LITA-IRC Meeting, Monday, June 25, 2007
10:30am -12pm
Renaissance Hotel – Room 17
The focus of LITA’s International Relations Committee meeting was on the selection of the International Visitor Travel Grant candidate to the 2007 LITA Forum, arrangement for the grant recipient’s visit to the United States, report of the 2006 Travel Grant winner and preparation for the announcement of the next International Visitor Travel Grant to the 2008 LITA Forum.
2007 Travel Grant Winner
The 2007 grant, sponsored by a private donation, was for a librarian currently living and working in the Caribbean. Annette Smith from Barbados, West Indies, one of 12 applicants, is the winner of the 2007 Travel Grant. Ms. Smith, Director of the National Library Service, holds a Masters in Public Administration, University of Manitoba, Canada, a Postgraduate Diploma in Library Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona, and a BA with Honors from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. She is also an advisor to the Barbados government on library and information services. The runner up winner is Gracelyn Cassell, from Montserrat, West Indies.
Announcements for the grant were posted on LITA-L, LITA’s blog and website. In addition, the University of the West Indies assisted in advertising the grant. The announcement was also sent to various Caribbean consulates and ACURIL (Association of Caribbean University, Research, and Institutional Libraries). It was suggested the perhaps IRC’s Americas Subcommittee could assist with publicizing the 2008 Travel Grant.
2006 Travel Grant Winner’s Report
The past recipient of the travel grant to the 2006 LITA Forum was Frank Soodeen, Systems Librarian, University of the West Indies. The 2004-2006 LITA-IRC Chair, David Nutty, coordinated Mr. Soodeen’s visit to LITA Forum and met him at the Forum. The committee was most grateful to Michael Dowling, IRC Director, for including Mr. Soodeen’s report of his trip in the June 2007 issue of International Leads, p.6.
2008-2009 Program Planning
The incoming Chair of LITA-IRC is Teri Sierra from the Library of Congress. In addition to managing the 2008 Travel Grant, Teri is interested in exploring a possible collaborative program for Annual 2009. An idea currently being discussed is the state of current international technology projects such as One Laptop per Child perhaps collaborating with ALSC-IRC, the Gates Foundation’s international projects, and digitization projects to preserve Afghanistan materials. LITA-IRC is looking for additional members and visitors to join this exciting committee. Just fill out an online LITA committee interest form on LITA’s website. We look forward to seeing you at the LITA-IRC Midwinter meeting.