CILA Update

The spring season is funny in New England. We tend to have long, gray, winters that are quite dreary. Then in April, we start to see little crocuses bravely pop their heads out of the ground and hear cardinals whistling for their families and sometimes we can even have the windows open during the day to air out the house—but we can’t put away the flannel sheets because snow has happened in April before! But within one week of 50-degree weather and sunshine, the daffodils, dogwoods, and songbirds erupt into full springtime mode. It’s very sudden, and doesn’t last long, but is always worth the wait.

CILA has been in a similar pattern—there have been seeds planted and germinating and now sprouting and coming to fruition. You’ll see in this update that a new CILA team has solidified their roles, an interest group has formed for international librarians and allies, and the Global Library Investment Grant continues to support work around the world. The seasonal nature of our work has never been more evident to me, and I am grateful for the prayers of the ACL members, an active group of global librarians who are eager to connect, and the support of the Home Office in managing the unique issues that arise with the variety of inquiries we receive. I hope you are encouraged as you read a summary of our global activities.

Peace and blessings to you all,
Erin McCoy
CILA Coordinator

New! International Librarians Special Interest Group

The goal of this new interest group is to try to meet every other month on Zoom, alternating times and hosts to accommodate all the time zones represented. We will discuss the issues unique to overseas libraries as well as ways to share our expertise and resources with each other. If you have a heart for international libraries or live in a country outside the US please join our group.

Koha is a fully featured, scalable open source library management system. Development is sponsored by libraries of varying types and sizes, volunteers, and support companies worldwide. You can find several SQL reports wiki, Jquery wiki, HTML & CSS wiki, and XSLT Library wiki which as code you can copy to make improvements you can add to your installation.

Koha-US promotes the ongoing communication, collaboration, and education of Koha users in the United States and beyond, partnering with the global community and supporting organizations. They have monthly Special Interest Group meetings as well as several resources to help you learn more about Koha. Reach out to Lauren Denny if you have questions or visit the KohaUS Learn Page for more Koha tools: https://koha-us.org/learn/.