The Sharjah International Library Conference reaches a milestone this year with the 10th annual iteration of the event being held November 7-10. Every year since 2013 the Sharjah International Library Conference has been held in conjunction with the Sharjah International Book Fair.
The conference is a collaboration between the American Library Association (ALA), the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) and the Combined Book Exhibit (CBE). This anniversary year there will be a focus on Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability. The organizers expect 250 librarians from a dozen countries to attend.
The conference begins on November 7 with three preconference workshops. Entrepreneurs Need Libraries: How to Develop Your Entrepreneur Center will be collaboratively taught by librarians from the U.S. and Egypt. The conference will continue its programing on RDA with the Arabic translation ready to go live. Collaborating Communities: the RDA Experience and its Implications for Common Information Environments is not only for librarians and library staff responsible for cataloging, but also for those from galleries, archives, and museums who are interested in applying linked open data to their catalogs. School librarians and teachers working with young children are encouraged to attend Exploring Picture Books using the Whole Book Approach.
ALA President Emily Drabinski will open the main two-day conference the morning of November 9 with a keynote. The conference will move throughout the next two days with plenty of opportunities for learning, networking, and knowledge sharing through concurrent sessions, a knowledge cafe, lightening talks, and poster sessions.
How will AI Impact Libraries and how can Libraries incorporate Artificial Intelligence?
Dr. Al-Anoud Subahi, Assistant Professor and a Supervisor of IT Department at King Abdul-Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will begin the discussion with AI and Libraries: Impact, Challenges, and Opportunities. Dr. Raymond Pun, Academic and Research Librarian, Alder Graduate School of Education in California, will look at ChatGPT in the Library? Opportunities in Library Instruction and Research.
Dealing with the Climate Emergency
Libraries are in a unique position to engage in climate empowerment - helping their users learn about climate change, engage in climate research, and make more sustainable choices. With Libraries Empowering Climate Action: Policy, Advocacy, and Practice, Claire McGuire, IFLA Policy Officer headquartered in the Netherlands, will highlight IFLA’s work on climate change in the international arena and how librarians, libraries, and library associations can engage with IFLA in this work, advocating regionally, nationally, and locally and adopting practice-based initiatives. René Tanner, Science Librarian and Head of Research Services and Associate Professor, Rollins College, Winter Haven, Florida will provide attendees with lots of ideas during Sustainability: Programming Ideas and Practices for Your Library.
Promoting reading, and reaching the next generation
The conference will continue conversations on increasing connections to promote reading amongst various segments of the population. Professor Emad Saleh, Head of the Department of Information Science, Helwan University, Egypt focuses on Gen Alpha’s Digital Reading Experience: Know your Audience, looking at the most recent generation and their experience growing up reading in the digital environment.
And there will be much for school librarians to digest and contemplate. Presentations from two colleagues from Virginia, Carolyn Vibbert and Maura Magidan, will range from Students Rebuild: Global Art-ivism Projects to Project-Based Learning: Transforming Teaching and Learning.
Diamond Sponsors for the Conference this year are Overdrive and ITHRA, with the Sharjah Public Library as a Platinum Sponsor. Attendees will interact with sponsors and other exhibitors in the Library Lounge.
Michael Dowling is director of the international relations and chapter relations offices for the American Library Association.
