The second week of the Mortenson Center Associates Program 2026 was one of those weeks that can hardly be described simply as “training.” Extremely intensive, professionally rich, and emotional, every single moment of it was filled with content, meaning, and value. It was a week in which we talked about assessment, impact, artificial intelligence, metadata, civic literacy, design thinking, virtual reality, and library strategies. But beyond all these topics, for me it remained a week about people – about how we learn together, work better together, and create meaning together. One phrase we heard during our visit to the MacArthur Foundation Library became, for me, a kind of leitmotif for the entire week: “Work better, work together.” The more I think about these words, the more I realize that they describe not only the role of a specialized library within a foundation, but also the mission of the contemporary library in general.
Starting the week with the question: what changes because of us?
The week began with a training session dedicated to the Program Logic Model. For me, this session was especially valuable not only because of its content, but also because the lecturer, Lisa Hinchliffe, is my Library Buddy within the program and the person who welcomed us into her home on our very first day in USA. The Program Logic Model helped us think more clearly about the relationship between resources, activities, immediate outputs, longer-term outcomes, and real impact. This is especially important for academic libraries, because their mission is directly connected to teaching, research, and lifelong learning.
Siebel Center for Design: thinking with your hands
We then visited the Siebel Center for Design – a space where design thinking is not an abstract methodology, but an experience. There, the philosophy of human-centered design is clearly felt: to begin with the person, with their needs, fears, motivations, limitations, and dreams, and only then to think about a solution. This visit was very powerful for me because it showed how closely design thinking and library work are connected. In both cases, it is about empathy, listening, understanding the user, learning through experience, and being ready to change your initial idea when users show you that they need something else. In libraries, we often talk about services, resources, spaces, and programs. But the Siebel Center for Design reminded us that behind every service there is a human experience. And if we want libraries to be truly impactful, we need to design not only functions, but meaningful experiences.
Virtual reality, XR, and new pathways to learning
One of the most exciting parts of the week was connected with the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning and our encounter with innovation spaces, virtual reality, XR technologies, 3D modeling, podcasts, and new forms of teaching and learning. We saw how virtual and extended reality can be used not simply as a technological attraction, but as a serious educational tool. We explored examples of medical training, 3D models, simulations, interactive environments, and opportunities for students to enter learning content – both literally and metaphorically. This made me think deeply about the future of education in library and information science, about cultural heritage, about digital twins of rare books, and about the possibility for early printed books, bindings, seals, and handwritten notes to be experienced in a new way by students, researchers, and the wider public. But the most personal experience in this part of the week was undoubtedly the podcast.
In front of the microphone: the fear that turned into excitement
When I learned that we would be recording a podcast, my first reaction was fear. Not just nervousness, but pure fear, the kind whose voice begins to gnaw at you from within with all kinds of questions: What if I don’t sound good? What if I fail to say what I want to say? What if I get too nervous? And so on, and so on. And then came the moment when I sat down in front of the microphone. I put on the headphones and challenged myself. At that moment, I realized that this would be one of the most exciting experiences of the entire program for me.
Champaign Public Library: the library as the beloved home of the community
During the week, we also visited Champaign Public Library – a library that impressed me deeply with its atmosphere, openness, and sense of life. It was one of those libraries where, the moment you enter, you understand that the place belongs to the people. It had everything we expect from a contemporary public library – books, electronic resources, reading spaces, technologies, programs, children’s areas, and opportunities for meetings, learning, and communication. But the most important thing was the feeling that the library is the heart of the community. Not an institution that stands aside and waits for users to come, but a living space that invites people to be part of it. For me, Champaign Public Library was a fantastic example of how a public library can be accessible, modern, warm, and human at the same time. A library that does not simply provide services, but creates belonging. And perhaps this is precisely one of the most important missions of public libraries today – to be places where people are not merely users, but part of a community in which everyone contributes what they can.
Thanksgiving in June
One of the most emotional moments of the week was the Thanksgiving dinner organized for us by the ladies of Altrusa. And although the calendar said June, nature seemed to decide to help us enter the atmosphere of the holiday. A heavy rain poured down outside, and for a moment we truly felt as if it were November. These wonderful women opened the doors of their home to us – people from different countries, cultures, and languages – and welcomed us not as guests in a program, but as part of their family. They shared incredibly delicious food with us, told us about the traditions of the holiday, and invited us into their world with such natural kindness that one could not help but feel deeply grateful. And I cannot help adding that, for me, the culinary discovery of the evening was the sweet potatoes with marshmallows, which I cannot wait to try to recreate at home. And then came the most beautiful part of the evening. We all gathered and began to talk about the holidays and customs in our own countries. Nine different countries. Nine different cultural memories. Nine different ways of naming joy, family, celebration, and home. Different words. Different dishes. Different calendars. Different songs, rituals, tables, aromas, memories. And despite all these differences, one thing gradually began to stand out. Love. It turned out that no matter where we are in the world, when a holiday comes, train stations, airports, and roads fill with people trying to get home and be with those they love. Because a holiday is a direction. A direction toward home. Toward a mother, a father, a child, a loved one, a friend, a family table, a familiar voice, a warm embrace. And right there, in a home in Illinois, under the rain, surrounded by people from different corners of the world, I felt very clearly something both simple and immense: geography may separate us, biography may make us different, languages may sound different, but love always finds a way to translate us to one another. This was an evening not only of gratitude. It was an evening of belonging.
Environmental Scanning: seeing change in time
In the professional part of the week, an important topic was Environmental Scanning – the systematic observation and analysis of the environment in which the library operates. We discussed how social, technological, economic, educational, demographic, and political factors influence the development of libraries. One of the main conclusions was that environmental scanning should not be a one-time exercise, but an ongoing professional practice. Libraries need to recognize changes in time – whether they involve artificial intelligence, demographic crisis, digital transformation, open science, or changing user expectations. For the Bulgarian context, the topic of demographic change and the declining number of potential students is especially important. This creates new challenges for university libraries, but it also opens opportunities for developing new services, reaching new user groups, and affirming the library as an active educational and community center.
Metadata, AI, and the invisible work that makes knowledge discoverable
The topic of cataloging, metadata, and technologies was also very powerful. It showed how the role of catalogers is changing – from creating individual bibliographic records to managing metadata, workflows, automation, data quality, and collaboration with technology specialists. Artificial intelligence can already support the creation of subject headings, metadata enrichment, collection analysis, and the description of research data. Nevertheless, it was clearly emphasized that AI cannot replace the professional judgment of the librarian. High-quality metadata, controlled vocabularies, and human expertise remain essential. We also discussed the challenges related to government publications and born-digital documents. When a resource exists only online, this does not automatically mean that it is easy to discover, well described, or preserved for the long term. And this is exactly where librarians’ expertise remains irreplaceable – in tracking, description, context, access, and trust.
AI literacy: not a tool, but a critical culture
In the lecture on AI Literacy, we discussed how students, faculty, and librarians are already using AI tools for text editing, summarization, translation, idea generation, academic writing, and research work. The main challenge is that many users still do not understand the limitations of these tools. They can generate inaccurate information, omit context, reproduce biases, or sound convincing even when they are wrong. One of the most important conclusions for me was that AI literacy should not be training focused only on a specific tool. Tools change quickly. It is far more important for libraries to develop lasting skills: critical evaluation, information verification, ethical use, academic integrity, understanding of copyright, data protection, and a clear distinction between human expertise and automatically generated content.
Chicago: ALA and the power of the professional community
The second half of the week took us to Chicago. The day began very early – with a train ride, a small bag, and the feeling that many more new insights and important meetings were ahead of us. The visit to the headquarters of the American Library Association was especially meaningful for me. As an ALA member and a participant in several of its annual conferences, entering the ALA headquarters was not simply a visit to an institution, but a meeting with a professional community to which I have felt connected for years. We had the opportunity to meet Daniel J. Montgomery, Executive Director of ALA, and Delin Guerra from the International Relations Office. The conversation was important because it placed at the center the role of library associations, international cooperation, professional solidarity, and the opportunities for libraries from different countries to learn from one another. For me, ALA is much more than a professional organization. It is a symbol of advocacy, leadership, intellectual freedom, and a global library community. And this visit made me think even more deeply about the opportunities to renew and develop cooperation between the American and Bulgarian library communities – especially in the areas of AI literacy, digitization, cultural heritage, professional exchange, and the public role of libraries.
University of Chicago: the academic library as strategic infrastructure
After ALA, we visited the University of Chicago – one of those academic environments where tradition and the future meet very naturally. There, the conversations about the library as a partner in research, data management, digital scholarship, and strategic development took on a very concrete dimension. The topic of preservation, access, and the future of academic collections was especially impressive. The conversations about off-site storage, automated systems, digital access, and collaborative collection management showed that the contemporary academic library can no longer be understood only through the number of books on the shelves. The bigger question is: how does the library ensure sustainable, reliable, and timely access to knowledge? And with their innovative and fully mechanized system for access to resources and collections, they have certainly managed to do so.
Jazz Showcase and one Chicago hot dog
After such an intense day, Chicago showed us another side of itself – musical, nocturnal, urban, and alive. An impromptu jazz evening at Jazz Showcase became a wonderful ending to the day. In the dim light, among the sounds of live jazz, the city seemed to sound different. After conversations about libraries, data, strategies, and the future, the music reminded us that culture, too, is knowledge – knowledge that cannot always be explained in words. Sometimes it is simply experienced. And when one is in Chicago, there are also certain obligatory rituals. One of them is to try a true Chicago hot dog – a small, delicious stop between meetings, travel, and impressions. And remember – never with ketchup. 🙂
MacArthur Foundation Library: Work Better, Work Together
The next day, we visited the MacArthur Foundation Library and met with Liz Quinlan. This was one of the most powerful visits for me during the entire week. The MacArthur Foundation is an institution of immense public scale and a mission connected with supporting creative individuals, effective organizations, and significant social causes. But what was most interesting to me was seeing the role of the library within such an organization. Here, the library is not a public space in the traditional sense. It is a specialized library that supports the internal work of the foundation – searching for reliable information, research, reports, analyses, institutional memory, strategic knowledge, and evidence-based decisions. And then came the phrase that stayed with me: Work better, work together. It is so short, yet it says so much. The library helps the organization work better because it provides reliable, selected, contextualized information. But it also helps people work together, because knowledge should not be locked away in separate people, departments, or documents. It needs to circulate, to connect, and to support the shared mission. The metaphor of the librarian as an “information shepherd” was also especially powerful for me – someone who guides, directs, selects, and safeguards information so that it reaches the right people, at the right moment, in the right way. This is a very beautiful and precise image. In a world where information is everywhere, the librarian is no longer simply the person who finds an answer. The librarian is the one who helps us not get lost among the answers.
Chicago Public Library: the library as a place of participation
The final major visit in Chicago was to the Harold Washington Library Center, the central library of the Chicago Public Library. It is an impressive public library – not only in scale, but also as an idea. There, the library is an urban space, a cultural center, a place for children, teenagers, families, readers, creators, and citizens. The visits to YOUmedia and the Thomas Hughes Children’s Library were especially important. YOUmedia is a space where teenagers can create, experiment, work with digital media, music, design, technology, and their own ideas. This is the library as a place of participation, not only consumption. A place where young people do not merely gain access to resources, but discover voice, confidence, and creative freedom. The Children’s Library, in turn, showed how important spaces for early literacy, play, storytelling, family learning, and children’s curiosity are. There, the library begins long before the university, before academic databases, before scholarly publications. It begins with the first story, the first book, the first feeling that the world can be discovered with joy. And this is perhaps the most beautiful connection among all the libraries we saw during the week – academic, public, specialized, innovative. Each of them, in its own way, helps people find a path to knowledge and to themselves.
What I take with me
The second week was a week about impact. About impact as change in the human being. I saw it in the Program Logic Model – when we learn to ask not only what we have done, but what has changed. I saw it in the Siebel Center for Design – when we begin with the person, not the technology. I saw it in virtual reality – when learning becomes an experience. I saw it in the podcast – when fear turned into voice. I saw it in Champaign Public Library – when the library was a home for the community. I saw it at the Thanksgiving dinner – when different countries, languages, and traditions gathered around the same human need for home and love. I saw it at ALA – as professional solidarity. At the University of Chicago – as strategic thinking. At the MacArthur Foundation Library – as knowledge that helps people work better and together. At the Chicago Public Library – as a space that gives children and young people the confidence to create. If I had to summarize the week in one sentence, it would be this: Libraries create impact when they help people feel more confident, more connected, more informed, and more capable of changing the world around them. And perhaps this is exactly why the phrase “Work better, work together” stayed with me so strongly. Because it is not only a professional principle. It is a human principle. We work better when we work together. We learn better when we share. We understand more when we listen. And libraries – quietly, patiently, and ever more boldly – continue to be the spaces where this becomes possible.
My Learning Journey: Week by Week:
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3