2010 ALA Annual Program
IRRT and the US State Department Expand the Reach of Conference on a Global Scale
Participants from 41 countries virtually joined a roomful of conference-goers in DC at a program co-sponsored by the International Relations Round Table (IRRT) Connections and Sister Libraries Committees. The U.S. State Department streamed the program live to U.S. Embassies and American Corners worldwide.
There were a total of 141 logins (often representing IRC or American Corner groups) from the following locations:
The U.S., Jamaica, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Morocco, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, Finland, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, Philippines, Malaysia, and Australia.
Four panelists spoke about the mechanics of starting international library exchanges and sister libraries and a library cooperation agreement was ceremonially signed between October 6 University in Egypt and Troy University in Alabama. In the photograph below, Dr. Henry Stewart (Left), Dean of Libraries at Troy University and Dr. Maurice Mikhail of October 6 University celebrate the signing of their sister library agreement.
The program, "Building Bridges to Establish International Partnerships: The Nuts and Bolts," explained how to start international library partnerships to exchange knowledge and staff. Richard Blake, Librarian, Waynesburg University and Sandy Chen, Assistant Professor, Clarion University of Pennsylvania, presented their successful blueprints for cooperative ventures with Taiwan. They were followed by Henry Mendelsohn, Regional Information Resource Officer, U.S. Embassy, Cairo, and Dr. Maurice A. Mikhail, Consultant to Mubarak Public Libraries, Egypt, who discussed the first steps to begin the process and garner support.
The videos are now available for online viewing or download to your own computer:
Welcome by Robin Kear, Presentation by Richard Blake and Sandy Chen, First Q&A Period
Henry Mendelsohn’s Presentation, Dr. Maurice Mikhail’s Presentation, Second Q&A Period
CONX Q&A with Henry Mendelsohn, Zhang Sha Li, Pat Oyler, Robin Kear, and Carol Kem
It was an exciting experience to witness so many international and internationally-minded librarians in a room together. We also had a guest from Europe, Dr. Ingrid Bon of the IFLA Section Libraries for Children and Young Adults, who introduced the IFLA Sister Libraries Project to the 150 attendees to the program: http://www.ifla.org/en/node/1752 . It was also awe-inspiring to be "connected" to—and by—such dedicated technical professionals from the State Department. Nevertheless, there is much yet to be done. Henry Mendelsohn summed it up as follows: "The challenge for all of us is to build on this energy and improve our international connections and exchanges."
--Robin Kear, Co-Chair of the International Connections Committee and Paul Hover and Carol Ritzen Kem, Co-Chairs of the Sister Libraries Committee