Librarians Without Borders Asturias Academy Project CASLIS Presentation
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- Librarians Without Borders (LWB) is a non-profit organization that aims to improve access to information globally through partnerships with community organizations. - LWB partnered with the Miguel Angel Asturias Academy, a private school in Guatemala, to help develop the school's library and transition it to a public library to serve the wider community. - Over several trips, LWB students assisted with the library's launch, helped expand its collection, conducted user needs assessments, and developed outreach and marketing strategies to engage more community members.
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Librarians Without Borders Asturias Academy Project CASLIS Presentation
- 1. Librarians Without Borders: International Service Learning in Guatemala Robyn Maler Carolyn Doi
- 2. Librarians Without Borders (LWB) Non-profit organization Strives to improve access to information resources regardless of language, geography, or religion, by forming partnerships with community organizations in developing regions. LWB is made up of: Student committees at five universities in Canada Volunteer Executive Team Board of Directors General members
- 3. Miguel Angel Asturias Academy Private, non-profit Pre K-12 school in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, Founded in 1994 to eliminate education disparities through subsidized tuition Aim to create informed, critically-thinking, socially conscious citizens through its curriculum.
- 4. LWB Asturias Project Beginnings Student-led initiative: LWB McGill Student Committee Dialogue began in Fall 2009 LWB trip to Guatemala, Spring 2010 11 LWB McGill students 10 days cultural visits and volunteer work Learn more about the community Develop library manual of recommendations in collaboration with Asturias staff
- 5. Asturias Academy Library 2009 2010 under construction Jan 2011 official launch Located within the school Current users: Asturias students & staff Future plans: Open up the library to the community Ongoing collection development Library Collection Level 1 under 7 years (542) Level 2 8 to 12 years (1022) Level 3 13 and up (147) Total collection (~2000)
- 6. Asturias Library April 2010
- 7. Asturias Library January 2011
- 8. Partnership Outcomes Asturias Academy Librarians Without Borders Improved relationship with LWB and international community Increase awareness Asturias staff/students benefit from Support for the Library Knowledge Resources Guidelines Improved relationship with Asturias and library community in Guatemala Increase awareness Opportunity for LWB to grow as a non-profit org. LWB students benefit from service learning model Experiential learning Presented opportunities for professional growth
- 9. Whats happening now? 2010 2011 Asturias Library Project Cross-committee participation 2010-2011 LWB Umbrella Project Collection Development Projects Service Learning Trip, April 2011
- 10. LWB Cross-Committee Participation 2011 Guatemala Trip and Collection Development Projects
- 11. 2011 Guatemala Trip Goal To support the transition of the school library into a public library LWB McGills April 2010 trip to the Academy was a relationship-building experience We can now build on the foundations laid over the last year to extend services to the wider Xela community Each student committee brings its own unique strengths and experience
- 12. Putting the Public in Public Library Who is the public? Who are the community members? Of Spanish, Mayan, or other descent Native speakers of Spanish, Kiche, or other Mayan languages Different educational socio-cultural backgrounds Family members of Academy students Likely have no experience with public libraries or reading for pleasure How does this user group differ from the librarys present user group?
- 13. Challenges Language barrier Spanish and Kiche speakers Paucity of resources in Kiche Socio-cultural differences Lack of a tradition of public libraries Existing libraries are underfunded and underutilized
- 14. Itinerary April 22-24: Retalhuleu
- 15. April 25-29: Asturias Academy, Xela
- 16. April 30-May 3: Rio Dulce & Livingston
- 17. Activities at Asturias Lead by different participants and subgroups Programming Development and field-testing Identifying gaps in the collection Balancing the collection K'iche' audio-book project Development of Kiche-language audio book resources Librarian training
- 18. Activities at Asturias User needs assessments To determine users information needs We will assess demographic information, socio-cultural and educational background, languages spoken and written, literacy levels, personal priorities, work and leisure activities
- 19. Activities at Asturias Community outreach and engagement Based on information gathered from user needs assessment and knowledge of community Strategies to target and engage women, the impoverished, indigenous people, and other marginalized groups in the community Development of special outreach programs for these groups
- 20. Activities at Asturias Library marketing strategies Based on information gathered from user needs assessment and knowledge of community Marketing strategies outline ways to inform different community groups, especially adult women, Kiche speakers, and indigenous people, about the library and its activities
- 21. Activities at Asturias Blog The blog will provide timely and concise updates on the project s goals and objectives Allows people around the world to follow the project Three blogging coordinators will be responsible for mobilizing blogging efforts during the trip Every team member will contribute to the blog
- 22. Trip document Recommendations Action plan Activities at Asturias Programming Collection development Staffing Training Marketing Outreach Lending policy Technology
- 23. Future Plans Opportunity for students to share their experiences from the trip with each other and the professional library community. Continued collaboration with Asturias As their priorities change, so will our relationship with them: another trip continued fundraising Expansion of the library
- 24. Conclusions Our commitment to Asturias has evolved as our relationship has strengthened and their needs have changed. Both Asturias and LWB have things to gain from this partnership
- 25. Thank you! Go to http://lwb-online.org/ for more information on this project. Find us May 27 th LWB at CLA Conference in Halifax