2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries

23 Things: From Afghanistan to Zanzibar
208
BEST PRACTICES 2012
By Mary Nell Bryant, M.A., M.L.S., U.S. Foreign Service Information Officer, retired
Background
In 2006, when Helene Bowers created her excellent self directed Learning 2.0: 23
Things program for the staff of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library, she
probably never realized how it would explode to numerous other institutions in the
U.S. and around the world. The U.S. State Department was not be left behind.
U.S. Embassies abroad generally have a library presence, called an Information
Resource Center. These IRC’s are staffed locally hired staff. Among other
functions, the IRC’s use social networking to reach out local audiences. Training is
provided by regional Information Resources Officers, though training opportunities
are always in short supply.
To address this need, the Information Resources Officers decided to adapt the
original 23Things program to a shorter and modified version, suited to the needs of
the IRC staff. These staff are foreign nationals work in Embassies with good,
reliable internet, access to other Embassy staff able to provide assistance, and
camaraderie with other Embassy librarians in their regions. As with the original
program, the State Department program was designed to encourage exploration of
Web 2.0, encourage self-directed learning, and provide staff with new tools to use
in their work. 125 IRC staff signed on to the program with monitoring and
mentoring done by IROs. Of the 125 entrants, 49% finished the program, with
another %15 completing 1/3 or more of the slimmed down 14 Things program.
Expanding further
U.S. Embassies also support approximately 400 small libraries worldwide as
partnerships with local institutions, called American Corners. (Note: American
Corners are now part of a larger library partnership
called American Space.) The American Corners are
generally discreet entities located within an
existing institution, such as academic and public
libraries, cultural centers, or other government
buildings. Directors of the American Corners are
employees of the local institution, chosen by the
institution itself.
If the IROs could run a 23 Things program for local Embassy IRC staff, why not do
the same for American Corners staff? IRO Karen Hartman rewrote the program
that she had developed for training Embassy staff, changing and updating content,
making it more relevant for American Corner functions.
As a recently retired IRO, I was hired to review content, monitor and mentor the
program. For the American Corners program, we chose the following Things:
Creating a Blog, Searching for Blogs, Social Networking, Social Bookmarking and