Photos from Kosovo trip

Are posted on Picasa. I've captioned them briefly. The "American Corner" libraries appear to be a replacement for the old USIS libraries; basically a library with American books and journals, set up in many countries where there is an Embassy. I also took some videos, mainly of the countryside, which I will try to upload to Youtube.

Last day in Kosovo, and various thoughts

I'm back home, but want to recount my last day in Kosovo and some thoughts about the libraries there.

Friday morning I was back at the national library to give my final talk, "Libraries in the Web." I had re-done this as a version of the talk I give about getting more library visibility in the web. As I packed up my bags in the morning and thought about the talk I had the sinking feeling that this one would be totally irrelevant to the audience, so I was just wanting to do it and get it over with. I had brought with me books for the American Corner library (one each by H Clinton, Obama and McCain). I also had with me, on the advice of an American living in Prishtina, thirty small American flag pins. I found them a bit of an embarrassment, but she had said that people love anything having to do with America. I took the pins with me to the auditorium and set them out on the front table, figuring that if people weren't interested they would pass them by and I'd just feel a little silly. They went like hotcakes. Not only that, my talk went over well, and I got good questions.

The reason for the interest in making libraries visible on the web, I believe, is that these libraries have existed in deep isolation for a long time. Many of the librarians have a great desire to connect to the larger library community in the same way that the entire country is looking to become part of a world that it was cut off from for so long.

There are many things that the libraries there need. First, they need to restore the physical spaces. Many libraries became government or military offices during the "conflict" of the late 90's. Next, they need books. To save the books, people took them home; many people also have in their homes books that have a family history (often manuscripts, often hundreds of years old). It looked to me that in the larger towns the library could have a collection of 3-10K books in the near future.

Then they need a way to create a catalog -- an inventory of the books. This has to be cheap, if not free, and must run on absolutely minimal hardware. They do not need functions like circulation, acquisitions, or serials check-in -- those just aren't issues at the moment. But they need to create an inventory of their holdings in a standard format so the country can create some semblance of a union catalog. The director, Dr. Bashoti, understands the importance of a union catalog, but doesn't have anyone who could advise on the technology. This is why they are adding an Aleph installation in Gjilan, because that is the obvious way to create a library network. Unfortunately, Aleph will be too expensive and too complex for the smaller libraries.

The librarians need training. They have moved from a Soviet-style system to a decade (at least) of disruption of civic life, and now they wish to embrace the West. The kind of training they need in some cases is quite basic: what resources there are available on the Internet and how to find them; they need an abbreviated catalog code in Albanian; they need information on how libraries use e-resources to serve users; they need some idea of the ways that libraries can serve schools and students.

They also need infrastructure. This is one of the great needs throughout Kosovo, where the roads have potholes as big as a car, the electricity fails numerous times during the day, and there is no trash pickup. (Occasionally, KFOR stations schedule a trash pickup in their area. Otherwise, trash just goes into piles alongside the road.)

The library infrastructure that is needed is mainly social -- they need a library association that gives the librarians a professional context and a way to meet colleagues. They need a coordinated way to purchase books and materials, so each library is not going out looking for vendors on its own. They need someone to organize licensing for the entire country. They need a vision for the libraries that each library can work toward.

Like the sign says, Kosovo is "newborn" -- there's a lot of hope for the future, but a long way to go.

Day 2 - Prizren

This was a totally AMAZING day, in so many ways. I hardly know where to begin.

We went to the "Inter-municipal Library" of Prizren. Prizren is a historical city going back to Roman times. It was a major trade route, and also one of those areas that was often conquered -- Romans, Ottoman Turks, 14th century Serbs. It holds a lot of Ottoman history and also still has a significant Catholic population. It is thought of as the most ethnically diverse city in Kosovo.

The road from Prishtina to Prizren is a two-laner with everything from cars, trucks, tractors, and donkey carts. Along the road there is an interesting mix of new construction (much of it looking to be stalled at the half-finished stage) and abandoned buildings, probably from the Yugoslav era. Construction, both old and new, does not look very solid, but there are many business and office buildings being built just outside of Prishtina, which shows at least an optimism about economic prosperity. (There were also sheep, cows, and some of the scruffiest looking dogs I have ever seen, but who stood by the road just defying the traffic to encroach on their territory.)

At the library, we arrived for a celebration of the second anniversary of the American Corner in their library. The AC space is small, but a small group of volunteers has turned it into a learning center, with English classes, movie nights, book groups, and activities for children. Oh, the children! We came into the meeting room and there were about 25 children at the front of the room in their finest: the little boys in suits, the girls in what I can only think of as "princess dresses" -- white and sparkly. I'm guessing that the age was about 5-6, but there was a great variety of sizes. I didn't get where they were from, but I'm guessing there must be an American school or an English language program at a school. They each wore a paper crown with a sticker with the logo of the American Corner. The US Embassy representative I was with whispered to me that the stickers were created by the embassy as bookplates for the books in the American Corner. So there were these little kids wearing book-plate tiara's, and the teacher led them in a number of songs. They did "Bingo was a dog" (or whatever it is called); "You are my sunshine", "The ABC song" and other great songs. It was definitely "through the looking glass". At the end, they shouted out in unison (and one little girl could really shout!) "Thank you America!"



Then volunteers from the American Corner came and talked about their work, in English. This was a real point of pride for them, and they had clearly worked very hard.

Next I gave a talk on digital libraries and digitization. Not too interesting. I did get a few interesting questions about dealing with old materials and about copyright. Laura, the US Embassy rep, had told me that the library had done a project where they asked local citizens to bring in old books that they had, and the library scanned some pages and prepared a book "catalog". One of the librarians went and got a copy of the book catalog and an old manuscript book, and brought them for us to see. Just amazing! They have a huge collections of manuscripts that have not had hardly any care, and many of the most incredible works are still in the hands of individuals. I asked for, and was given, a copy of the book that they did, and will show it around. This is a place where there are historical works that have probably never been seen by scholars.

From the library we went to the Gazi Mehmet Pasha mosque and library. The library is a small octagonal building that was built to be GMP's tomb. Unfortunately, he died in battle elsewhere and his body never made it back home. The US contributed funds to restore the building and discovered the empty tomb under the floor. The building houses a library of books, mostly donated by locals, mostly manuscript, and mostly in states of disrepair. (I took some pictures with the embassy's camera, so I will post them and link from here in a few days.) The building is unheated, probably reasonably dry, but the books are not being kept in an archival environment. The folks showing us around told us that the library covers a wide range of topics. There also was a box on the floor with bits and pieces -- single sheets, book covers (one with what looked like Venetian style end papers) -- and they told us that in another building they have many, many boxes like that. We looked at a book that was printed from plates, dated 1768. That was one of the more modern ones.



We also visited the mosque -- small, but with that stunning austerity that mosques have. And lots of stories about being rescued from assorted enemies.

As we left, I was given truly heartfelt thanks from the man who is responsible for the library and mosque; perhaps in his late thirties (I'm bad at ages), he talked about the hope that he has for his children, and how grateful he is that "America" stepped in and allowed them to restore the library and preserve their heritage.

Can I say now how inadequate I felt? This is one of the many places on this planet where $50K could transform our knowledge. Some scanning equipment and a bit of metadata work would make previously unseen works visible. I'm sure there are thousands of places like this on the planet, maybe untold thousands. It just really hurts to see it first hand.

On to day 3. Oh, and my suitcase finally arrived, just when I was really beginning to appreciate minimalist living. But now I have my camera with me, so I will try to make up for time with the photos.

Monday in Pristina

It's 4:25 pm and the call to prayer is broadcasting from a nearby mosque. Today was a day of ceremonies at the BKUK (National and university libraries of Kosovo), above.

First, though, after getting up I spent over an hour looking out my hotel window at a crowd gathering in front of the Swiss embassy, just two doors down. A few people entered the embassy, the others overflowed the sidewalk across from the embassy, nearly blocking the street. On first glance my mind read "protest" but I soon noticed that most waited in anticipation and some level of excitement. After a while gates must have been opened because first one group, then others flowed through the gate into the courtyard of the embassy building. I assume that the lineup had something to do with getting visas or work permissions. There was something hungry about the tenor of the crowd, like the look of day laborers when a truck pulls up to them.

The city's population is young and fashion is obviously very important, although the fashion here has its own flavor. Where overly big clothes are the rage in the US, here everyone seems to be wearing clothes that are one or two sizes too small. The makeup reminds me of what my friends and I must have looked like in high school, that is, a general lack of subtlety.

We went to the library and met briefly with the library director, Dr. Bashoti. (This is one of the few names that I remember, as they are almost all so unlike anything I have previously encountered.) The library was built probably in the 70's and is very strange in design, with many domes and an outer shell of metal sculpture that makes me think that the whole thing is in bondage. Inside, however, the domes become wonderful sky-lights, so the light inside is soft but natural. The entrance to the library sweeps up a grand staircase that ends in a semi-circle of stone steps that remind me of a roman amphitheatre. The venue is so elegant that it was the site of the signing of the Kosovo constitution, just a few days ago.

For the opening of this, the sixth Library Week, we gathered in a formal auditorium to hear lauditory speeches by representatives of the US Embassy, the BKUK, and Kosovo's ministry of education. Before the speeches a piano and cello piece was performed followed by a short bit of operatic singing. The female performers wore dramatic black dresses and makeup. More music was performed after the speeches including a highly tumultous piece called Vale mbi dalge (both of the e's should have umlauts, which someone told me is a sure sign of the Albanian language - lots of umlauts).

In the afternoon there was the grand opening of the American Corner, a single room in the library building that looks almost like a small public library, with books and computers. Like most libraries outside of a relatively small number of Western countries, the materials are all "on site use." (It's weird to see "library books" with no plastic jackets, no bar codes, no ownership stamps. There's nothing that says: "library book.") The young American women working on the Corner fortunately have an expansive and open spirit, and they have equipped the place with a big flat-screen TV and lots of videos and DVDs. One woman showed me proudly that she had ordered episodes of Seinfeld and the Mary Tyler Moore show. (If you come here in a year and there is a restaurant called "Soup Nazi," you will know why.) They hold English classes (and I'm invited to one on Thursday if I get finished with other matters in time). My main task for the corner is to find out how they can order some of those revolving paperback stands that public libraries use.

Following both ceremonies there was "Koktej" -- literally "cocktails" but actually your basic office event spread of pretzels, cheese, cold drinks and wine, all with plastic plates and cups. These were very popular and I didn't even try to approach the tables with the goodies.

After that I gave my first talk -- with simultaneous translation into Albanian and Serbian. This one was on "the role of documents in the founding of a country," or at least that's how the request had been transmitted to me. I talked about the formation of the post office and Library of Congress, and why information had been considered important for a new democracy. No one asked questions and I got zero feedback from the group, which means that I have no idea how the remainder of my talks will go over.

Tomorrow at 9 am a US Embassy driver comes to take me to the "American High School," a kind of English immersion school run by a Canadian. Then we go to Prizren for day 2 of library day. Day 2 consists of a talk on Digital Libraries by local librarians, lunch, the second anniversary of the American Corner in Inter-Municipal Library in Prizen (listed as "Manifestation" in the agenda, so I have no idea what that is about), then my talk, which they have entitled "Digital Libraries -- How to use digital means for preservation and cataloging of old / rare books."

I still haven't actually seen the user view of a library, but hope I will in the days ahead. So far, the only connections I have made where I might get to talk to people about what they are trying to do is with the American University and the American High School. The language barrier is very difficult; enough so that I cannot gauge how much of a conceptual barrier there is.

Arrival in Prishtina

I've made it to Prishtina (or Pristina) after about 27 hours of travel. What I have seen between the airport and the hotel is a city that is both brand new and rather run down. Lots of new construction, but equally as much that needs repair. It's surrounded by a lush, green farmed countryside, with cows and chickens running loose (well, the cows were standing, not running). It's rolling hills with mountains in the background.

I'd include photos but my bag with the camera did not make the trip, and is un-accounted for. Fortunately I have the essentials with me: laptop, pda, and enough clothes for a few days. (I've only checked a bag 3 times in the last 4-5 years, and 2 of those 3 the bag went missing. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this one turns up eventually.)

I'm at the Hotel Ambasador, another example of old and new. The Wifi is great, so I'll be able to stay in touch. Everything else is what we in the US would consider minimal, but here is found in the luxury hotel. (Those photos on the web page -- Photoshop!)

Tomorrow is a day of meetings and ceremonies. I'll try to keep good notes and report on the events.

En Route to Kosovo

I'm in the Vienna airport, waiting for a flight to Pristina, Kosovo. I'm spending the next week in Kosovo as a participant in Library Week, which appears to be sponsored by the US Embassy. The events for the week are many, beginning with the Grand Opening tomorrow of the American Corner in the national and university library of Kosovo (acronym: BKUK). An "American Corner" is a library/cultural center promoting... well, promoting America. I think this is the current version of the USIS libraries that one used find around the world.

Besides trying to look alert during ceremonies, I'm giving four talks on various aspects of library technology and having meetings with various groups, with the faint hope of providing some useful information. It's easy to have the dream that a struggling country (or province, if you don't subscribe to Kosovo's independence) like Kosovo can make use of the Internet and digital resources to make a great leap forward in terms of information access. I'm sure it is not so simple. I expect to learn quite a bit and to be surprised at every turn. I will try to pass along what I learn as the week progresses. I may get online and ask for specific help or suggestions, since I'm quite sure I can't answer even a fraction of the questions that might arise.

Stay tuned.