship of the first UNESCO Public Library Manifesto (1949)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3145/infonomy.26.025Keywords:
Public libraries, Manifestos, IFLA, UNESCO, Authorship, Historiographical errors, André Maurois, Disinformation, Artificial intelligenceAbstract
The first UNESCO Public Library Manifesto (1949) is one of the founding documents of the global public library movement. However, a significant portion of the specialised literature erroneously attributes its authorship to the French writer André Maurois. This research note analyses the origin and persistence of this historiographical error through a review of primary and secondary sources. It examines the institutional context of IFLA-UNESCO cooperation in the post-war period; presents documentary evidence confirming the collective authorship of the text, prepared by the UNESCO Libraries Section in cooperation with the IFLA Public Libraries Committee; proposes an explanatory hypothesis locating the source of confusion in the essay about libraries that Maurois wrote for UNESCO in 1961; and presents the results of an experiment with generative artificial intelligence systems that illustrates how this error has been perpetuated in the contemporary information ecosystem. The research concludes that restoring the collective and institutional authorship of the 1949 Manifesto is not merely an exercise in historiographical rigour, but an act of symbolic justice towards the library profession itself.
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Referencias de los sistemas de inteligencia artificial consultados
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Google (2026). Gemini (versión de razonamiento, 6 de mayo de 2026) [Modelo de lenguaje de gran tamaño]. https://gemini.google.com
OpenAI (2026). ChatGPT (versión del 6 de mayo de 2026) [Modelo de lenguaje de gran tamaño]. https://chat.openai.com
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