IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books in Indigenous and Endangered Languages

IBBY and UNESCO join efforts to protect linguistic diversity in the field of children’s literature by launching a global call for submissions to put together the IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages.

It is known today that, due to a lack of speakers, 40 per cent of the approximately 7,000 languages around the world may disappear by the turn of this 21st century. In view of this threat, which is all the more critical to the 4,000 Indigenous languages in the world today, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the period between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (Resolution A/RES/74/135) to draw global attention on the critical situation of many Indigenous languages and to mobilize stakeholders and resources for their preservation, revitalization and promotion. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) serves as lead UN Agency for the implementation of the International Decade.

The IBBY-UNESCO Collection is a worldwide invitation to publishers, librarians, and institutions—public and private—working for the promotion of books and reading, to discover and share books written for young readers in Indigenous and endangered languages. A call for submissions is open for interested parties to propose titles to inspire future generations of readers and strengthen the status of Indigenous and endangered languages as strategic resources for sustainable development, peacebuilding and reconciliation.

An international committee, composed by IBBY and UNESCO, and influential international experts on children and young adult books who play a positive role in the empowerment of Indigenous identities and languages will select titles to form the Collection, which will be formally presented at the 40^th IBBY Congress in Ottawa (6–9 August 2025).

A worldwide call to submit titles is open until 15 December 2025.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

• Books for children and young people (picture books, novels, biographies, graphic novels and nonfiction) presenting high-quality standards in terms of text and/or illustration;
• books published between January 2022 and December 2025;
• books originally published in an Indigenous and/or an endangered language, and bilingual books including at least one Indigenous and/or endangered language;
• books expressing the intention of, or relation to, one or more of the 10 outputs of the Global Action Plan of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages; and
• books and publications that adhere to UNESCO principles and respect political neutrality.
   

WHAT ARE THE 10 OUTPUTS OF THE GLOBAL ACTION PLAN OF THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES:

1. Inclusive, equitable, intercultural, quality education and lifelong learning environments and opportunities in Indigenous languages provided in formal, non-formal and informal educational settings.
2. Enhanced capacities among Indigenous Peoples for applying their languages and knowledge to the eradication of hunger and maintaining the integrity of Indigenous food systems.
3. Favorable conditions established for digital empowerment, freedom of expression, media development, access to information and language technology, alongside artistic creation in Indigenous languages.
4. Appropriate Indigenous language frameworks designed to offer better health provision, recognizing traditional systems of medicine, as well as promoting social cohesion and delivering humanitarian responses, especially during health crises, times of conflicts and natural disasters.
5. Access to justice and availability of public services guaranteed to Indigenous language speakers and signers.
6. Indigenous languages are sustained, as a vehicle of living heritage and biodiversity, whilst participation in – and access to – all forms of culture are enhanced for Indigenous Peoples.
7. Enabling environment is created for Indigenous languages, thereby contributing to biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, ecosystems management, land restoration, improving the marine and coastal environment, reducing natural hazards, preventing pollution, and managing water resources.
8. Economic growth is strengthened by enhanced decent job opportunities for Indigenous Peoples and languages users.
9. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are achieved through the preservation, revitalization and promotion of Indigenous languages; and
10. Public and private partnerships are firmly established to place on the global agenda a long-term commitment to the preservation, revitalization and promotion of Indigenous languages.

CRITERIA ON ENDANGERED LANGUAGES:

The Collection shall follow the methodology adopted by the UNESCO World Atlas of Languages, notably:

• Out of use (0) includes languages that have presumably gone out of use after 1950;
• Critically endangered (1) spoken/used by < 25,000; 
• Severely endangered (2) includes between 10,000 to 100,000 users left.
• Definitely endangered (3) has between 100,000 and 3.5 million.
• Potentially vulnerable (4) has between 3.5 million to 7 million.
• Endangered/Unsafe (5) ranges from small numbers to 7.5 million.
• Safe (6) is considered as implying non-endangerment as a consequence of high status and high presence. This last category will not be included for the purposes of the IBBY-UNESCO Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages.