Thursday July 23
Back in Vienna I miss the group. For three weeks we were together:
25 people from 22 countries: Elisabeth from Austria, Mostafizur from Bangladesh, Magda from Costa Rica, Cecile from Cote d'Ivoire, Anita from Croatia, Osama from Egypt, Thea from Georgia, Muldian from Indonesia, Cheryl from Jamaica, Sarrah from Kenya, Aivija from Latvia, Ramadan from Libya, Jorge from Mexico, Shehu from Nigeria, Nancy from Nigeria, Shaikha from Oman, Mirko from Serbia, Alena from Slovakia, Pateka from South Africa, Yusuf from Sudan, Lucia from Trinidad and Tobago, Linh from Vietnam, Suzanne, Irwin und Stanley, our English language officers from the United States. What an interesting group: 13 ladies and 12 gentlemen, 9 librarians from Africa, 6 from Europe, 3 from Asia, 4 from Middle America and 3 accompanying persons from the United States. At the end we were a family having learned a lot about American libraries, but having also been taught many lessons in tolerance and acceptance of diverse cultural backgrounds. Thank you all for that unique experience!

Our farewell at the Austrian Cultural Forum

Tuesday July 14

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The flight from Chicago to New York is perfect. The weather allows us a farewell view on the second city and Lake Michigan - similar to the view from the Hancock Observatory and a view on Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island before arriving in New York.


I have an individual date with the Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum and the librarian of the ACF. The building on 52nd Street in Manhattan is a masterpiecec of architect Raimund Abraham! Have a look: http://www.acfny.org/fs.aspx?SID=&EID=&FEID=

Monday July 13

Our time in Chicago ends with the International Librarians' Reception in the Chicago Public Library. At the invitation of the ALA-exhibitors librarians from North America and their internal guests enjoy wine and food in the winter garden of the Harold Washington Public Library on the top floor of the building. What a colourful picture! A lot of the international guests are dressed in their national costumes.

Sorry still no photos available!

Chicago and the Michigan Lake from the Hancock Observatory

The "Silver Bean", one of the new sights of Chicago

Sunday July 12

Today I have a major problem. The transfer from my photo card to the laptop doesn't work. Thus I already thought I couldn't load photos on the blog. But thanks to the internet I've found a good photo there! Hundreds of people from Chicago and tourists rival for the best photo positions infront of the Cloud Gate, the official name of the sight. Millennium Park - sandwiched between Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue - is one of the hot spots of Chicago. There are not only gardens, but interesting architecture like fountains and the Jay Pritzker Pavillon. People who enjoy concerts there usually picknick on the lawn.

Today was a hard conference day. The air conditioning cools down the rooms to approximately 18 degrees. We Europeans freeze!!!

I joined one of the events organized by the Feminist Task Force. Three movies from the "Women Make Movies"-catalogue were shown. "Women's Kingdom" offered a rare glimpse into Mosuo culture, one of the last matriarchal societies in the world. "Guerrillas in our Midst" explores the mechanism of the commercial art world. The Guerrilla Girls managed in putting racism and sexism on the agenda of the art world in the 1980s. "To see if I'm Smiling" is a documentary on six female Israeli soldiers . The film explores the ways how gender, ethics and moral resonsibility intersect during wartime. I admit I could not stay till the end, That film was too hard for me!!!

Saturday July 11
On Thursday our group went by aeroplane from Portland to Chicago. In Chicago, the so-called second city, the Annual Conference of the American Library Association brings more than 15,000 librarians together. Friday is the day for preconferences. Our group attended the preconference "Digitization in Developing Countries". The exhibition with over 1,500 booths opended on Saturday morning. Apart from hard- and software for libraries you can also find the newest books printed in the USA there. After the registration we find ourselves loaded with material and program guides. For the three conference days we choose our individual programs. I'm lucky, the conference interesting lectures e.g. one on "Political Engagement : facilitating greater participation in civil society", but of course there are far more programs for public libraries. The full program is online: http://www.ala.org/