MELA Notes number 83 (2010) - Middle East Librarians Association

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MELA Notes 83 (2010)
libraries throughout the country, delivering presentations and
lectures to librarians there. 3
The trip was divided into two parts: Baghdad, where they
conducted an intense 3-day workshop on digital conversion for 12
select librarians from Baghdad and elsewhere; and Iraqi Kurdistan,
where they gave one-day, scaled-down versions of the 3-day
workshop to include more general library topics according to
audience needs in the cities of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk. The
visit to Iraqi Kurdistan was important for being the first such visit
from LC to this region.
Among the accomplishments:
(1) Direct improvement of knowledge and capacity for dozens of
librarians in modern library practices (many expressing
commitments to engage in projects immediately).
(2) Survey of selected libraries and institutions: Iraqi National
Library and Archives, Ari Baban Public Library in Sulaymaniyah,
Zaytun Public Library and University of Kurdistan-Hawler in Erbil,
and Dohuk University in Dohuk.
(3) Collection development for LC from visits to the 5th Erbil
Book Fair 4 and visits to libraries where books were received as gifts
for LC‘s collections.
(4) Direct follow up-and expansion of relations with the Iraq
National Library and Archives, both in terms of digital projects and
engagement with the World Digital Library.
(5) Encouragement and hope provided to over 200 librarians
from seven cities.
(6) Overall goodwill with universities, governorates, libraries,
and cultural institutions.
William noted some general observations from this trip. In no
particular order, these are:
(1) The accomplishments of Dr. Eskander at the INLA continue
to be amazing.
(2) The situation of academic libraries in the "lower 15
provinces" remains quite bad, with a lack of adequate furniture,
equipment, and internet connectivity.
(3) In efforts to develop capacity, William emphasized in all
meetings and training sessions the virtue of employing open-source
3 Article in the Library of Congress Information Bulletin, May 2010:
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/1005/iraq.html
4 William at the Erbil book fair: http://www.non14.net/display.php?id=8325