Tag Archives: Arab Federation for Libraries and Information (AFLI)

INELI-MENA Reunion:

The International Network of Emerging Library Innovators- Middle East and North Africa (INELI-MENA) was a unique e-training leadership program funded by Global Libraries Initiatives (GL) at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and conducted by the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information (AFLI); INELI-MENA targeted 31 librarians across the MENA region.

Upon the success of the program, and with the support of AFLI; our innovators took upon themselves to build national networks in their countries in order to deliver what they learned during the training program to their colleagues. National networks were established in Egypt; Sudan, Libya; Tunisia, Palestine from 2018-2021.

As part of AFLI’s role in sustaining INELI-MENA and the national networks, AFLI thought of gathering all the innovators from both INELI-MENA and the national networks in one e-training program entitled SEEDS (Staff E-training on Emerging technology & Developed Services)

The e-training course focused on Emerging Technology and started in Jan. 14th till Mar. 6th 2023. A call was sent to all innovators, 41 applied to join the course, 29 innovators succeeded to finish the course and obtained their certificates, the other couldn’t make it due to their to wok and families’ responsibilities

The course included the following topics: introduction to emerging technologies; emerging technology in libraries, Big Data; Artificial Intelligence; Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR) -participants were asked to work in teams to complete an action plan to benefit from VR & AR applications in their libraries-; Internet of Things (IOT), and concluded with feedback from the trainees which was very positive, as the skills acquired in this training have direct application to the needs of public libraries in the MENA regions.

Topics of the modules were prepared by Professor Emad Saleh, Head of Librarianship Department, Faculty of Arts, Helwan University. Thanks to INELI-MENA innovators who helped in mentoring the program with me Ruqiya Hussain Hassan (United Arab Emirates); Badiaa Rahmoni (Morocco); Doaa Abdallah & Mustafa Tuhami (Egypt).

It is worth mentioning that AFLI was the 2022 winner of the prestigious EBSCO Information Services Library Staff Development Award for implementing SEEDS program. The award is presented annually to a library organization whose application demonstrates the greatest merit for a program of staff development designed to further the goals and objectives of the library organization.


Photo of the participants from the online graduation Ceremony

 

AFLI release “Arab Libraries Dealing with the Corona Pandemic” book

The Arab Federation for Libraries and Information (AFLI) announced recently the launching of its new book entitled “Arab Libraries Dealing with the Corona Pandemic: Arab Experiences”.

The book was issued on the occasion of the “Arab Library Day 2021” to gather the efforts of libraries and institutions that show how the Arab libraries interact & provide their services to the beneficiaries to ensure the continuation of their services during the pandemic, and to document the repercussions and lessons learned during this period.

The book is available in Arabic language on  AFLI website at: https://bit.ly/3nrYycj

The book discusses the following topics:

  1. Arab libraries and their experiences during the Corona pandemic: case studies; how the library dealt with the pandemic, plans, lessons learned, services, future plans.
  2. Arab libraries and future plans to deal with unexpected crises
  3. Crisis management and activating its role in Arab libraries and information institutions.
  4. The technical and physical infrastructure of Arab libraries of all kinds and their readiness to serve their beneficiaries in light of unexpected crises
  5. Library and information specialists and how to perform their tasks in light of the pandemic: reality and challenges

Cover of the book

This book aims to clarify:

  • The Arab contribution to documenting the efforts of Arab libraries of all kinds, as well as their professionals, in dealing with the unprecedented Corona pandemic.
  • Uncovering the ways and mechanisms of participation/contribution of various Arab libraries with this pandemic and its unusual repercussions.
  • Shedding light on the methodologies for adapting Arab libraries to this circumstance.
  • Standing on the contribution of Arab libraries to raising awareness of ways to prevent infection and the spread of the epidemic.
  • Shedding light on the most important types of information services and activities provided by Arab libraries during the pandemic since its inception until today.
  • Show the readiness of Arab libraries, with their technical infrastructure, and their material and human capabilities, for such unprecedented crisis.
  • To identify how Arab libraries have responded to the changes required to deal with this pandemic.

It is worth mentioning that the contributors of the book are:

Algeria (Algeria National Library; Faculty of economic and business sciences, management Library at Batna University; Public library “Mohamed Hammouda bin Saei” in Batna state);

Egypt (Bibliotheca Alexandrina; Misr Public Library; Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development);

Iraq (Iraq National Library and Archive);

Jordan (Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation library).

Oman (Main Library at Sultan Qaboos University; Learning Resource Center at Saeed Bin Jubair primary School).

Palestine (Library of Dar Al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture Library; Nablus Municipality Public Libraries).

Saudi Arabia (King Saud University Libraries; Deanship of Library Affairs at King Abdulaziz University).

Sudan (The Sudanese National Library).

United Arab Emirates (Sharjah Public Libraries).

The book also demonstrated a model for the YouTube channel dedicated to librarians and its impact on society.

The book concluded the experiments presented with the lessons learned and a guideline for opening libraries after the COVID- 19 pandemic.