Upcoming Groups at the Mortenson Center
April 12-13: Four academic librarians from Rhodes University, SEALS, University of Fort Hare, and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa
April 24: IFLA/OCLC Fellows from Ghana, Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria
May 2-11: Delegation from the Romanian Library Association
May 24 – June 20: Approximately 22 Mortenson Associates from Australia, Barbados, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ghana, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, and Zimbabwe
June 6-12: Final delegation of 11 public librarians from China as part of the IMLS grant
Mortenson Center Staff Program Activities
April 18: Poster session at UIUC Public Engagement Symposium
May 11-19: Russia to present program at Russian Library Association and meet with potential partners
June 3-8: Haiti to present workshop at ACURIL (Association of Caribbean University, Research, and Institutional Libraries)
June 21-26: ALA to present workshop for International Relations Round Table program for international librarians
August 11-17: IFLA in Helsinki – Poster session
Plans for Visits in Spring and Summer 2012
The visitors from South Africa are coming to learn how we use technology at our library following a program they will attend in Chicago.
The IFLA/OCLC fellows always spend at least a day at the Mortenson Center during their time in the U.S. This is part of an ongoing partnership with OCLC.
As a result of our work with public libraries in Romania, an opportunity has developed to host a program for leaders of the Romanian Library Association and we are pleased to be able to develop a short program for the Association leaders.
The final delegation of public librarians from China as part of the IMLS grant will be at UIUC in June and the Mortenson Center is currently planning their program during their time in Champaign-Urbana.
We had a large group of applicants for the Mortenson Associates program this year and we expect participants from 14 countries for the program in May and June.
South African Program
Thanks to colleagues who made presentations as part of the “Understanding the Research Context: U.S. Research” for the South African university librarians who were at the Mortenson Center from February 21 – March 10. Presenters included: John Andrick, Harriet Green, Merinda Hensley, Jan Ison, JoAnn Jacoby, Al Kagan, Paula Kaufman, Sarah Shreeves, Angela Waarala, Scott Walter, Sarah Williams, and Steve Witt. Visits to OCLC, Ohio State University, IUPUI, Purdue University, University of Chicago, Center for Research Libraries, Upshot Library, Newberry Library, American Library Association, and Association of College and Research Libraries also added to the visit. Barbara met with the group in San Francisco from March 31 to April 4 along with their hosts from various ARL libraries and project staff from South Africa. The South African librarians reported that the program at the Mortenson Center gave them a good foundation for their time in the various ARL libraries.
Bahrain
Mohamed Mubarek, a former Mortenson Associate and current President-elect of the Special Libraries Association Arabian Gulf Chapter, invited Barbara and Susan to make a presentation at the March 10-16 conference in Bahrain. We spoke about professional development programs with an emphasis on the Mortenson Center. The conference was quite impressive and we had the opportunity to meet a number of librarians in the region and make some good contacts for the future.
Lecture Supported by Mortenson Center
The Center sponsored the March 6 lecture by Deborah Jakubs from Duke University as part of the inaugural event for the International and Area Studies Library. You can read her lecture or watch the video of the lecture, The Global Dimensions of Scholarship and Research Libraries, on the Mortenson Center website. http://www.library.illinois.edu/mortenson/lectures/2012/Deborah_Jakubs_Lecture_Text.pdf http://ensemble.illinois.edu/app/sites/index.aspx?destinationID=9qgZdNta6kCvccjHn-GnyA&contentID=YRffGwMWME-44zlOx2fcUQ
Carnegie and MacArthur Grants
The Carnegie and MacArthur grants to work with 10 university librarians in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda have come to an end after six years. We have completed the final reports to send to the funders. We are very pleased that all the universities made substantial progress in automating their libraries to provide better service to students and researchers.
IMLS China Grant
This grant will come to an end in August and we continue to work with Shuyong Jiang and the Chinese American Librarian Association on the project to provide training and interchange for Chinese and U.S. public librarians and a web portal for U.S. library users. Shuyong and Beth Sandore will travel to China in May to continue to work on the web portal of Chinese materials. The final group of Chinese public librarians will be at UIUC in June and then travel to public libraries and ALA. The training segments of the grant have been well received. It’s impressive to see new public library buildings being built around China and the opportunities they provide for expanded services to users.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Contract
The projects by public librarians initiated as part of this project are moving forward and providing new opportunities for public librarians to serve their users. As a result of contacts made during the project, we are developing a program for the Romanian Library Association leadership. Mortenson Center staff will travel to Romania and Latvia in the fall to finish up the work with these public libraries.
READ Global
In the fall, Center staff will begin work on a project with READ Global. We will be working on training for community libraries in Nepal, Bhutan, and India. We will begin by visiting some of the libraries to learn more about their training needs.
Staff
Jamie Luedtke is working part time at the Mortenson Center to assist in planning and delivering programs for the groups we will host this spring and summer.
Additional Information
Please contact Barbara J. Ford ( bjford@illinois.edu ) or Susan Schnuer ( schnuer@illinois.edu ) for additional information.