A Newcomer's perspective

The Newcomers' session, as its title suggests, is a welcome for delegates having their first IFLA congress, and it was indeed a very friendly, smiling one.

Shared values and interests, an engagement to offer the best possible services everywhere to all publics, to give equitable access to materials and allow freedom of expression, the possibility to save, share and create a cultural heritage for now and the generations to come... Such are the key reasons for participating at IFLA.

Throughout the Conference, as well during the rest of the year when the Federation's Committees, Sections, and other groups do their work, the network created through people from more than 100 countries is vital. Panelists Ellen Tise, Randa Al-Chidiac and Ian Yap described their own motivations as: common experiences and making friends. Along the same lines Jérémy Lachal, Gloria Perez-Salmeron and Kent Skov Andreasen shared how much being a part of IFLA has widened their professional and personal horizon. All of them expressed their wish for the WLIC 2014 newcomers to experience the same feeling of belonging to a real international family.

Portrait of a newcomer

After graduating from the University of Doha, Qatar, Amal Fadhel Al-Shammari spent three years working in a school library before she started working at the Qatar national library. It is her first time ever in Europe —which she always dreamed of doing— she says she loves the way the French language sounds, even if she does not understand it.

So why did she become a librarian? In her own words:

“My mother doesn't know how to read or write, but she used to tell us a story every night, and I loved those and wanted to know more! That is why I studied to become a librarian, because she made me love the stories. And now my mother is very proud of me, and I have my three children who love to read too.”

She has some advice for everyone:

“If you are a parent, make sure your children read; to open the world to them.”

As for her work she says that being a librarian is wonderful, because:

“You can even help doctors and other highly educated persons. You know how to find the answers.”