In today’s globalized information economy, libraries and librarians participate in forms of communication and knowledge exchange that increasingly occur—and build bridges—across international and cultural borders. They consult each other and learn from each other, they share information and experiences on a regular basis, in real time, and quite often in cyberspace. This is particularly true of academic and research libraries, for which exchanges, networking, and collaboration occur more and more at the international as well as at the national and regional levels.

In this scenario, American libraries are often seen as unique opportunities for professional development by information professionals from other parts of the world, and large academic and research libraries such as Yale’s are particularly coveted for this purpose. But in spite of the one-way character of many such exchanges, there are undeniable short- and long-term benefits for both institutions involved. Thanks to their language skills, their subject specialization, and their first-hand knowledge of libraries and library practices in their home countries, international visiting fellows make a significant enduring impact on the Yale Library and the individual departments they work with during their stay. At the same time, these fellowships allow visiting librarians to make a precious hands-on experience of a large academic and research library in the United States, and to bring back and apply to their home institutions the most relevant fruits of this experience.

In addition to occasional internships made possible by grant-funded projects such as OACIS (Online Access to Consolidated Information on Serials), which between 2004 and 2005 invited five information professionals from four countries in the Middle East, the Yale Library currently implements three fellowship/internship programs for non-U.S. librarians: The SEEC Library Fellows Program, the Kwok Library Fellowships, and the International Associates Program. Each of these programs contributes to develop relationships and cooperation opportunities with foreign libraries, and in so doing supports the University’s transformation into a global university by creating and nurturing ties with research and educational institutions around the globe.

International Associates Program
Unlike the SEEC and Kwok programs, this new pilot initiative launched in the summer of 2005 is open to participants from all over the world and is funded by the University Librarian for three years, aiming afterwards to attain long-term self-sustainability. The object is to nurture professional development and leadership at home and abroad by establishing and developing professional relationships between Yale librarians and archivists and their colleagues in other countries. The program brings 2-4 visiting information professionals a year. For information on past Associates, see their Profiles.

Kwok Library Fellowships
This three-year program, launched in January 2006 with funding from the Kwok Foundation of Hong Kong, brings librarians from Chinese universities to the Yale Library for six to twelve months each. The first four fellows were the Director of the Medical Library, the Head of the new East Campus Library, and the Assistant Librarian and Head of Acquisitions and Cataloging at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and a Rare Book Librarian from Fudan University in Shanghai. For information on past Kwok Library Fellows, see their Profiles.

SEEC Library Fellowship Program
Started by the Slavic and East European Collections (SEEC) in 1993, this is the oldest and most seasoned fellowship program at the Yale Library. It brings one library professional from Eastern Europe and former Yugoslavia every year, for a four-month period coinciding with the fall semester. The first 14 fellows came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, and Ukraine. Funding for the SEEC Library Fellows Program has been provided by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI Grant (1993-1995), the Chopivsky Family Fund (1996-1997), the Open Society Institute (1999), and the Keggi Foundation (2000-). For information on past SEEC Library Fellows, see their Profiles.