What can I say about this journey? If there’s one powerful message that has resonated with me throughout the program, it is this: beyond the four walls of a library, there are people—users whose needs, dreams, and voices give meaning to everything we do. Without them, a library is simply an empty space.

This experience reminded me that engagement is not a secondary task—it is the foundation. Libraries must listen, co-create, and evolve alongside their communities. We must move beyond assumptions and actively seek out the stories, cultures, and challenges of those we serve.

As librarians, we have a responsibility to adapt our services and spaces to shifting realities, using whatever resources we have with creativity and commitment. It’s not about having everything—it’s about using what we have with intention.

Personally, I return inspired and eager to share many ideas with my fellow librarians in Costa Rica. If I had to highlight my top five takeaways from this program, they would be:

1. Human-Centered Design – As a transformative methodology to develop inclusive, adaptable, and empathetic services.
2. Library Engagement with the Community – Ensuring that services are relevant and meaningful by listening and co-creating with users.
3. Metadata and Artificial Intelligence – Understanding their role in technical processes and their ethical implications.
4. Strengthening Innovative Library Leadership – Leading change with flexibility, collaboration, and a vision grounded in people.
5. Trend Tracking for Strategic Planning – Reading signals of change to design sustainable and future-ready services.

I leave this program with renewed conviction in the power of libraries as living systems—open, evolving, and deeply human. I am grateful for all I have learned and excited about the small but powerful innovations we can implement in our own contexts.