ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 406 / C &R L News G u yan a d iary B y M ignon G. A d am s Coordinator o f Inform ation Services State University o f N ew York-Oswego The challenges of consulting in a Third World country. A m erican academ ic librarians are accustomed to believing th a t we cope w ith major problem s of in­ sufficient staff and money, unprepared students, and inadequate collections. However, a m o n th ­ long stint as a consultant at the University of G uy­ ana L ibrary gave me a fresh perspective on the problems of my library and an appreciation of the w ealth of resources available to us. G uyana is more th a n Jim Jones and his tragic cult. Located on the northern coast of South Amer­ ica, but culturally p art of the C aribbean, G uyana is a form er British colony which has chosen social­ ism. Like m any developing nations, the country has severe foreign exchange problems: virtually all im ports (including w heat as well as books) have been stopped. The University of G uyana, located just outside the capital of G eorgetown, is the only university in the country. It provides program s in liberal arts, ag ricu ltu re, and engineering to 2,000 students. H igher education is free although all students must perform a year of national service, usually in the m ilitary. As a result there are few non-Guyanese students. W ith 150,000 volumes, the library at UG is by far the largest library in the country. Its staff of 12 librarians has been trained prim arily in E ngland, w ith younger librarians more likely to have com ­ pleted a diplom a program at the University of the West Indies in Jam aica. Both staff and students re­ flect the tw o m ajor ethnic groups, African and East Indian. A total of 80 staff members seems a large num ber to us for a lib rary th a t size. H ow ever, student workers are not used at all; any binding to be done must be perform ed in-house; and tight security is necessary in a country w here books are far more valuable th an in ours. T h at num ber includes the cleaning staff as well, who view as p a rt of their jobs picking fresh flowers on the way to work and a r­ ranging them on librarians’ desks. Officially my role under the U.S. Inform ation Agency grant which supported my visit was to ad ­ vise and consult w ith the library staff on biblio­ graphic instruction—or user education, the more com mon term in countries under British influence. In addition, I was called upon to offer advice and support in m any areas of library services. Since, as a result of im port restrictions, the library’s acquisi­ tions had been virtually halted two years previ­ ously, a m ajor concern was to make the few up-to- date m aterials go as far as possible. User education begins at a very basic level. Some entering freshmen m ay have used the G uyana P ub­ lic L ibrary or the USIA library. If not, they may have used libraries lim ited only to a bookcase or two and have no fam iliarity w ith card catalogs or even encyclopedias. Com pletely new to most stu­ dents is the concept of using a variety of resources and referring to them in standard ways. Plans were developed for enlarging the scope of the paraprofessional training program the UG li­ brary conducts for its own staff by offering it to all library employees in Georgetown. Many libraries in G uyana depend upon staff w ith no professional training for day-to-day operations. The program as we envisioned it w ould include an introduction to basic lib rary procedures—sim ple cataloging, Septem ber 1985 / 407 A sym bol o f G uyanese self-sufficiency, a cow grazes languidly outside the University o f G uyana Library. Cr: Mignon Adams Inside the library, a stu d en t gets help fr o m a reference librarian. 408 / C & RL News reference, organization—as well as some training in m anagem ent and supervision. It was evident th a t I was in a socialist country. The form al term for referring to others is “C om ­ ra d e ,” and w hile sociology is a m ajor d epartm ent at the university, psychology is tau g h t only as a p a rt of education. W hen I asked for examples of topics w hich students m ight be researching, re­ sponses w ere N orth Korean m anagem ent m ethods, socialism as practiced in C uba and T anzania, and even (although tongue-in-cheek) the evils of capi­ talism . I had few suggestions for search strategy techniques for these topics. T ransportation is a m ajor problem . Automobiles and parts also fall under im port restrictions; those fo rtu n ate enough to have cars keep them running th ro u g h positive thin k in g and m echanical w iz­ ardry. I, like most of the staff, com m uted the two- mile distance to the cam pus by hire-car, private cars licensed to drive on regular routes. One G uya­ nese dollar (the equivalent of 25 cents) got me a seat w ith four other passengers—m ore, if the Police w ere looking the other w ay—in a com pact car, usually ten or m ore years old. An additional ex­ p e n se fo r th e li b r a r y is to p ro v id e ta x i- tra n s p o rta tio n for staff m em bers w ho w ork at night and who otherwise w ould have no way at all to get home. E nvironm ent is also a problem . O ne section of the library, th a t w hich contains the C aribbean col­ lection, is air-conditioned. In the rest of the build­ ing, hum id tropical w eather quickly yellows paper and causes painted m etal shelving to rust w ithin ten years. H um id p ap er has trouble going through copiers. Even catalog cards develop foxing (brown spots). Insects, of course, are another m ajor p ro b ­ lem , and pesticides are in short supply. A pile of p a ­ pers left on my bookcase had tiny neat holes bored through them , evidence of a w orm at work. Anything th a t must be im ported is in short sup­ ply. For a library, th a t includes such basic supplies as staples, catalog cards, band-aids, and even toilet paper. T he binding staff is experim enting w ith cas­ sava paste as a substitute for glue w ith fairly good results. W h at is not a problem , however, is the dedica­ tion and knowledge of the staff. I found library staff and university faculty members to be well- International exchange ALA’s IR C /IR R T Joint C om m ittee on In te r­ national Exchange of L ibrarians and In fo rm a­ tio n Professionals is co llectin g in fo rm a tio n about librarians w ho have been involved in any type of international exchange. The com m ittee hopes to com pile a directory of such individ­ uals. Please send relevant inform ation to H a n ­ nelore B. R ader, D irector, L ib rary /L earn in g C enter, University of W isconsin-Parkside, Box 2000, Kenosha, W I 53141. educated, articulate, and m uch better inform ed on international affairs th a n I. Those who have de­ cided to rem ain in G uyana rath e r th a n em igrating to m ore developed countries have chosen a com ­ m itm ent to creating a self-sufficient country even though th a t decision m ay m ean a lower standard- of–living for themselves and their families. T h a t G uyana is a C aribbean country was dem ­ onstrated at the staff C hristm as p arty , w hich coin­ cided w ith my last night in the country. All staff m em bers were involved in the planning of food and music and decorations. Calypso records played from 9 p .m . to about 3 a.m . T he president of the university, as well as the reg istrar and several deans, were present and everyone danced. I was presented w ith a UG tee-shirt, w hich I promised to w ear in upstate New York. My personal gains from my stay in G uyana w ere enormous. I received an in-depth view of a third w orld country, not as a tourist but as a m em ber of the regular w orking com m unity. It is an experience I w ould recom m end for any A m erican librarian, as a w ay to contribute expertise and ideas w hile at the sam e tim e expanding understanding of developing countries and losing some of one’s own provincial­ ism. Libraries in developing countries often have vacancies for w hich there are no local candidates. W hile grants are seldom available, librarians eligi­ ble for sabbaticals m ay find th a t the com bination of a local wage and sabbatical pay w ould be suffic­ ient to live adequately, if not luxuriously. W hile not all librarians could a d ap t easily to a year in a developing country, m any w ould find it an adven­ tu re, and an opportunity well w orth investigat­ ing. ■ ■ “Adopt an Archives” program T he College and University Archives Section of the Society of A m erican Archivists has estab­ lished an inform al “Adopt an Archives” p ro ­ gram to m atch experienced college and univer­ sity archivists w ith others requesting assistance. Each experienced archivist will provide free, inform al advice (by m ail or telephone) to one other person. The program is designed to foster one-to-one relationships am ong people from various institutions an d geographical areas, and to involve more people in the work of the College and University Archives Section. Since its inception eight m atches have been m ade. Both “adopters” and “adoptees” have been pleased w ith the outcom e and recom m end the program highly. Individuals wishing to p articip ate in the p ro ­ g ra m , e ith e r as an a d o p to r or an ad o p te e , should contact the coordinator, Toby M urray, Archivist/Preservation Officer, M cFarlin L i­ brary, University of Tulsa, 600 South College Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74104, (918) 592-6000, ext. 2864. 410 / C& RL News Incom ing President Sharon Hogan discusses Association priorities at the A C R L President’s Program at A nnual Conference in Chicago. Brian Staples o f O C L C , In c., watches as JoAn Segal and Sandy W hiteley o f A C R L prepare questionnaires fo r com puter analysis.