Fellowship experience broadens the family

An IFLA/OCLC Fellowship can advance your education and career, as well as make you part of a global community

By Maria Cherrie
IFLA/OCLC Fellow Class of 2006

“I feel like I am part of a special community. OCLC is a family, a culture, and being a Fellow comes with a responsibility.”

In May, I had the pleasure of returning to Dublin to spend time mentoring the Fellows in the 2010 class of the Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program. It was an honor to do so, and a chance to tell both the Fellows and OCLC staff about the benefits of participating in this program.

My experience as a 2006 IFLA/OCLC Fellow has helped me advance my education and my career to better serve the people of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as to become part of a global community of librarians.

During the fellowship, we visited a diverse group of libraries—public, academic and school libraries and cultural heritage institutions. These visits presented insightful opportunities to hear about the innovative ways in which the leaders were serving their constituents, and I found myself inspired by their passion and vision for library services. These leaders influenced my approach toward problem-solving and policy formulation in my work today with the National Library & Information System Authority (NALIS).

Also, sharing time with Fellows from other parts of the world enhanced my global perspective. It was evident from discussions that libraries face similar challenges on a global scale, such as personnel shortages, funding and space constraints. However, it was also evident that there are solutions, such as resource sharing.

Since my Fellowship experience, I have completed a Certificate in Advanced Study in Digital Libraries from Syracuse University, and I am working on a Certificate in Education for School Librarians. I have moved from Queen’s Royal College and am now Acting Librarian III responsible for the implementation of the Library and Information Literacy Curriculum in secondary schools throughout Trinidad and Tobago. I also shared my fellowship experience with colleagues at NALIS and collaborated with OCLC for information literacy.

I have taken part in several career days in Trinidad and Tobago and I have shared with students the opportunity that I had as an IFLA/OCLC Fellow. They saw librarians in a traditional role. But when I told them of my experiences, it opened their eyes to the possibilities of international librarianship in terms of what a librarian can do.

At a Caribbean digital libraries workshop, I was able to liaise with representatives from the Library of Congress and IFLA.

I feel like I am part of a special community. OCLC is a family, a culture, and being a Fellow comes with a responsibility. You are really a part of a worldwide community. You are not only representing yourself but a bigger organization that has a global scope. I have embraced it and I would encourage others to do it.

The future of publishing | WorldCat.org: Advanced citations