Welcome
Dear members of the Information and Library Science community,
For the third time, Koç University Libraries are organizing the International Library Staff Week in Istanbul, between 9-13 May, 2022. The event brings together professional Library staff with varied backgrounds working in universities or other research orientated libraries with an interest in sharing ideas and networking with colleagues.
Our experience from similar events, started in Spring 2018, when we organized and hosted for the first time an International Library Staff Week, with the participation of 18 International Academic Librarians from 13 countries and 5 continents. Continuing, later on the same year 8 colleagues from the American Beirut University Libraries spent a week at Koç University and later on, in October, the Library hosted the Greek and Turkish Library Staff Week.
In April 2019 we celebrated Spring and the Library profession with colleagues all over the world with our 2nd International Library Staff Week. We were happy to have more participants from different countries and so our bonds with colleagues and the experience gained, expanded and advanced. Unfortunately, the last two years we had to cancel our International Library Staff Week plans due to the pandemic. The pandemic showed us that we are all capable of holding various events online. However, it also made us realized that nothing can replace the feeling of face-to-face collective experience.
We strongly believe that international events as such, offer the opportunity to share different professional and cultural backgrounds and experience in a friendly and relaxed environment and is a great start for potential joint projects.
In addition, Istanbul is a unique place to visit and Koç University stands strong in the international educational and research arena. Don’t miss the chance to be part of the experience!
Main theme
The main theme of the 3rd International Library Staff Week is "Constructing the Future". Library and Information Science is a key sector that contributes to the development of the forthcoming ideas and projects. Having an impact on the future requires multiple considerations on various subjects. Through this week, together we will investigate these considerations and analyze the following sub-themes; innovation, partnership and sustainability.
Innovation: In this sub-theme the discussions will concentrate on the innovations in the Library and Information Science sector. Librarians always follow the latest trends in the fields of education and technology. What is the latest trend that you follow as a librarian? How do you think innovations will contribute to the libraries? What needs to be considered for the adaptability of libraries to the continuous innovations?
Partnership: Another discussion will concentrate on partnership. Libraries are information hubs for many research fields and have many stakeholders. How could libraries build stronger cooperation with their stakeholders? In what ways libraries contribute more to connected learning? What should be considered for finding the right partners?
Sustainability: The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a total of 169 targets spanning economic, environmental and social development and libraries are key institutions to help achieve these goals! With this in mind, we believe it is essential to discuss about sustainability in libraries. What can libraries do to maintain the continuity of library services? How could libraries contribute to the sustainability of research projects?
During this week, library staff and visitors will have the chance to engage into fruitful discussions and exchange of professional and personal experiences, which will broaden their perspective on issues related to Information Science, strengthen their skills and hopefully plant the roots for future collaboration on joint projects.