Upcoming Events
Nine IFLA/OCLC fellows from Australia, Ghana, India, Korea, Mauritius, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Turkey will be at the Mortenson Center on May 18. From 2:30 to 3:00 pm, during the refreshments before the Faculty meeting, the IFLA/OCLC fellows will be available in Illini Union 314A to meet with any interested staff.
Current Projects
The Mortenson Center was awarded a grant of $42,600 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to work with seven university libraries in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. The funding, which supports a preliminary assessment of the seven libraries, came from Carnegie s Partnership for Higher Education in Africa. The partnership supports innovative programs that help revitalize university libraries around the world and equip them to educate future country leaders and administrators. Susan Schnuer and Barbara Ford traveled to Africa for one month to consult with the seven Carnegie grant recipients about a needs assessment for their libraries and future training programs for library staff. Joyce Latham, who is a doctoral student at GSLIS and teaches with the Mortenson Center, also traveled with us for part of the time. The assessment is the first step in evaluating the need for a professional development program for grantees. The grantees are the University of Ghana, Legon, and University of Education at Winneba (Ghana); Ahmadu Bello University, University of Jos, and Obafemi Owolowo University (Nigeria); Dar es Salaam University (Tanzania); and Makerere University (Uganda). New technologies and their role in the libraries will be part of the assessment. Susan and Barbara are now working on the report for the Carnegie Corporation.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has approved a grant of $50,000 to support activities to provide professional development for seven South African librarians at the Mortenson Center. This is an extension of a previous grant and will allow us to bring an additional group of South African librarians to the center for a fall 2004 program. The previous grant of over $200,000 was awarded in 2001 for a three-year program to develop a continuing education project for librarians in South Africa. The grant is in partnership with the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA). To date, 16 librarians have received leadership training at the Mortenson Center and in South Africa in 2002 and 2003. These librarians have returned to South Africa and taken leadership roles in LIASA as well as in their libraries. We look forward to welcoming a third group in the fall.
Spring and Summer 2004 Activities
Two Mortenson associates are at the Center until May. They are Anissa Gaisina from Russia and Yong Won Kim from Japan.
On April 15 Yong Won Kim and Barbara Ford joined others in a presentation on the global perspective on bridging the digital divide for LIS 250RGI, Race, Gender, and Information Technology.
Yang Yong from Yunnan University in China, who is spending the spring at Oberlin College, will be at the Center April 29.
Participants in the Chinese American Librarians Association, Midwest Chapter meeting, will tour the Mortenson Center on April 30.
On May 5, Anissa Gaisina, Yong Won Kim, and Barbara will make a presentation about the Mortenson Center at the Chicago Public Library All Staff Institute Day.
The Mortenson Center is collaborating on an Outreach Workshop for Teachers and Librarians sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies on May 8.
On May 14, Barbara will speak at the International Cooperation Symposium at Tokai University in Japan. The symposium is sponsored by JASPUL (Japan Association of Private University Libraries) which sponsors one librarian from a private university in Japan to come to the Mortenson Center each fall.
Nine IFLA/OCLC fellows from Australia, Ghana, India, Korea, Mauritius, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Turkey will be at the Mortenson Center on Tuesday, May 18. Let us know if you are interested in meeting the group.
At ALA in Orlando on June 28, Barbara will speak at the program of the International Relations Round Table on International Library Collaboration in a Digital World.
At IFLA in Buenos Aires in August, Susan and Barbara will present a poster session, Working with International Partners to Develop Tailored Professional Development Programs.
Upcoming Fall Activities
Librarians from the University of Toronto will be visiting UIUC during the week of September 20 to learn more about the library s international activities. Let us know if you have an activity you would like to highlight during their visit.
Associates from Bolivia, Colombia, Czech Republic, India, Japan, South Africa, and Vietnam are expected at the Center for the fall program in September and October.
Opportunities to Get Involved
If you would like more information or are interested in getting involved in any Mortenson Center activities, please let us know. Visit us at www.library.uiuc.edu/mortenson or contact us by e-mail to Barbara J. Ford at bjford@uiuc.edu and Susan Schnuer at schnuer@uiuc.edu.