Bibliothekskonferenzen in Boston

In addition to all the preparations being made to re-open our library, planning for library conferences taking place in Boston this week is also in full swing. The conference of the Association of Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) takes place there from January 12 to 14. Participants of the 2008 study tour of American LIS faculty members, organized by the Goethe-Institut, will report on the results of their trip and will be joined by three colleagues from Germany: Ragna Seidler-de Alwis and Ursula Georgy from the Fachhochschule Köln, and Elke Lang from the Fachhochschule Darmstadt.

Right after the ALISE conference, the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) also takes place in Boston. At the Midwinter Meeting there usually are fewer lectures and presentations. The focus, rather, is on the meetings of the various committees and working groups within the ALA, some of which do organize presentations. For its meeting, the Germanist Discussion Group has invited guests who will speak on “Cultural Centers and Academic Libraries: Opportunities for Collaboration”. In this context I, too, will be given the opportunity to present the work of the Goethe-Institut.

The Europe Subcommittee of the International Relations Committee will meet to discuss possibilities for collaboration with other committees, above all with the committee on Partner Libraries. Also, the Librarian Exchange Working Group within German North American Resources Partnership traditionally meets at the ALA Midwinter conference. It is only to be hoped that these committee members can actually attend: the financial crisis has considerably limited the possibility of many to travel to these conferences.

So there will be much to report on in the coming days. And just so things don’t get too boring, there’s also the deadline for contributions to the March issue of Buch und Bibliothek. As this issue will focus on the theme, “Transatlantic Initiatives”, it will naturally include something on the work of the Goethe-Institut New York and its library.