Tag Archives: #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian

The 10-Minute International Librarian #92: Document your work

A lot of the posts in this series so far have focused on thinking of times when you have done something.

Innovated, included, taught, learned, and more.

These examples are powerful, as a means of reminding yourself of your progress, and of telling others about how great libraries are!

Having a series of anecdotes at the ready can mean you’re a lot more ready to face new situations, and explain what you’re doing in terms that people will understand.

Yet often, in the middle of busy jobs, we can easily forget to take notes in the first place, meaning that we may risk forgetting all the great things you’re doing!

So for our 92nd 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, document your work.

This doesn’t need to be exhaustive (after all, this is the 10-Minute International Librarian), but rather you could create a file, or even have a note pad, where you write down the most interesting and important things you’ve done or experienced.

It doesn’t need to be long – just enough to help you remember.

This can also be a good way of encouraging more reflective practice – going about your job with an awareness of what may be significant, and where you are (or could be) learning.

Through this, you’ll not only have a source of examples you can give in future, but also even perhaps see new dimensions to your work now.

Let us know your experiences of recording and reflecting on your work in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.4: Provide targeted learning and professional development 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute Library Advocate #91: Think how you can promote cultural diversity

Through providing access to information, libraries have a key role in opening eyes and broadening horizons.

In schools, they can complement classroom work by promoting wider reading. In universities, they make it possible for students to build up a deeper, wider idea of the state of knowledge in their fields. Beyond, they enable people to discover – and even escape to – new worlds.

Crucially, they have a key potential role in helping readers explore and enjoy the diversity of their communities, their countries, and the world as a whole.

This of course doesn’t just stop at information itself, but also the activities and opportunities that can be built on top of this, using spaces and staff support.

Importantly, there is the possibility to make people aware of perspectives and experiences that they may not have thought of, and to celebrate this diversity.

Through this, libraries can help achieve the goals of the International Day of Cultural Diversity, marked last Saturday!

So for our 91st 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, think how you can promote cultural diversity.

How can you best work with those bringing these different perspectives and experiences in order to share these?

What ideas do you have for giving users the opportunity to try something different, stepping outside of what they know and embracing difference?

How can you present this as a positive, as something that brings benefits to individuals and groups alike?

To start, there are lots of great ideas in IFLA’s Multicultural Library Manifesto, and its accompanying toolkit. You can also take a look at our blog for the International Day of Cultural Diversity, which explores indicators of the impact of diversity on development!

Let us know your ideas in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 2.3: Develop standards, guidelines, and other materials that foster best professional practice 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #90: Explain how educators benefit from libraries

Yesterday was World Education Support Personnel Day, organised by Education International.

This makes the key point that effective schools and learning are about the whole range of people involved in education – teachers, nurses, support staff, and of course, librarians! See our blog on this for more.

Of course, libraries are already strongly focused on education – a large share of the stories on our Library Map of the World are indeed about SDG4 – Quality Education.

Through literacy, providing opportunities for informal and non-formal learning, and putting people in touch with learning opportunities, libraries are a key part of the wider education infrastructure.

And of course, many librarians are formally recognised as educators too!

However, there is maximum impact – both in delivery and in advocacy, when there is partnership with teachers and other educators.

So for our 90th 10-Minute International Librarian, explain how educators benefit from libraries.

Think about what you do that makes teachers’ lives easier, or helps them to achieve their goals more effectively?

Is it through providing materials or skills, offering insights and advice, or simply complementing classrooms with a quiet space for study?

These arguments can be powerful when looking to convince decision-makers that schools and universities cannot do without libraries (within their walls or beyond!), and in winning the support of teaching staff.

Let us know which arguments you think are strongest in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 1.1: Show the power of libraries in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #89: Make a connection

Libraries are already strongly characterised by collaboration.

Within and across institutions, we rely on this in order to deliver information and services to users. Through it, we can provide a much wider range of support than alone.

We also partner with other actors of course, combining the strengths of libraries with those of others in order to do more.

But libraries can also act as a catalyst – a place where new collaborations and partnerships can begin, bringing together other players who might not otherwise work together.

Through this, libraries can help build stronger communities and cohesion.

So for our 89th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, make a connection.

Think of the different people, organisations and groups that you work with.

Which ones could cooperate, but aren’t doing so at the moment?

How can you make the link? How can you encourage potential partners to get involved?

Let us know about the most successful connections that you have made in the chat!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.2: Support virtual networking and connections 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #88: Think of a process where libraries should be included

Libraries have an incredible breadth of expertise and action.

As has been said before in this series, when someone walks through the door of a library (or visits a library website!), it can be for a huge variety of reasons.

In each of these areas, libraries bring important expertise to bear, both in terms of the role of information, and in how to respond to the needs of users.

For example, they can be well placed to explain how users find and interact with information, community programming, and the specific needs of people in a local area.

This can make a major contribution to the goals of different groups and processes. But too often, libraries are forgotten or ignored!

So for our 88th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, think of a process where libraries should be included.

For example, groups or committees on public health could gain from libraries’ knowledge of, and role in, providing information about eating better and doing more exercise.

Lifelong learning initiatives miss a opportunity when they don’t involve libraries, as venues for training, access points for online learning, and portals to further courses.

And it is hard to imagine open science strategies fulfilling their potential without library understanding of promoting preservation and discoverability.

A particular example is around the Sustainable Development Goals, where there are often civil society or official groups or networks.

What examples do you have of processes which would gain from engaging libraries better? Share them in the comments below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 1.3: Work with library associations and libraries to identify key legal and funding challenges to their work, and advocate for action 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

The 10-Minute International Librarian #87: Explain why books matter

This Saturday will be World Book and Copyright Day, launched by UNESCO in 1995 on 23 April – the day on which both Cervantes and Shakespeare died. It is also the day, in Catalonia, where it is traditional to offer books and roses as gifts.

Of course there are many international days, but this is a particularly important one for libraries, and is strongly celebrated by our field around the world.

Yet books are often taken for granted.

They have arguably faced tough competition in the attention economy, with streaming platforms and others looking to occupy time that previously would have been spent reading.

They are also, sadly, sometimes forgotten in cultural policies which focus more on ‘live’ arts than on giving a central role of literature, despite the deep reach that this has, not least through libraries.

Meanwhile, despite the importance of combatting illiteracy being clear, there can be a focus on shiny technological solutions, rather than promoting the wider reading of books that develops deeper skills.

So for our 87th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, explain why books matter.

How can you, in a sentence or two, set out why it is important to invest in books, and in their promotion to communities?

How is it possible to do this in a way that appeals to all, rather than just to existing book-buying and book-reading populations?

What story can you tell of how books – and access to them – have changed people’s lives.

Share your ideas in the comments box below.

Good luck, and happy World Book Day!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 2.1 Produce, communicate and distribute key resources and materials that inspire the profession. 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

 

The 10-Minute International Librarian #86: Put yourself in a colleague’s position

As already highlighted many times in this series, collaboration is both a feature of the library field, and a priority.

It is an essential part of so much of our work, both within and outside individual institutions, enabling activities such as cooperative preservation projects, document supply, and the creation of many digital libraries.

We can of course always be doing more, making new connections, in order to learn, to think differently, and to create solutions.

Going into collaboration, it is useful to think about how to make this as effective as possible for all involved.

And so, just as we do with library users, we need to change our perspective, looking at things through their eyes.

So for our 86th 10-Minute International Librarian, put yourself in a colleague’s position.

What are their priorities, and what are their needs? What motivates them, what tires them out?

Crucially, what does this mean for how you go about making collaboration happen? What can you change, and what can you leave the same.

Share your experiences of great collaborations with colleagues in the comments below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 3.2 Support virtual networking and connections. 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!