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 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!
You are invited to the 2024 Mortenson Center Associates Showcase and Graduation. This year the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs welcomed 12 librarians from 11 countries in its Associates Program (June 3-26, 2024), who will be presenting on the theme
“New Roles and Impact in Libraries Around the Globe”
The showcase will be followed by the graduation ceremony and reception.
WHEN and WHAT: Wednesday, June 26, 2024; 11am-noon. Showcase
WHEN and WHAT: Wednesday, June 26, 2024; Noon-1:15pm. Graduation Ceremony and Reception
WHERE: Main Library, Room 106 (1408 W. Gregory Dr.; Urbana, IL 61801)
The Showcase is co-sponsored with the International and Area Studies Library, and the UNESCO Center for Global Citizenship.
Please join us for the presentations by librarians from Azerbaijan, Ghana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of South Korea (2), Serbia, and the United Arab Emirates, and celebrate their completion of a A Professional Development and Leadership Program for Library and Information Science (LIS) Professionals, on the theme: “Transforming Libraries: New Roles and Impact”.
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).
Congratulations to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Professional Development Division for hosting and presenting the workshop, by the local team of organizers and facilitators: Joseph Makkar (lead facilitator), Samia Abouhany, Sara Elgabalawy and Neveen Nagy (co-facilitator).
The 2023 Mortenson Center Associates had a mid-term post program review meeting on Zoom with the Mortenson Center Team. The associates each had a chance to share the PDP (Professional Development Plans) from the program and provided an update on their implementation, including challenges and opportunities they had encountered in implementing the projects. Some of the challenges included a lack of funding and issues related to time management while some of the opportunities mentioned included buy-in from administration and thus securing funding for the projects, and opportunities for networking and more travel outside of their countries. The associates expressed a desire to stay connected with zoom meetings at least quarterly. Vuyo Jamieson, the center’s Research Assistant and PhD student at the iSchool is working on some Alumni Engagement initiatives that will ensure former associates stay engaged and connected beyond their time at the center. The projects the associates are working on are varied and are listed below:
Congratulations to our 2023 Associates! Thank you all for participating and supporting the program as we learn to collaborate, develop meaningful connections and services, and employ new technologies in library spaces. We are hopeful that our Associates as leaders in libraries will pave ways for innovation and advancement. They all have demonstrated the foundational professional values of librarianship, connecting and empowering others through information.
The Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and the ALA Student Chapter, Illinois iSchool hosted a hybrid workshop on libraries and advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Facilitators:
Clara M Chu, Ph.D., Director and Mortenson Distinguished Professor
Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Kendra S. Albright, Ph.D., Goodyear Endowed Professor in Knowledge Management
School of Information, Kent State University.
