Memories and reflections during my training in the 2025 program at the Mortenson Center.

Hi, I´m a Chilean librarian working at the National Library in the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage. I also represent my colleagues as a member of the National Council of Books and Reading. I actively participate as an advisor to the Chilean Librarians Association and with IFLA as an Impact trainer for LAC. I invite you to check my blog, where I will share my pilgrimage through dozens of libraries, services, and learning spaces during the month that I was at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

First of all, I´d like to say that I live and think about libraries as an institution that has been evolving for thousands of years, as a space, as a service, as a collection institution through the complete information life cycle, which must develop its staff, strategies, and systems to support its mission, whatever the environment where they serve, digitally or physically.

I believe in libraries and its pivotal role in iniqual societies, libraries unbound, inclusive and engaged institutions should be the main strategic and first step to provide access, understanding access as the measure of all in modern societies: access to health, to education, to housing, to live in a sostainable way, then the access to libraries, information and long-life learning to all. Being unbound, inclusive, and engaged is an issue of social justice; all libraries are supported and funded by organizations where they are or communities where they serve, and they must demonstrate their impact and value, be evaluated, measurable. Manage by well-trained and library learders professionals in a world where information shapes our future, innovative librarians who improve their communities, understand their needs, and collaborate in the creation of knowledge and skills to support society.