“This is How We Do It: One Professional Development Activity in the Lives of Librarians from Around the World” is a new series from the IFLA Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section to highlight our standing committee members, who they are and what they do!

In this post, we highlight Elena Corradini, CPDWL standing committee member!

Why are you a standing committee member of CPDWL and what are you working on for CPDWL Section at the moment?

Elena: I have been co-opted in Summer 2022 to replace a vacancy. I believe that my experience as a public librarian, small-scale researcher and previous involvement in IFLA Standing Committees was a plus over other potential candidates and so I’m in! At the moment I am trying to follow the development of the draft Manifesto on libraries and lifelong learning, which is a great mission to cover with the help of very qualified colleagues from almost all over the world. Besides, I am trying to keep up with the many activities done by other members of the committee. I’ll try to do my best to be more and more active in the next months.

What is one advice you have for new librarians interested in getting involved in IFLA or in their library associations for professional development?

Elena: For most librarians whose mother tongue is not English, the involvement in IFLA means to be forced to learn not only how the librarian job is evolving over time, but also to be able to communicate fluently in a language in which the most updated professional literature is currently published. Besides, IFLA works with any professional association worldwide and, therefore, this “umbrella organization” collects viewpoints of librarians from anywhere around the globe. You get the idea that you are never completely alone, even if you are working in a remote area. If you are not so brave to embrace the challenge of working in an international environment, you can still connect to your national professional association(s), where you can find support and advice from other librarians. Establishing connections and discussing about daily problems is already a form of personal and professional development.