ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


708 /  C&RL News ■ December 2003

J o b of a Lifeti
D
m

a n ia n n e  
e
M iz z y

World library partnership
This month, “Job of a Lifetime” looks at what 
might be your academic leave of a lifetime. World 
Library Partnership (WLP) is a nonprofit organi­
zation whose mission is to “advocate for sustain­
able, community-based libraries in developing 
areas of the world.” Its Inform the World (ITW) 
Library Skills Exchange program partners pairs 
of international volunteer librarians with local 
librarians in Central America and South Africa. 
The four-week program is designed to allow 
the librarians “to bring their expertise together 
to create unique answers to the information needs 
of rural communities.”

I spoke with three vol­
unteers about their expe­
riences. Arlie Sims, head 
of reference and instruc­
tional services at Colum­
b ia  C o lle g e -C h ic a g o , 
w o r k e d  w ith  Vilm a 
Yamileth Ordóñez at the 
Concepcion de Mana Pub­
lic Library in Honduras, 
which has its own build­
ing. Kara Malenfant, uni­ A r l i e  S im s , h e a d  o f  r e f e r e n c e  a n d  

in s tr u c tio n a l services a t C o lu m b ia  C o lle g e - 
C h ic a g o ;  K a ra  M a le n f a n t ,  u n i v e r s i t y  
in f o r m a t io n  lib ra ria n  a t  D eP aul U n iv e rs ity ; 
a n d  V e ro n d a  P it c h f o r d ,  c o o r d in a t o r  o f  
m e m b e r s h ip  s e r v ic e s  a t  t h e  C h ic a g o  
M u lt it y p e  L ib ra ry  System.

versity information librar­
ian at DePaul University, 
w orked with educator/li- 
brarian Lucy Makaula and 
Principal Gladys Maseko 
at the Tenteleni Primary School in the town of 
KaNyanzame, Mpungalana Province, South Af­
rica. There the teachers gave up their staff lounge 
to provide a room  for the library. Veronda 
Pitchford, coordinator of membership services 
at the Chicago Multitype Library System, was a 
recipient of the Elaine Christian fellowship, which 
supports the participation of African and African 
American librarians in the program. She worked 
with Assistant Principal Khombie Gumede and

Principal T.E.H. Mdletsche at the Manzibomvu 
Primary School, KwaZulu Natal Province, South 
Africa, where the library was housed in part of a 
regular classroom. Coincidentally, Pitchford and 
Malenfant both w orked with Nancy Bertholf, a 
school librarian, as their WLP volunteer partner.

It's tru ly a partnership
Malenfant, who had previously worked as a Peace 
Corps Volunteer in Armenia, had a lot of ques­
tions when first considering the ITW program. “I 
w anted to make sure it was going to be a real 

hands-on, grassroots, lo­
cal-level d e v e lo p m e n t 
project, and that I’d really 
be able to accom plish 
something.” Sims stated, 
“It’s not a charity sending 
librarians to tell them how 
to do things in their part 
of the world, but rather a 
chance for librarians from 
developed countries to 
work as a team with li­
brarians from countries 
w ith  fe w e r re s o u rc e s  
[who are] facing different 
kinds of challenges. We 
can use our professional 
experience in conjunction 

with the local librarian’s knowledge of their com­
munity. It’s truly a partnership.”

An adventure w orth having
When asked about their preparation for the ex­
perience, Sims described, “At the beginning we 
attended four days of intensive training, three of 
the days together with the community librar­
ians. They taught us about the communities 
where w e w ould work, and together w e learned

Danianne M izzy is assistant head o f  th e  Engineering Library a t the University o f  Pennsylvania. Have an idea fo r a  "Job o f 
a L ifetim e" sto ry? E-mail: danianne@seas.upenn.edu

mailto:danianne@seas.upenn.edu


C&RL News ■ December 2003 /  709

particular skills appropriate to those kinds o f li­
braries and settings.” Malenfant said that she was 
initially intimidated by the prospect of having to 
process and catalog books. “I’m a reference li­
brarian. What do I know about processing books? 
But betw een the intensive training and the w on­
derful manual Libraries f o r  All, w hich contains 
step-by-step instructions, it was fine.”

They all experienced some level o f culture 
shock, and the physical conditions required an 
adjustment. Pitchford explained, “I d o n ’t even 
go camping,” but she adapted to carrying water, 
using an outhouse, and sometimes doing w ith­
out electricity. Sims confided, “It’s pretty scary 
to get into an SUV, leave the other volunteers 
behind, and go off into the mountains not know ­
ing w hat you’re going to encounter. But once I 
got involved in the work of the library and the 
community, all that disappeared into the back­
ground. Being involved in family and comm u­
nity life is a priceless part of the experience. It 
w as an adventure w orth having.”

Projects and 
accom plishm ents
Each set o f volunteers ITW Library Skills Exchange

W h ere:
Central America and South Africa

F o r  m o r e  i n f o r m a t i o n , v is it :  w w w . 
worldlibraries. org/

d e v e lo p s th e  p ro jects 
they are going to under­
take with the community 
librarians. The idea for a 
survey cam e from the 
community-based library 
committee at Concepción 
de María. “We developed 
a library survey to get feedback from the com­
m unity ab o u t w hat kinds o f m aterials they 
w anted,” said Sims. We w ent out into the com­
munity, to the churches, the schools, the com­
munity cooperative, the health clinic—all the 
places w here people meet—and asked for in­
put. At the same time, w e talked about w hat the 
library could do and comm unicated that the li­
brary w as there for the community. The survey 
w as very successful.”

Sims also talked about the im portance of the 
library. “It was moving for me to see how  proud 
people w ere of this resource in their comm u­
nity and how  excited they w ere about the pos­
sibilities. People are able to come into the li­
brary, to this very small collection, and many 
times find som ething quite useful w ith the help 
of the librarian. It w as really quite touching to 
hear people say, ‘You m ean I can really take 
these books home, and read to my child, and

bring them  back next time I’m in town?’ This 
was significant because they might have to walk 
for hours or take a bus to get there from their 
rural community.”

Pitchford participated in a number of projects, 
som e of w hich involved the teachers as well as 
the students. ‘We w orked w ith the teachers in 
the school on incorporating resources into the 
school curriculum, since many of the teachers 
did not have any exposure to libraries them ­
selves. We tried to let them  know  that it was 
their library too, w ith resources to help them 
w ith their teaching. I also really enjoyed work­
ing w ith the kids, reading to them, connecting 
w ith them, and showing them  books in their 
hom e language.”

Among other projects, Malenfant is duly proud 
of having all 1,000 students visit the library within 
just 3 w eeks. She explained that, “Previously, 
the teachers did all the book selection for the 
students. We educated the students about the 
proper care of the books and how  to select a 
good book, while at the sam e time working 

with the teachers to ex­
plain w hy it w as impor­
tant to let the students 
choose for themselves. 
Hopefully the teachers 
saw  th at th ey  can be 
trusted and will continue 
the practice.”

Lessons learned
M alen fan t m e n tio n e d  

learning about the South African idea of Ubuntu, 
“You are a person through other p eople.” This 
seems to sum up the insight that all three brought 
away from this powerful experience. For Sims, 
“The best resources there w ere the commitment 
of the people— not just the library staff but the 
w hole community—and the books. Librarians 
there had great strength in hooking people up 
w ith resources available in the community. I 
learned how  much librarians have to offer to the 
world, even with few er resources.” Pitchford 
said, “How important hum an resources are. You 
d o n ’t always have to have the best com puter.” 
Malenfant described it as a return to the simple, 
basic principles of librarianship, “Helping people 
to enhance their education and their lives through 
reading books.”

T hrough their w ork these th ree volunteers 
clearly fulfilled the WLP mission to “em pow er 
individuals an d  enrich com m unities.” ■