Hello colleagues and friends ? as this long-ish note is being sent to the blog site at Simmons College, the group is in its final session on Wednesday morning. Pat Oyler is running a ?debriefing session? on what people learned form the visits to the various libraries the past two days. Then, Ian Johnson of Robert Gordan University in Scotland will run a mini-workshop on ?change management? ? talk about an understatement when it comes to Iraq and its library needs!
The past two days have been very busy and productive (and fun). David worked his magic (he really is a ?jinn?) and we traveled to Abu Dhabi and visited three sites. The first place we visited on Monday morning was the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. The facility itself is magnificent, very modern and whoever designed its interior was a first-class professional. The center provides reports to various government officials and focuses on four areas ? economics, military, history, and development related to the UAE in general. One of the ambitious goals of the ECSSR is to acquire 1,000,000 volumes in five years ? no shortage of work to be done if this goal is to be accomplished. The staff seemed competent, and we were treated with much consideration and kindness. You can find them on the web at: www.ecssr.gov.ae
On Monday afternoon we went to the Cultural Foundation (www.cultural.org.ae),
a hybrid organization that is a library, a cultural center/archive and a center for the arts and crafts of Abu Dhabi and the UAE. The building is a bit older ? built in the early 1980s ? not as magnificent as other places we visited, but? What was nice is that the library and the arts/crafts areas were being used by local people, including many children. One gets the feeling that this center is a hands-on place, very well used, and very welcoming. Again, the facility is ?choppy? in that each collection is in its own area, but it works, and that?s what counts. They have a very nice manuscripts collection, too. One lovely silly: they have painted camels outside of the building, and I?ve sent a picture of my favorite one to the blog ? it is painted as a bee ? gotta love it!
Our evening (we stayed at the Novotel in downtown Abu Dhabi) was concluded with a visit and mini-tour of the Emirates Palace, a Kempinski hotel that is as opulent as its name implies. Gold everywhere, a multi-story atrium, several hundred rooms, with the lowest priced one going for approximately $500/night in off-season. Visiting royals stay here, on two extremely secure floors ? the price per night for a suite of suitable stature is approximately $15,000/night ? serious money, as some of my ol? New Bedford MA friends would say. If you are interested, the web site for the chain is at: www.kempinski.com ?All things are possible in the Gulf!!?
On Tuesday morning, we trekked back to the Cultural Foundation for a lecture on intellectual property and copyright. The lecture was given in Arabic (with powerpoint slides in English) by Helmi Noman, a US Embassy staffer of Yemeni origin. Helmi is quite accomplished, and the lecture was of benefit to us all.
Our final visit was to the Center for Documentation & Research, also in Abu Dhabi. Again, a very new facility, lots of flashy touches, and headed up by a man of Iraqi origin ? many in our training group knew Dr. Jassem. The CDR (www.cdr.gov.ae) has as one of its goals to scour the world and make copies of any documents related to the UAE, its emirates and its history from any and all time periods. (They also try and collect as much as they can about other Gulf countries.) The intent is to make available, in country, all of what has been written by and about the Emirates. The Library portion of the facility is quite small, but it has a large collection capacity, due in main part to the installation of compact, moveable shelving. They also kindly served the group lunch ? deeelicious!
The bus took then us back to Al Ain. One of the wonderful parts of this experience is having fun with our Iraqi colleagues. They sing to us, clap hands to the rhythm of songs, and we sing back. It is amazing the old songs one can pull up from one?s memory, and to be honest, any song will do ? it?s the musical bonding that counts. The bus ride back flew by.
To conclude our two-day whirlwind tour, we had a lovely meal at the hotel Mercure Grand Hotel up on Jebel Hafeet. We ate out by the pool ? good food with a sweeping view of the city of Al Ain below ? the city looked like sparkling twinklies. After the meal, some of us danced (including yours truly, of course) ? I think we surprised the Iraqis by our unfettered bouncing around. The Iraqis talked Cynthia into singing, which she does darn well. All in all, a great evening, and of course the bus ride back to our respective residences included much more singing and clapping and good-natured kidding?
So, here are some of my initial thoughts of what have we accomplished on this trip? We have reconnected with people who were at last summer?s session, and we made new friends with those who we met for the first time here in Al Ain. Because of the visa issues, we did get off to a late start, but Pat, Michael, Michele, Will and Cynthia revised their teaching plans and covered as much materials as they could. We exposed the Iraqis to several libraries that are modern and functional, including the one they studied and worked in at UAEU. We talked about what they saw that worked, and what they thought of each place. Perhaps they can?t do everything like it is done in the UAE, but there will come a time soon when they?ll have some resources to begin the rebuilding work necessary to operate a modern university library system. We are hopeful that we?ve given them some tools to see both the forest (the big picture) and the trees (how to go about getting things done, one by one). As leaders, they?ll teach and train colleagues, and of course one of our goals has been to ?train the trainers? ? we only hope we are at least moderately successful.
The end of any program like this is bittersweet. We get to go back to our respective countries (the USA, Scotland and for me, Kuwait), and the Iraqis go back to Iraq. We have heard many stories of everyday life there and how dangerous venturing out can be. We have been told of literally being chased off of campus by gun-toting thugs and of the many academics that have been killed. There is electricity for a couple of hours per day, yet we talk of cyberinfrastructures. Through all of this, these librarians and library science faculty persevere, trying to serve students and the nation by keeping on task. They remain remarkably upbeat, and to be with them lifts your own spirits.
We?ll miss our Iraqi colleagues, and the goodbyes later today will be with mixed emotions. Here?s hoping that somehow, someway, programs like this continue. For me, it is clear that we are doing a lot more than just teaching and sharing library concepts and skills. We get to show at least some Iraqis a different ?face? of America and the west, and we get to know them as individuals. We were kidding around last night, as one of the gifts given to Michele was an Aladdin?s lamp ? three wishes, and of course the first one was PEACE ? here?s hoping?