Author Archives: Heba Ismail

Stepping into leadership

CILIP -the UK’s library and information association- believes that “leadership” is not confined to people at the “top” of organizations. Leadership qualities are found at all levels” which is very true.

CILIP is currently hosting a course in leadership entitled “Stepping into leadership”. The program was originally developed as part of the Carnegie Library Lab (CLL), created by the Carnegie UK Trust (CUKT) to encourage creativity, innovation and leadership in public libraries in the UK and Ireland. This course can be accessed by those working in the library and information sector worldwide. The program will help you:

  • Increase your understanding of key leadership concepts.
  • Encourage you to reflect on your own leadership qualities.
  • Help you to develop a personal action plan to improve your effectiveness as a leader.

It consists of the six modules:

  1. Thinking about Leadership
  2. Why?
  3. Power
  4. Creativity and Innovation
  5. Change
  6. Becoming the leader I want to be

There is no deadline for the program, everyone can follow and learn at their own pace and since this is not a formal program, it does not lead to a qualification or certificate.

Reference:

  1. https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/CarnegieLeadership
  2. https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/CarnegieLeadership2#rightBtn4

INELI-MENA recognized as WSIS Champion 2020 in the e-learning category!

September 2020 witnessed one of the amazing events worldwide, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) prize ceremony, which took place virtually provided by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Eighteen WSIS prizes were awarded during the ceremony. The prizes recognized successful initiatives by governments, private sector actors, civil society members, and partnerships between all stakeholders. In total, there were 72 champions, 354 nominees, and more than 2 million votes(1).

INELI-MENA was recognized as WSIS champion 2020, it ranked among the top five projects in the world in the e-learning category. INELI-MENA is an e-training leadership program, implemented by the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information (AFLI) and funded by Global Libraries Initiatives (GL) at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). It aims to:

  1. Support future Arab leaders in public and national libraries by developing, improving their skills & competencies.
  2. Build an active regional e-learning network of emerging leaders in libraries in the Arab region by the end of the program.
  3. Encourage cooperation between regional library associations and specialists in the field through a cooperative project.

The program consists of:

  • Online activities: a Moodle website was created to provide the participants with the learning modules; the website offered a translated version of Global Libraries INELI content, including the following modules: building successful teamwork; innovation; using data; risk management; resolving conflict; change management; advocacy; libraries and development (SDGs); and team projects.
  • In-Person Activities: INELI-MENA conducted two convenings in Germany & Egypt.
  • Combined In-Person and Online Activities: innovators worked in teams to produce new, innovative services and programs and implement them in their public libraries. Innovators implemented six projects for their communities: a library for homeless children; a human library; two marketing plans; a program for developing talent; and a pre-school program.

Certificate of recognition to AFLI

 It is worth mentioning that this would not be possible without the support of Global Libraries Initiative (GL) at the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

Thanks to IFLA for conducting an interview with the INELI-MENA program Director, to read the full interview, please follow this link:

https://www.ifla.org/node/93348

Reference:

  1. https://dig.watch/resources/opening-segment-wsis-prizes-2020-awards-ceremony

Public libraries in Egypt during covid-19

Public libraries in Egypt supported its employees during covid – 19 and according to the regulations related to work that have been adhered based on the decision of the Prime Minister and the instructions of Ministry of Health and Population as :

  1. Employees who have chronic diseases has been given an absence leave.
  2. Pregnant women and mothers who have children under 18 years old were given an absence leave until further notice.

Public libraries are not open for the public until now. To ensure the flow of information during this period and in an effort to protect the staff and prevent all employees from falling ill at the same time, rotating shifts were implemented between staff to allow the work to continue despite a reduced workforce.

Examples of activities on Public libraries in Egypt:

Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development:

Egypt’s Society for Culture & Development (ESCD) is registered as a Non-Governmental Organization on October 18th, 1978, it has branched out in 14 different locations in the Arab Republic of Egypt providing a varied scope of activities and community services. ESCD has 10 public and children libraries across 4 Governorates. ESCD took many steps to engage our users and beneficiaries online through social media networks.

  • Launching the campaign “Our library at your home”. The campaign includes the following:
    • Provide links to resources in various fields such as science, virtual touring of museums and tourist attractions in the world, educational and recreational areas….etc.
    • Storytelling workshops for children on its library pages on Facebook.
    • Free training workshops to prepare school students in conducting their researches as the exams were replaced in most education years of education by researches.
    • Reading Club Seminars.
    • Contest for the best poster on Facebook that supports the White Army (Doctors & Nurses……).
    • Musical talent competition.
    • Online Handicraft workshop for children.
    • Show data on corona’s disease, its symptoms and some guidelines for the library audience

Misr Public library (1)

In Misr Public library (MPL), one of the greatest library system in Egypt, MPL permitted the public to deliver the loaned materials to the library Security and add them in a special box to return the borrowed books. Books are placed in the sun on the same day they return for disinfection, materials will returned on shelves on the next day with a commitment from the staff to wear gloves and mask on their faces, many activities were conducted such as:

  • Online training services have been provided through the library page on Facebook, English Language, Computer Skills…)
  • Accounts have been activated on WhatsApp to communicate with the library community to reserve training courses.
  • Storytelling workshops were offered to children through the library page on Facebook.
  • A daily cultural competition was presented on the page with prizes to be presented at the end of the crisis to the participants.
  • Some recorded events were shown for some scientific activities.
  • Show data on corona’s disease, its symptoms and some guidelines for the library audience.
  • Viewing some videos of handicrafts, drawings and origami workshops for children and mothers.
  • Viewing a meeting for the youngest child in the library, who introduces to children to how to deal with the Corona virus.
  • Announcing a national initiative to train and qualify youth for the labor market online, in cooperation with the Faculty of Home Economics, Helwan University and the AFRO ASIAN BOARD institution.
  • Conducting online courses in cooperation with civil society institutions such as the Arab Women Association.
  • Publishing articles to introduce MPL system history since its inauguration on the library’s Facebook page.

Misr Public Library is on its way to purchase disinfection gate in case the library opens after the crisis ends.

The Misr Public Library follows up the construction work under way in the libraries planned to open this year virtually and by telephone, for example, Faqous Library in Sharkia Governorate, Izbat Al-Burj Library in Damietta, the Quseir Library in the Red Sea, and the Qena Library in Qena.

Besides preparing the mobile libraries in Ismailia and El Sharkia.

 

  1. Information about MPL provided by Mr. Ahmed Amman,
    Deputy Director of Misr Public Library.

ENABLE!

I love reading PUBLIB one of the OCLC discussion lists (listservs)[1] that includes more than 9,000 public librarians from around the world with whom you can share your successes, questions and problems. One of the messages that capture my attention was from Dr. Ruth V. Small, ENABLE project Director talking about the project.

ENABLE stands for Expanding Nondiscriminatory Access By Librarians Everywhere, the website is available at: https://projectenable.syr.edu. Since 2012, Project ENABLE, funded in part by a series of grants from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian and Laura Bush 21st Century Library Continuation Grants of the Institute for Museum & Library Services and from the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University.

Vision and Goals[2]

Project ENABLE Provides professional development for library professionals from all types of libraries in order to build capacity for providing equitable access and services to students with disabilities, an underserved population. Project ENABLE training is intended to:

  • Raising the level of librarians’ understanding of and sensitivity for the library and information needs of students with disabilities and
  • Fostering their ability to develop programs and services, provide adequate facilities, and select appropriate resources and technologies to meet those needs.

While this site provides training for all educators who support diverse learners, they focus particularly on the school, public, and academic librarian to reach their goal of equity for all students.

Learning Modules:

Project ENABLE training site offers most comprehensive, totally free, online training site for librarians in the area of libraries and disabilities. It also contains self-paced learning modules, each focused on a major area of content related to library and information services to students with disabilities. Each module includes an introduction, learning objectives, a set of topics, examples, activities, related resources, and a brief self-assessment. The learning modules are:

  • Module 1: Disability Awareness
  • Module 2: Disability Law & Policy
  • Module 3: Creating an Accessible Library
  • Module 4: Planning Inclusive Programs and Instruction
  • Module five: Assistive Technology in Libraries
  • Module 6: Targeting Autism in Libraries

Dr. Ruth mentioned in his message that the website was recently updated and contains the following:

  1. Interactive challenge videos, featuring real-life librarians who describe how they faced (and overcame) specific accessibility and inclusion challenges.
  2. Created and published the first issue of PE News, a semi-annual e-newsletter with informative articles written by disabilities experts, professional librarians, and pre-service librarians.
  3. ENABLE is partnering with Infopeople, the high quality professional development site, to provide a series of free online courses, webinars and discussions related to libraries and disabilities.
  4. They have created a “Train the Trainer” section of training (to be available in early 2021) that will contain workshop/course outlines and templates, learning support materials, PowerPoints, suggested readings and assessments that everyone can use to create and deliver customized training to their staff, paraprofessionals and/or volunteers.

This is indeed a great initiative that really deserve to be highlighted as it offers all the previous resources for free to all librarians.

[1]  https://www.oclc.org/content/forms/worldwide/en/internet-subscription.html

[2] https://projectenable.syr.edu/AboutUs

Ready for more intensive professional Development: WebJunction is the key and it’s all free

One of the most interesting resource that will sure catch your attention is WebJunction.

WebJunction is a program of OCLC Research, it was launched since 2003 and has helped more than 140,000 learners build the knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver transformational services to their communities.

WebJunction is free and open to all libraries to use, regardless of size, type or location. It is so rich in content as it includes a variety of self-paced, web-based training resources (about 372) available for free for all library workers and volunteers.

What you need as a new learners is to create an account when you log on https://learn.webjunction.org/, after that you will be able to explore the self-paced course and webinars. It is worth mentioning that certificates of completion will be available after completing the course or webinar.

WebJunction course catalog includes the following topics:

Library Service:

  • Access & Equity (15 webinars)
  • Children (20 webinars & 4 self-paced courses)
  • Collections Management (24 webinars & 5 self-paced courses)
  • Customer Service (7 webinars & 2 self-paced courses)
  • Health (19 webinars)
  • Marketing (14 webinars)
  • Older Adults & Seniors (5 webinars)
  • Outreach (9 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Programming (21 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Readers’ Advisory (4 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Reference (11 webinars & 2 self-paced course)
  • Teaching Patrons (15 webinars)
  • Young Adults & Teens (12 webinars & 1 self-paced course)

Management:

  • Advocacy (7 webinars)
  • Assessment, Evaluation & Planning (25 webinar)
  • Budgets & Funding (10 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Friends, Trustees & Volunteers (6 webinars)
  • Organizational Management (23 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Space Planning (5 webinars)
  • Making Space for Active Learning (3 self-paced course)
  1. Active Learning and Community Discovery introduces the concepts of active learning and placemaking, and the tools and process for community discovery.
  2. From Discovery to Design builds on the results of the community discovery process, adapting design thinking approaches to arrive at an actionable idea and a space ready for transformation.
  3. Action Planning and Implementation takes the planning through the steps of making the space and service transformation happen.

Staff Training & Development:

  • Create & Deliver Training (8 webinars)
  • Manage Staff Development (9 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Personal Growth & Development (13 webinars & self-paced course)
  • Alternative Basic Library Education (ABLE) Program (13 self-paced curses)
  1. Collection Development Sequence (5 self-paced courses)
  2. Technical Services Sequence (4 self-paced courses)
  3. Public Services Sequence (4 self-paced courses)
  •  (D4L) Online Teaching and Learning Skills for Library Workers (7 self-paced course)

Technology:

  • Technology (19 webinars)
  • eBooks & Devices (10 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Social Media (12 webinars & 1 self-paced course)
  • Media Smart Libraries: Building Partnerships to Support Children in a Digital Age (3 self-paced courses)
  1. Module 1: Media Literacy for Children & Teens
  2. Module 2: Film Education & Production for Youth and School Librarians
  3. Module 3: Computational Thinking and Coding.

Resources:

https://learn.webjunction.org/

https://www.webjunction.org/events/webjunction/webjunction-overview-webinar.html

https://www.webjunction.org/about-us.html

INELI-MENA-Egypt: librarians as motors of change

INELI-MENA-Egypt is one of the great initiatives and voluntary efforts that need to be highlighted. INELI-MENA-Egypt is a leadership e-training program working under the auspices of the Egyptian Library Association, aiming to cultivate and develop future Egyptian public library leaders and build a strong professional network to advocate for their libraries.

The e-training program will last for one year & provides online learning modules adapted from Global Libraries Initiatives (GL) program INELI (The International Network of Emerging Library innovators), but in Arabic language through Moodle platform.

Currently 19 innovators (cohort 1) are being trained on mandatory modules (i.e. Innovation in libraries; change management; Advocacy; and libraries & SDGs) and one selective module (using data; risk management; conflict management & building successful teamwork) that will enhance their competencies and build national e-learning network to improve their leadership skills. INELI-MENA-Egypt Director Mr. MustafaTuhami was keen to add a new module titled “communication skills” to enhance English language among the participants, as he believes that this is the right path to be connected with professionals and peers around the world and practice international librarianship, this was done in partnership with IDEAS.

INELI-MENA-Egypt innovators at Greater Cairo Public Library

It is worth mentioning that INELI-MENA Egypt is a national network build on the tremendous success of the International Network of Emerging Library Innovators – Middle East & North Africa “INELI-MENA”. INELI-MENA is one of a kind and unique e-training leadership program in the region, implemented by the Arab Federation of Libraries & Information (AFLI) from 2015-2018 and funded by Global Libraries Initiatives (GL) at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). It provided the emerging library leaders with opportunities to connect with each other to explore new ideas, to experiment new services, and learn from each other.

Over whole four days INELI-MENA-Egypt held its 1st. convening in Egypt from 26-29 June 2019, the schedule was full of training practices that focused on engaging librarians in a learning environment.

Change in the digital era

Prof. Shawky Salem, Professor of Informatics, at the University of Alexandria & IFLA Governing Board Member 2003-2007, the keynote speaker presented an important lecture on change in the digital era and emphasis on the importance of investment in human resources. He praised the voluntary efforts exerted by INELI-MENA & INELI-MENA-Egypt & staff. He focused on the leadership & innovation as an element of change in the digital age.

I am an expert @

An activity conducted by Mrs. Marwa Kamel, INELI-MENA-Egypt Network Coordinator and Director of Elzawya Elhamra Public Library. The idea is to let the innovators explore and reflect on just how amazing they are in certain subjects related to their work in libraries. This is matched with the ALA Libraries Transform campaign messaging that reflects the new emphasis on library expertise, with such messages as “Because the expert in the library is you” and “Because the best search engine in the library is the librarian.”.

Unconference:

An open session to address many ideas & issues in librarianship field, the session was led by Ms. Rasha Essmat INELI-MENA Network Coordinator and Head of Programming Sector at Egypt’s Society for Culture & Development.

Innovation:

A workshop about innovation was conducted by Prof. Emad Saleh, INELI-MENA Learning Coordinator and the Director of the Egyptian National Library; he focused on the definition of creativity & innovation; innovation in libraries; creative thinking strategies; models and creative practices in libraries and the importance of creativity and innovation for libraries.

Collaborative team projects

Team projects are an outstanding outcome of the program, as participants will form action project teams to develop a service and /or program to benefit their libraries to consolidate their learning and support the implementation of the SDGs in Egypt. A brainstorming session were conducted, innovators were given the opportunity to develop a program/service to be implemented in their libraries. The outputs were four programs to be implemented: “We are all one hand; Green library; Book delivery App; Make your book”.

INELI-MENA-Egypt at Zawya el Hamra Public Library

 

Impact assessment:

Within the framework of the periodic evaluation of the program, Prof. Amany El Sayed, Head of LIS Department at Helwan University focused on measuring the personal & work skills that was enhanced for innovators during their e-training.

Library tours:

Innovators visit two libraries 6th October Public Library a branch library of the National Library of Egypt, and Bibliotheca Alexandrina to get acquainted with the services provided in both libraries, a session was conducted later on their reflection about the tours and pros. & cons. About library visits.

INELI-MENA-Egypt innovators @ 6th october Public Library

 

INELI-MENA-Egypt innovators @Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Communication skills workshop

Led by Libby Bergstrom, the Global Reach Libraries Program Director at IDEAS & Patty Larson, Global Educational Consultant at IDEAS to boost the innovators English communication skills and prepare innovators to the English modules through the learning platform.

Coaching:

Following the steps of IFLA CPDWL, a coaching session was conducted to offer career and professional development coaching for the innovators.

Innovators at Coaching session

Heba Mohamed Ismail

Libraries Technical Manager at Egypt’s Society for Culture & Development
Director of INELI-MENA Program