Month: July 2025

Congratulations 2025 Mortenson Center Graduates!

Posted on by Peggy Nzomo

Congratulations to the 2025 Mortenson Center Graduates!

The Mortenson Center celebrates the remarkable achievements of our 2025 Mortenson Center Associates. Their dedication, hard work, and passion for their libraries and the library and information science field have been truly inspiring. As they move forward in their careers, we are confident that they will continue to make a significant impact in their communities and beyond. We acknowledge and thank all our collaborators for sharing their knowledge/ expertise and/or for providing tours of their libraries.

Congratulations Fernando Bravo Arenas, Donus Buadi, Maria Mercedez Haz, Jiwon Kim, Beatriz Martínez Calle, Pauline Nicholas, Unika Omowale, Kandis Roberts, Ikhlas Ahmed, Ahmad Samsudin, Takashi Shimada, Fabiola Soto, Hien Tran (Josiah), Veliswa Tshetsha, Rina Wahyuni, Yunhye Yi.

World Refugee Day Webinar

Posted on by Peggy Nzomo

The Mortenson Centre in collaboration with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the American Library Association (ALA)’s International Relations Committee (IRC) and the Services to Refugees, Immigrants, and Displaced Persons (SRIDP) Sub-Committee ) organized a webinar commemorating World Refugee Day 2025 (June 20). The webinar was held on May 27, 2025, and highlighted the recently published IFLA Guidelines for Libraries Supporting Displaced Persons: Refugees, Migrants, Immigrants, Asylum seekers (December 2024), complemented by presentations on international experiences and/or research on providing library and information services to refugees and other displaced persons, with commentary on how the Guidelines may inform their work.

Speakers:

Despina Gerasimidou, Community Mobilisation and Capacity Building Consultant, IFLA –From Shelves to Shelter: Libraries Making Room for Displaced Communities – IFLA Guidelines

Magdalena Gomulka, Curator, Silesian Library in Katowice, Polish Librarians Association –Ukrainians in Poland: How Did Libraries Help Refugees?

Lisa Hussey, Ph. D., Professor, School of Library and Information Science, Simmons University –School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA) Library: Working with Afghan girls in Rwanda

Ana Ndumu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Information, University of Maryland College Park – Partnerships and power: Reflections on the ILPI Project amid hardline anti-immigrant policies

For the Webinar recording and more information on libraries commemorating World Refugee Day see: https://publish.illinois.edu/projectwelcome/world-refugee-day/world-refugee-day-2025/