What they say about the InfoShop

Don’t take our word for it – see what our partners and clients have to say…

"Visibility for the good work of the World Bank helps to promote the cause of poverty reduction. The Info-shop has been highly effective in creating a better visibility. In our open world it is essential to communicate actively on what we do. The constituency for the World Bank in the world is crying for more and better information on the World Bank?s operations. The Info-shop has done an excellent job in taking its share in answering this cry-out for communication." - Jozef Ritzen, President of Maastricht University and former Vice President of the Human Development Network and the Development Economics Department

In the global information age, when organizations communicate to a widening range of audiences, the Bank's modesty sometimes limited the extent of its influence. The InfoShop has dramatically changed that by reaching out to Washington's powerful non-government sector, including the media. The resulting synergy among Bank experts, public interest groups and the traditional government clients of the Bank can be a powerful and positive force to serve the cause of economic and social development, especially for the poor of the world who often find their best advocates are not working in government offices. - Ambassador David Mack, Vice President of the Middle East Institute and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs

"The Infoshop has played a very effective role as a knowledge broker through the book events it organizes. This series is of particular interest to WBI and its clients as it is another mode of knowledge sharing and learning. The outside audience that "Book Launches" attract are a key input to the thinking of the Bank on important topics". - Frannie Léautier, Vice President, World Bank Institute

"I cannot think of a more influential venue and network as the Infoshop of the World Bank, situated in the heart of a key development community in the US, for the presentation and debate of research output and knowledge on development". - Ara Kazandjian, World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University

"If listening is a part of the debate which leads to change and change starts at home, then the InfoShop is becoming that place. It fits my image of what the InfoShop should be - that's not just a bookstore on publications, but increasingly, the best thought leadership on development. The books that are available in the InfoShop have a much wider spectrum and are a welcomed addition to the Bank. It plays into the idea that we have to do as much listening as talking. It's helpful for us to be in that role as we move toward change." - Phyllis Pomerantz, the World Bank's Chief Learning Officer

" This event, as well as others organized by the InfoShop, are probably one of the most powerful windows of opportunities for staff to get acquainted with shifts in the development paradigm and who are those behind those shifts. Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming insular and narrowly self normative. At the core of what the InfoShop does is the value of pluralism, that is to say, to expose staff to all perspectives within a wide array of ideologies and ideas? a fruitful and enriching process for all of those involved," - Alfredo Sfeir-Younis, Senior Advisor to the Managing Directors

"I'm hugely impressed with the way in which the publisher, Dirk Koehler and Hafed Al-Ghwell, the InfoShop's manager, have taken what used to just be a bookshop and turned it into a development salon where authors from far and wide like Jeff Sachs to Tom Friedman, Francis Fukuyama and Jo Ritzen can come and share their ideas," - Phil Hay, Communications Advisor, Human Development Network

"The work you all are doing with the InfoShop is terrific. You are making your mark. The block-buster speakers that have been coming through over the last year to the Bank via the InfoShop are remarkable. Great job and keep it up." - Adnan Hassan, Senior Adviser to Strategy, Finance & Risk Management (SFR) Vice President

I think that the Infoshop is doing a great job with its book launches and sponsored events. The coverage is diverse and consistently stimulating and nicely complements that of other seminars in the Bank. By bringing prominent authors to give talks, you are also helping to spotlight interesting new books and to encourage people to read them.

As someone who spends a lot of time in bookstores, the selection in the Infoshop is sufficiently broad, desirably quirky, and refreshed with sufficent frequency to make me a regular visitor. Good bookstores and book lovers are endangered species. Please keep up the good work. Shahid Yusuf, Economic Advisor, Development Economics