The beginning of week two was again beneficial and part of my life-long learning. It was my first encounter with the concept of user-centered design which focused on the users and active user involvement. The benefits of user centered design to university students can be tremendous since the priorities are the needs and wants and limitations of the end-user throughout the design process.  The human centered design concept is instrumental in problem solving approaches that emphasizes understanding the people for whom a service benefits. This concept can be implemented in all areas of academia and assist in the learnings of all students.

The Oak Street Library and Conversation Lab Tour at the University of Illinois Campus visits ended our day 2 of week 2. At the Oak Street library, I had for the first time the opportunity to see visibly a high-density storage unit in operation. The storage area provides a unique role of maximizing preservation of its items while shelving them strategically to ensure the least amount of storage space is wasted. We also had the opportunity to tour the Conversation Lab where repairs on both circulating and non-circulating material from the University of Illinois Library collection is completed as well as individualized conservation treatment on rare books and other special collections material; and assistance with exhibit preparation and installation.

The networking session with Barbara Ford and Amani Ayad which provided insights to some tips and benefits of the networking process was enlightening. The tips provided will be put into practice since this is one of the areas in my professional engagement that is most challenging for me and an area that was recommended by the personality test that I should focus on strengthening.

In the library leadership session this week, the importance of being an actively engaged and involved leader was highlighted. The conversation centered on the needs of the user, building strong relationships and the development of future leaders for the organisation as well as the economics and the impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence on the library and the university.

Libraries for Sustainable Development, this session conducted by Clara Chu aligned libraries to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) approved in 2015. The new goals aimed at universality, integration and transformation. This again focused on the user, the concept of engagement and openness. We had the opportunity to align what our libraries we are doing in terms of these goals and developing programmes and initiatives for the implementation of the SDGs in our libraries and countries.

We also had an active conversation and discussion on the new trending topics of open access services. The discussion on the issues of copyright on OERs and costing for students provided new thoughts for consideration.

One cannot forget the journey and visits to Chicago from the travel on the Amtrak train for the first time to the conversation at the University of Chicago. Firstly, the McArthur Foundation Library building is nothing but spectacular. Then, the conversion with Liz Aviles, SVP, Strategy and Cultural Insights as well as Liz Quinlan, Librarian, McArthur Foundation, I had the opportunity to learn about the much evolving role of the librarian and libraries and the role librarians can play in the strategy team of organizations and even how librarians can be involved in creating strategies for the development and strategic development of their libraries with the ability to align strategy with the organisation, develop a brand and anticipate the future for the users or people involved.

Then there was the American Library Association (ALA), presentation and tour which allowed us insights into the organisation. It focused on opportunities for librarians as members of the association and the challenges that the association was facing at this time in its history. At the University of Chicago, we had the opportunity to visit the Mansueto Library, underground storage of 3.5 million volumes and automated retrieval system The facility has an elliptical glass dome structure and features solar glass overhead.

There ended week 2 of my Mortsenson Center program story.