OCLC names five librarians to participate in 2014 Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program

The 2014 Jordan IFLA/OCLC Fellows were announced today by Skip Prichard, OCLC President and CEO, at a news conference during the World Library and Information Congress: 79th IFLA General Conference and Assembly in Singapore. The 2014 Jordan IFLA/OCLC Fellows are:

• Miss Olufunmilayo Fati, System Programmer, University of Jos Library, Jos, Nigeria
• Mr. Franklin Flores Urrutia, Librarian, Consortium of University Libraries of El Salvador (Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de El Salvador - CBUES), San Salvador, El Salvador
• Mr. W.M. Tharanga Dilruk Ranasinghe, Assistant Librarian, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
• Miss Leonila Reyes, Section Head Librarian, Saint Louis University, Baguio City, Philippines
• Mr. Sonam Wangdi, Librarian, Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment, Bumthang, Bhutan

The Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program, named for the former OCLC President and CEO, supports library and information science professionals from countries with developing economies. The program provides advanced continuing education and exposure to a broad range of issues in information technologies, library operations and global cooperative librarianship. With the selection of the five Fellows for the class of 2014, the program will have welcomed 70 librarians and information science professionals from 36 countries.

“This Fellowship program offers talented librarians great opportunities for professional growth early in their careers,” said Mr. Prichard. “In the short term, the Fellows learn about the latest advances in library and information science. In the long term, their experience at OCLC will help prepare them to face the challenges of librarianship in their home countries.”

During the four-week program, the Fellows will participate in discussions with library and information science leaders, library visits and professional development activities. The program will be based at OCLC headquarters in Dublin, Ohio, USA.

The program also gives Fellows the chance to share their home customs and cultures with other Fellows, with colleagues they meet during the program, and with their hosts. The Fellows give formal and informal presentations about their home countries and libraries, and the challenges facing libraries in their home countries. As their program concludes, Fellows translate their program experiences into specific development plans to guide their continued growth and personal contributions to their home institutions and countries of origin.

“After the OCLC experience, I am a new and improved person,” said Mrs. Rozita Petrinska-Labudovikj, 2013 Fellow from the Republic of Macedonia. “We are richer in professional experience, valuable professional contacts, and beautiful memories. The Fellowship helped me not only in getting ideas for research and writing, but also in motivating me for further work and development.”

The selection committee for the 2014 Fellowship program included: Fiona Bradley, IFLA; Sarah Kaddu, National Library of Uganda; Hella Klauser, German Library Association; Janet Lees, OCLC; Nancy Lensenmayer, OCLC; Robert Moropa, University of Pretoria, South Africa; and George Needham, OCLC.

Sponsorships from interested organizations are available. For more information about sponsoring the Fellowship program, contact George Needham, OCLC Vice President, Global and Regional Councils at needhamg@oclc.org.

Application information for the 2015 Fellowship Program is available on the OCLC Web site.