Embassy New Delhi, India and Constituent Posts - OIG - US ...

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Reaching younger and more diverse audiences is a priority public diplomacy goal in the
Department. The OIG team believes that active, well-run platforms like the New Delhi American
Center substantially support that goal and present a model with potential relevance elsewhere.
Library Operations
The American libraries in India are large lending libraries, open 6 days a week.
Professional local librarians manage day-to-day operations. An information resource officer
based in New Delhi orders books and publications and ships them to the PAS India libraries. The
information resource officer oversees not only the American libraries in India but five American
Corners, along with libraries and corners in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
The New Delhi American Center, where the library resides, is managed by an ACAO.
The ACAO’s duties are twofold: supervising library staff and managing operations, and
developing and carrying out programs at the American Center. The information resource officer
supervises a separate staff of local librarians and support staff who order and ship books and
publications for all the American information operations in India. This divided supervisory
authority leads to duplication of effort, inefficiency, and confusion among staff members. The
OIG team believes that the New Delhi library operation should be brought under the supervision
of the information resource officer. Given the magnitude of the India operation, the OIG team
further believes that the information resource officer’s regional responsibilities are unworkable.
Recommendation 10: Embassy New Delhi, in coordination with the Bureau of International
Information Programs, should assign complete supervisory responsibility for the public affairs
sections’ libraries to the information resource officer based in New Delhi. (Action: Embassy
New Delhi, in coordination with IIP)
Recommendation 11: The Bureau of International Information Programs, in coordination with
Embassy New Delhi, should limit the responsibilities of the New Delhi-based information
resource officer to India only. (Action: IIP, in coordination with Embassy New Delhi)
The four lending libraries serve different and diverse populations, and regional interests
vary. Individual library directors should have more input into book selection, now centralized in
New Delhi. They should be permitted, with the information resource officer’s approval, to target
their collections to patrons’ interests, in alignment with MRSP goals.
Informal Recommendation 11: Embassy New Delhi should, consonant with Mission
Strategic and Resource Plan priorities and with the information resource officer’s
concurrence, grant library directors in public affairs sections increased authority to
purchase books and materials appropriate to their membership.
Fulbright and Educational Advising
The U.S.-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), which celebrated its 60th anniversary in
2010, manages the Fulbright Program. The program has grown substantially in recent years, a
reflection of the developing bilateral relationship. The original agreement stipulated that the U.S.
Government pay all costs. In recent years the Indian Government has begun to contribute, and
both governments increased their funding in consequence of the Indian Prime Minister’s
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