Notable IRRT Member

 

 

IRRT member since: 1991

 

 

IRRT has opened the door for me to get involved and to participate in many projects and initiatives on international librarianship. I served two terms of Editor-in-Chief for International Leads which tells stories and reports events on ALA membership’s global engagement. I chaired two terms of the ALA’s International Relations Committee, a policy body guiding ALA’s connections with the global library communities. I was elected by the IRRT membership for IRRT Chair that gave me opportunities to connect with the IRRT members in U.S. and abroad. I served on the IFLA’s Standing Section Committee on Acquisitions and Collections Development for eight years; it enabled me to work side by side with the committee members from other countries on the issues facing global library communities. Now I am serving on IFLA Journal Editorial Committee, 2015-2019, an opportunity to keep up with the scholarship on international librarianship. Having the connections with libraries abroad has also enabled me to travel and to give the presentations, lectures, keynotes, and workshops in China, Hong Kong, Russia, Thailand, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Puerto Rico, and most recently Ireland. These are excellent opportunities to make connections with library colleagues in other countries. 

 

Three words to new IRRT members: Learn a new language when you travel abroad; read books by authors from other countries, and bring global perspectives to your daily work.