Strengthening Library Associations in the South Caucasus: A Regional Workshop
(May 5-8 2001 Tbilisi, Georgia)
Report prepared by
Nancy Kranich
President, American Library Association
June 2001
INTRODUCTION
The American Library Association (ALA) conducted a three-day regional workshop to strengthen library associations in the South Caucasus from May 5 - 8, 2001, in Tblisi, Georgia. The regional workshop, organized in cooperation with the library associations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, was designed to assist the organizations in these emerging democracies to fulfill their critical roles in developing an informed citizenry. The initiative was part of ALA President Nancy Kranich's presidential theme "Libraries: The Cornerstone of Democracy."
Built on the relationships initiated at the South Caucasian Regional Library Conferences held in 1998 and 1999, the workshop brought together thirty librarians and library policy makers (ten from each of the three countries) to work with seven U.S. colleagues well-versed in library and information issues. The U.S. librarians lead discussions on the place of libraries in democracies and the role of regional and national library associations in advocating the importance of these institutions of knowledge.
The workshop encouraged and facilitated continued cooperative activities among the library associations in the South Caucasus region at this critical early stage of development and helped librarians work together to promote the role of libraries in society in ensuring an informed citizenry. This workshop can serve as a model for other library associations in emerging democracies and elsewhere.
BACKGROUND
Libraries are fundamental to fostering democratic societies. They provide access to information, which affords all citizens the opportunity to participate fully in their societies. Equal and open information access is a basic tenet of libraries in free countries. It is vital that librarians in the newly independent states have the tools to improve their organizations, structures, and capabilities for furthering the democratic process. Library associations can instill in their members the social and civic skills necessary for them to partake in public dialogue. As schools for democratic process, they teach members how to run meetings, speak in public, write letters, organize projects, debate public issues, negotiate, advocate, and build consensus around common concerns. Through these civic learning experiences, members of library associations are equipped to become a unified voice in order to galvanize public support for the important role of libraries and the public's information rights in their countries.
"Libraries: The Cornerstone of Democracy" was the theme of Nancy Kranich's ALA presidency. Central to her theme was helping libraries in 'emerging democracies' fulfill their critical roles in developing free and informed citizens. She was interested in creating a model for workshops that could be replicated elsewhere around the world. Kranich and her ALA colleagues considered the South Caucasus region an ideal location to initiate this workshop.
In 1999, a delegation of ALA librarians, including the past president Ann Symons and Jordan Scepanski, chair of the ALA International Relations Committee, conducted a workshop at the first meeting of the Azerbaijan Library Association. They led sessions on goal setting, organization and development of library associations, collaboration, and the creation of consortia. Many of the librarians who took part had never met each other before attending this program. They all expressed interest in follow-up training. The U.S. librarians who facilitated the event suggested broadening the scope and participation of subsequent programs to benefit libraries throughout the entire region. Along parallel lines, Sylva Natalie Manoogian, chair of the ALA International Relations Eurasia and Central Asia Subcommittee, had served as a mentor and liaison to the Armenia Library Association for the last seven years.
Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia have been struggling to develop their emerging democracies. Librarians and library associations in the three countries have been among the first to see the advantages of regional cooperation -- to work together to help improve libraries and the library profession to better serve society.
All three countries have recently created library and information societies (Armenia in 1994, Georgia in 1997, and Azerbaijan in 1999). In 1998, the first South Caucasian Regional Library Conference was held in Tbilisi with librarians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The conference theme was 'Libraries-Access to Information.' An outgrowth of this meeting was the creation of the Regional Training Center in Tbilisi and an initial training of 25 Azeri, Armeni, and Georgian librarians in March 1999.
The Second South Caucasian Regional Library Conference 'Library Associations-Regional Cooperation' followed in 1999. At this meeting, participants founded the Confederation of South Caucasian Library Associations. As young library associations that have just recently created a new regional cooperative, the library and information associations in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia understand the need to continue to meet and to advocate for the important role of libraries in their region.
The American Library Association, with more than 60,000 members has a long history of providing assistance to libraries and librarians in other countries. The ALA Charter states that the association was formed "for the purpose of promoting library interests throughout the world by exchanging views, reaching conclusions, and inducing cooperation." As such, participation of ALA representatives as facilitators and enablers was the key to a successful workshop.
FUNDING
The workshop to strengthen library associations in the South Caucasus was funded by the American Library Association through the President's fund and several grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York ($25,000); the Democracy Commission Grant ($8,700); American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study (ACCELS) ($5,000); Open Society Institute ($11,125); and the Speakers Bureau ($7,000). ALA raised sufficient funds to follow up with the three library associations and consider next steps for applying this model for future international activities. ALA and the three South Caucasus library associations are seeking additional support from the U.S. State Department and other funders to sustain and expand their activities.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
ALA organized a three-day regional workshop "Strengthening Library Associations in the South Caucasus: a Regional Workshop" that was held in Tbilisi, May 5-8, 2001 in collaboration with the Armenian Library Association, the Azerbaijan Library Association, and the Association of Information Specialists (Georgia). The ALA delegation included a diverse group of librarians from all over the United States, each with a different set of skills. The participants included: ALA President Nancy Kranich; past president Ann Symons; Michael Dowling, Director of ALA's International Relations Office; Nancy Davenport, Director of Acquisitions at the Library of Congress; Sylva Manoogian, Multiethnic materials specialist and founder of the Armenian Library Association; Nancy Bolt, Colorado State Librarian and library planning consultant; and Jordan Scepanski, chair of the ALA International Relations Committee. The U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, Kenneth Yalowitz, opened the workshop and the Embassy's Public Affairs Officer, Sharon Hudson-Dean, and its Information Specialists worked closely with the American delegation on logistics, media, and local arrangements.
Nancy Bolt designed and facilitated the sessions and trained the local facilitators. She worked closely with the rest of her ALA colleagues to identify opportunities to strengthen library associations and stress the importance of working with stakeholders, building partnerships, and influencing policy makers. The workshop sessions covered the importance of libraries in democracies, association development, advocacy, partnering, and coalition building. The key role of the media in advocacy was underscored by the numerous radio, television and print reporters who covered the workshop with great interest.
The goals of the workshop were to:
1) Encourage and facilitate continued cooperation among the library associations in the South Caucasus;
2) Assist the regional and national associations in promoting the key role of libraries in ensuring an informed citizenry;
3) Develop a method of sustainability of regional, national, and international cooperative efforts; and
4) Design a model that can be used by other library associations in emerging democracies.
WORKSHOP STRUCTURE
The meeting was held in the conference center of the National Library. This well-equipped center, recently renovated by the French Embassy, offered an ideal setting for the workshop, including simultaneous translation and computer projection capabilities, and sufficient space for both plenary sessions and break-out groups. A highly competent interpreter from the Georgian Academy of Sciences Presentations translated presentations simultaneously into English and Russian. Participants also translated supporting documentation that was distributed in print, and presented on flip charts and overhead screens.
Leaders from each of the four countries presented opening remarks at plenary sessions. Members of the ALA delegation followed up with presentations on topics ranging from association structure to advocacy. Facilitated small group discussions encouraged interaction and dialogue from all participants. These discussions also helped teach participants skills in deliberative democracy so they can apply these techniques to framing issues, finding common ground, drafting positions, developing consensus, creating messages, and developing action plans.
WORKSHOP MATERIALS
ALA, in collaboration with the 3 library associations, organized the content, materials, website, and speakers for the workshop. The ALA delegation drafted documents and compiled workshop packets that included bilingual (English and Russian) translation by South Caucasus librarians. These materials were a useful resource during the workshop and will serve as a reference guide afterwards. ALA and the South Caucasus participants are working on an English/Russian web site where resource materials, workshop agendas, reports, pictures, and follow up activities will be posted. Library vendors including Demco, Ebsco, Highsmith, Net Library and VTLS from the United States generously donated souvenirs that served as examples of advocacy tools; they were warmly received and greatly appreciated by the participants.
WORKSHOP OUTCOMES
Three case studies of successful ALA advocacy efforts were presented to promote libraries: National Library Week, Legislative Day, and Freedom of Information Day. One focused on raising public awareness, the second on influencing policymakers, and the third on partnering with other organizations to advance common concerns. Attendees used these models as springboards to develop similar initiatives. Each delegation then developed and reported on a national project and advocacy effort that would promote a free and open society. All three countries plan to celebrate National Library Week with the @ your library theme, coinciding with ALA's celebration next April. Each will also focus on addressing national bibliography issues with the help of the Library of Congress. The delegations departed eager for a follow-up workshop in Yerevan, Armenia, in the fall of 2002.
The workshop succeeded in accomplishing the goals set forth by the ALA organizers. Participants learned how to:
· articulate the critical role libraries and library associations play in a democratic society;
· work cooperatively with various association models, services, and activities;
. speak out to increase support for libraries and to promote the public's right to know;
· identify stakeholders and build partnerships;
· employ deliberative democracy techniques; and,
· the value of bringing people together from diverse backgrounds to find common ground, solve problems, reach consensus, take collective action, and speak with a unified voice.
FINDINGS
The ALA delegates discovered that they shared common concerns and values with librarians from the South Caucasus region. All are committed to building relevant collections, improving services by utilizing new technologies, strengthening library associations, encouraging regional cooperation, and advocating the importance of libraries and librarians to their nation's advancement and democracy. The group came together as citizens of the greater library community, eager to promote the free flow of ideas worldwide. Such grand ideals underpin the policies and actions of the American Library Association; they present daunting challenges to countries with no money, democratic traditions or transparency.
Since independence from the Soviet Union, national libraries in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia have added few if any new titles. Copyright depository laws are ignored by most publishers. Libraries have no funds to purchase materials in local languages, let alone foreign resources. Almost all materials in the libraries in Tblisi were written in Georgian or Russian. Little is available from publishers in democratic countries. The U.S. State Department has assisted with automation efforts. But the need to standardize formats and cataloging information in multiple languages presents major barriers to progress. Many librarians know four and five languages and have doctorates in the sciences. Yet, these well-educated professionals are paid only $15 per month. They need new skills. The Soros Open Society Institute has invested heavily in professional training and travel. A number of participants are or have studied at library schools in the United States through the State Department's Muskie program. Two are currently doctoral students at the University of Illinois.
Library buildings are poorly maintained and inadequate for the special needs of books, media, computers, networks, and readers. Few were built to serve as libraries. A tour of the Georgian National Library and the Academy of Sciences revealed sub-standard environmental conditions, inadequate shelving and preservation, crowding, dim lighting and reading facilities. Librarians are growing plants below the holes in the roof of the Academy library. Even though collections are dated and facilities decrepit, use of libraries is high, and morale of staff impressive. In a country with a 99% literacy rate, citizens want and need to learn, and they crave access. The French embassy's modern library and media facility located in the Georgian National Library had no empty seats, despite the fact that all materials are in French. The U.S. Embassy information specialists help their library colleagues locate vital information and connect to databases. But they are not equipped to serve the public. Indeed, it was evident that the now-defunct USIA libraries would make a big impact within these emerging democracies. Libraries supported with foreign funds are in better condition. For example, the Georgian parliamentary research center was fairly well-stocked with American and European contemporary titles about modern democratic systems and parliamentary processes. This facility also had computer access. But up-to-date commercial electronic databases are not available.
Visits by Nancy Kranich and Nancy Davenport to the Georgian Parliamentary Research Service revealed a fledgling library and research staff eager to provide western-style policy analysis. The staff consult with a number of non-governmental organizations (NGO's); library associations are not yet among this group. With civil society developing in Georgia, the library community needs to exercise its legitimate role and responsibility as a stakeholder that can influence policies and decisions regarding open access, education, copyright, and freedom of information, all essential to transparency in a democratic society.
Nancy Kranich and Nancy Davenport also met with the Georgian Foreign Minister to the Americas who introduced them to the new anti-corruption minister who is responsible for implementing the recently-adopted administrative code. The code contains freedom of information provisions that should interest the library community. The Foreign Minister briefed the Americans about a project funded by the Rand Corporation to establish the Georgia Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. When the librarians pointed out the dire need for information matter and data to support such a center, the minister expressed interest in involving librarians in developing a service that would collect and analyze information. The Americans will suggest models that might work such as the U.S. Congressional Research Service. They also agreed to consult with State Department and other officials about the needs and potential of such a resource in the South Caucasus.
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
ALA has already set up a listserv for workshop participants who have posted messages regularly. The Library of Congress (LC) is preparing disks with its recent holding in each country's languages so they can build their national bibliographies and identify missing titles from the last ten years. The LC area specialist for the South Caucasus will visit in September and assist libraries with collection building.
After the workshop, Sylva Manoogian and Ann Symons left Tblisi to visit Armenia where they addressed librarians, toured libraries, met with U.S. officials, and began planning for another regional workshop to be held in Yerevan in the fall of 2002. Sylva Manoogian has since compiled the notes from the workshop sessions and shared photographs, soon to be posted on the web site.
Nancy Kranich and Nancy Davenport met with State Department officials to discuss the impact and importance of the workshop and to get advise on sustaining the South Caucasus effort. They also plan to meet with the regional Special Advisor for Public Diplomacy of the Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to the Newly Independent States to explore possibilities for library involvement with the regional research center under development in cooperation with the Rand Corporation.
The delegation met in San Francisco in mid-June at the ALA annual conference to evaluate the project and discuss next steps. Included in that meeting were representatives from the library associations in Georgia and Azerbaijan. The feedback from participants received over the listserv and during the ALA meeting will help shape future activities.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The libraries and librarians in the emerging democracies of the South Caucasus will need more assistance if they are to fulfill their critical roles in developing an informed citizenry. ALA is eager to work closely with the State Department and other international organizations to coordinate programs that could benefit libraries. As funds pour in to support a wide variety of initiatives in these countries, the door opens for libraries to participate more widely in institution building in the South Caucasus. These opportunities range from the democratization of the media to the development of health clinics, from the creation of stock exchanges to the launching of policy think tanks, and from economic development to educational initiatives. Creative, aggressive outreach can link libraries to various projects under development, benefiting everyone.
ALA needs to work closely with the Public Affairs Officers in each country to learn more about ongoing projects and possibilities and to encourage sustained interest and sponsor follow-up activities. We urge the U.S. embassies in the South Caucasus region to fund participation by each of the countries in another workshop in 2002. We also encourage the Embassies to support fellowships and training programs that help librarians to meet the multitude of information and education challenges facing their countries. ALA can foster association activities in the region by serving as a sister library association. We can also encourage U.S. libraries to participate in sister library projects with libraries in the region. Book exchanges and donations can help fill in major gaps in library collections; shipping poses major challenges that require assistance from either government agencies, donors, foundations, or others.
Library associations in the South Caucasus must find new avenues for advancing cooperation and expansion of library programs. Government cannot serve as the sole source of revenues and guidance. Resourceful librarians need to develop partnerships with key stakeholders like publishers and other NGO's. Such partners can help libraries extend their reach, build support and expand participation in development projects underway in their countries. Library associations need to become stakeholders in the policy arena, influencing decision makers, the media, and the public. And they must speak with one voice if they are to affect policy and public awareness.
Limited resources need not restrain development. Librarians must explore and exploit other venues for assistance. The three associations are poised to survey libraries so they can communicate the scope and content of existing resources and build on those strengths. All three associations have embraced advocacy as a role and responsibility over the years ahead. Members will need to develop more skills in deliberative democracy techniques if they are to find common ground and agree on strategies for communicating the important role of libraries and promoting policies that enhance the free flow of ideas. They also need to learn the basics of public relations.
The workshop encouraged regional understanding and cooperation. Librarians in all three countries now need to find ways to sustain these relationships without depending solely on American or outside assistance. They must initiate projects that will demonstrate the value and economies of collaboration. They must identify and build upon strengths and rely on others to supplement their limited resources. With so little money and staff, libraries must rely more on each other to share resources and coordinate development. No library can afford to provide everything for everyone, not even in the wealthiest countries. Librarians from the region must assess their country's needs based on their unique experiences. They should consider the case studies presented by their American colleagues as starting points and modify them to reflect local circumstances.
The American delegation greatly appreciated the hospitality of our Georgian hosts. We were provided extensive opportunities for networking between sessions, during meals, and through other informal gatherings. The setting and ambiance created unique and memorable occasions for librarians to become better acquainted, to share in each other's cultures, and to enjoy the sights and sounds of Tbilisi. We all came away far richer than the treasures and gifts exchanged with our colleagues in the South Caucasus. The experience will shape and inform our own perspective on librarianship and the important role we all play as citizens eager to ensure that everyone can participate in the benefits and promises of the information age. We thank the participants, the U.S. State Department, the Carnegie Corporation, the American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study (ACCELS), Open Society Institute, the Speakers Bureau, and the ALA staff who helped make this project a big success and a memorable experience for everyone.
