A warm welcome to Ilays Library Initiative, now joining the Forum for Open Research in MENA as a member. Across Somalia, libraries are playing an increasingly important role in education, research, and community development, often serving as vital spaces for learning and access to reliable information. ILAYS works directly within this landscape, supporting libraries not only as institutions, but as engines for knowledge equity and long-term national growth.

Ilays Library Initiative (ILAYS) is a youth-driven, non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening libraries and access to knowledge in Somalia. Founded on the belief that information access is a cornerstone of national development, ILAYS supports university, school, public, community, and research libraries through capacity building, consultancy, advocacy, and training.

ILAYS works across the full library lifecycle, including library establishment and development, collection building, policy and operational framework design, cataloguing and automation, and digital library systems. The initiative also delivers professional training in information literacy, open access, research support, and modern library management, while promoting reading culture and community engagement through outreach programmes and partnerships.

Led by information science professionals with local and institutional experience, ILAYS combines international best practices with deep contextual understanding to help build inclusive, sustainable, and modern library services across Somalia.

Through this membership, FORM and ILAYS come together around shared priorities in Open Research and Open Science. Libraries play a critical role in enabling open knowledge systems, supporting researchers, students, and communities with the skills, tools, and infrastructure needed to access and contribute to global scholarship. ILAYS’ hands-on work with library development and professional training brings a grounded, practice-based perspective to regional conversations about openness, research support, and equitable knowledge access.

The membership also creates new opportunities for exchange across the FORM network. ILAYS will be able to connect with institutions and organisations working on open access, research services, and community engagement across the MENA region, while sharing lessons from its experience building library capacity in contexts where access to resources can be uneven. These connections help strengthen cross-regional learning and ensure that discussions around Open Science remain closely tied to local realities.

Sharing his perspective on the membership, Abdirahim Mohamed Nor, Founder & Chairperson of Ilays Library Initiative, said:

“Ilays Library Initiative is joining FORM because we strongly believe that Open Research and Open Science are essential to strengthening libraries, research, and equitable access to knowledge in the region. Through this partnership, we hope to contribute practical library-based perspectives while learning from and collaborating with FORM’s diverse community”.

We look forward to working closely with ILAYS and to highlighting the essential role of libraries in building open, inclusive, and sustainable knowledge ecosystems.

If you would like to learn more about FORM membership and opportunities for collaboration, you can find further information here.