All of a sudden, we’re in week 3 — time is flying by so fast, there’s barely a chance to take it all in… thank goodness for coffee keeping me going!

Anne Craig’s visit (CARLI) was eye-opening. Back home, my library belongs to several consortia that created and now manage academic libraries. Being part of consortia is incredibly beneficial for small libraries like mine. I’d never really considered a model like CARLI — a private company offering consortial services. But it makes sense. I’m a strong believer in negotiating through consortia — the big publishers are just too powerful, even for big libraries.

Even though the grant writing session was U.S.-centered, we can definitely apply some of the strategies to our own context.

One topic we’ve been diving deep into is Research Data Services. Hearing what Sandi Caldrone shared about their work here was really inspiring.

Technical Services, on the other hand, are on another level. With 55 staff members in the department and many catalogers specialized in multiple languages, it’s just a different world. This level of specialization is hard to imagine in my setting.

Research is data — and we got a powerful reminder of that at NCSA, where we saw how much data goes into creating the kinds of videos they produce. That data needs to be stored, preserved, classified… But where? Private storage is crazy expensive.

On Monday, we had our Associates dinner at Newman, which was a real treat. Everyone shared their expectations and interests, which helped us connect more deeply and learn from those we hadn’t spent much time with yet.

Tuesday wasn’t a great day for me — I ended up in the hospital with a sprained ankle, which has made me feel a bit disconnected from the group and the activities.

Before that, we had our first session on Information Literacy. Someone at my university once asked me who was responsible for that service, and I realized… we don’t really have anything formal in place. Sure, we do related sessions here and there, but nothing structured. We really need to step up in this area, especially with the rise in disinformation and misinformation — prevention and correction are key.

Peg Burnette walked us through a Scoping Review, analyzing a real article, and Sarah Park shared her perspective on using AI in research. She introduced us to a few tools, and while helpful, none of them can do the full job for you.

We were all really moved by Joel and Jordan’s commitment at Urbana Free Library. The work they do with teens is amazing. The library is deeply rooted in the community and lends out all kinds of things — tools, musical instruments, sewing machines — plus they give out seeds to support healthier diets and a more beautiful community.

After a session on Evaluation and Impact, I had my accident on the way to get a taxi. I’ve only seen Champaign Public Library through the photos my colleagues shared.

On Wednesday, we took a trip into the past in Springfield, the city of Abraham Lincoln. We visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, the Illinois State Library, and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. The present caught up with us in the form of a tornado warning — we had to head down to the basement, five flights of stairs, with my sprained ankle… that was a real test of endurance.

Juneteenth — the celebration of the emancipation of African American slaves — was a public holiday, so no class, and the library was closed. But the wonderful Clara supported us with several topics we were working on and gave us helpful tips for drafting our Personal Development Plans, or rethinking our library spaces. It ended up being a productive day to catch up on things.

Before this program, I had never heard of Arthur. I had heard of the Amish, and maybe seen a couple of movies, but reality is something else entirely. Their culture and history are being documented, and people are doing a great job sharing it with us.

We got to chat with Kelsey Pruitt, the librarian at Arthur Public Library, and it was clear how focused she is on serving the community and adapting the library to fit their needs and preferences.

This is our last weekend here, and there’s still so much to do…