34th Annual Mortenson Distinguished Lecture | 19 Sept 2024
“Reading as Belonging: Implications for Library and Information Practice,” by Nadia Caidi, Professor and Director of International Student Experience, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
Thursday, 19 September 2024 | 3:30-5:00 pm CT Lecture :: 5:00-5:45 pm CT Reception in person to follow (Check for local time here: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/)HYBRID: In person (School of Information Sciences building, Room 126, 501 E. Daniel St., Champaign) AND online
Register for the Lecture.
Meet Your Neighbors: A Human Library Event- September 14, 2024
The Mortenson Center, in collaboration with the New American Welcome Center, The Urbana Free Library and Illinois International- Global Relations will have a Human Library Event as part of the events featured during 2024 National Welcoming week. The event will feature immigrants and international students living in Champaign-Urbana as human books. Each human “book” will be available during the event to interact with “readers” and talk to them about their native country. Topics covered in the conversations include among others geographic location, cuisine, languages spoken and culture. Snacks, arts & crafts will be offered as part of the event. Open to all ages!
When: Saturday September 14 at 3:30-5:30pm.
Where: The Urbana Free Library, 210 W Green St, Urbana, IL 61801
Eleven countries will be featured : Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Congo, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Yemen. In keeping with the mission of the Mortenson Center, the event aims to introduce the concept of “internationalization @ home to the University of Illinois community and to foster intercultural competency and global understanding as well as welcome newcomers to the community while embracing diversity and fostering a sense of belonging.
SILL Training Workshop offered by Bibliotheca Alexandrina at AlMaadi Public Library, Cairo, Egypt
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt provided a second SILL (Strengthening Innovative Library Leaders) workshop on August 21-22 at AlMaadi Public Library, Cairo, Egypt. The training was offered in person, and in both Arabic and English. Thank you Samia Abouhany, Sara Elgabalawy and Heba Eldeek for facilitating the workshop.
Congratulations 2024 Mortenson Center Graduates!
Congratulations to the 2024 Mortenson Center Graduates!
The Mortenson Center celebrates the remarkable achievements of our 2024 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 Yunjin Choi, Prince Dwomoh, Yoonju Gal, Liya Louis, Elizabeth Malabanan, Vafa Mammadova, Jessica Lewis Marshall, Mohammed Mirza, Khadija Muhsin, James Nyakundi, Chintan Pandya, and Daniela Skokovic!
2024 SCECSAL Conference, Mombasa, Kenya
Our director Prof. Clara Chu gave the Keynote address at the SCECSAL ( Standing Conference of Eastern, Central & Southern African Library & Information Associations) conference on April 22, 2024. Her keynote was titled: “Our Libraries and Our Communities in the Digital Era: Re-imagining Services with Intention.” The conference was hosted by the Kenya Library Association whose chair person is an alumnus of the Mortenson Center, Prof. Peter Gatiti. He is the Associate vice-provost and University Librarian at the Aga Khan University (AKU).
