Learning from the world

A learning workshop in 2005

SMILE is an informal group of librarians that want to promote the work of small libraries. At the moment we have one very specific goal: to arrange a 3 day learning-oriented workshop in Norway , in connection with the IFLA 2005 meeting in Oslo.

We want to create a workshop where people can meet and learn from each other in a structured setting. It should be small, so that everybody gets to know everbody else. Our goal is: at least 15, and not more than 50 participants.

We want to recruit practising librarians - or other library staff - in other words people that work in close contact with their local communities.

At least two thirds of the participants should come from abroad. At least one third should come from the South (Asia, Africa, Latin-America) or from Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

Finances

A small workshop is also more easy to realize in terms of finances and preparatory work. We have (surprisingly!) no funds at hand - so we plan a low-cost event. Fund-raising takes time - and we all work full-time in our regular jobs.

We hope to offer free lodging, board and local travel inside Norway - at a basic level - for participants who need this in order to come to the workshop.

We may be able to help with board and lodging (in kind) during the IFLA conference as well.

Training attachments

We hope to offer some of the workshop participants a training attachment after IFLA.

The trainee will participate in the daily work of a suitable small or medium-sized library, with specified guidance from staff and with active support from the head of the library.

The training attachment will be organized as an educational program. The activities during the trainee period will be based on a learning plan formulated by the trainee and the receiving library - and with supervision from SMILE.

A learning network

SMILE wants to encourage learning between small libraries. We believe such learning must be mutual.

Librarians from the South and the East can learn much from their colleagues in the North and the West. Technological progress is important, and ICT is in many ways an appropriate technology for developing countries.

But librarians from the South and the East also have much to contribute. The way they use libraries in literacy campaigns, in local education and in community development may inspire their Northern colleagues to rethink their library concepts.