What I Learned the Second Class Weekend

I enjoyed the conversation on Friday night surrounding the Adele Kenneally article, Public Libraries in Learning Communities. The phrase "there's nothing new under the sun" comes to mind when thinking about this conversation. Many in class thought that the ideas in the article weren't anything new that libraries aren't already trying to do. I think this phenomenon is something that happens in much of life. Ideas about our world are repackaged by new thinkers who are experiencing these ideas for the first time. This is actually encouraging to me because it is conveys a sense of togetherness with those of the past and future who have and will experience the same struggles, and solutions.

The presentations on Saturday were also really interesting. It was a great way to encourage my interest in the different aspects of GII. The group who presented about loosing native languages due to the world becoming more global was great! It is seen as such a good thing that a global language is learned so that all my communicate more easily. However the consequence of loosing the cultural heritage by way of loosing languages is one that should not be considered acceptable. I also loved the African proverb that was shared during this presentation: "Every time and old man dies it is as if a library has burnt down." This is a great quote which speaks to the story telling nature of humanity.

The collaboration groups were also interesting to hear. Ways in which the Nelson Adkins, KU, and other information agencies are collaborating are really inspiring and it goes back to the discussion of the article in that these community collaborations are already happening in and among community organizations today. I love the title that group 3 used for one of their power point pages: Blurring the Boundaries. That is a great way of describing the relationship information agencies should have with their community. The boundaries should be there, definitely, however maybe they should be drawn with more of a dotted line instead of a solid line.

Also, collaboration seems to be a theme of this semester for me. In another class I learned of an extreme version of collaboration in Charlotte, NC between a youth library and a childrens' theater called Imaginon. It seems pretty cool. And in another class, I am working on putting together a program plan for children in a library and the program I'm planning involves collaborating with culinary arts individuals within the community.