Digital Library presentations at the Crimean University for Humanities in Yalta

Yalta in the off-season although somewhat slushy is still fascinating with its palm trees, snow capped mountains, the Black Sea, the imposing and sometimes crumbling soviet architecture and the mix of different ethnicities (Russians, Greeks, Tatars etc). Over four days I delivered four presentations and follow up discussions at the Crimean University for Humanities and they in turn put me up in university housing and showed me around the area – fantastic excursions to Livadia Palace, Massandra Winery and Alupka Palace.

Slideshow featuring the librarians.

The first presentation was a basic introduction to my previous work in web content management and digitization projects. The second presentation focused on creating library websites. Some of the material I covered also is mentioned in a book that I gave to the university library director as a gift. This was my longest and most detailed presentation which included time for discussion and critique of example university websites. Fortunately this group was not shy and in fact quite eager to share their impressions and pose questions. The third presentations was on library blogs – why and how they are created and how libraries can use tools such as Blogger that are free of cost to publicize their library events, collections etc. The fourth presentation was focused on international organizations which support and promote libraries. The librarians expressed frustration with the lack of funding possibilities available in Ukraine due to the instability of the government.

Presentations were open to university library staff and other local professional librarians (local museums mostly). After each presentation the librarians had a chance to pose questions and to make comments. To my pleasure there was quite a bit of discussion. Attendees included: Ludmila Kovalerist, Lilia Kovalenko, Jeanne Domjo, Tatiana Smerechinskaya, Aliona Burklaka, Victoria Kolomijez, Nadejda Anooshkina, Alexandra Yeschenko, Alekandr Bodnar, Larisa Tchebotariova, Larisa Tchech, Galina Savinskaya, Helena Schelemetieva, Tatyana Prilpko and others. Presentations translated simultaneously from English to Russian by a talented student who is studying to become a translator.

My gracious host Ludmila Kovalerist, Library Director, Crimean University for Humanities also provided us the opportunity to chat over tea & cookies following the presentations. The opportunity to chat informally was incredibly valuable! There was much talk about the differences and similarities of librarianship and institutions in Ukraine as compared to the US. The librarians were also quite curious about average salaries and the cost of living in the US. When I said that in NYC a public librarian starting salary might be in the low 30s, some of the librarians looked quite impressed. They said this is a lot of money. I then explained that it is barely enough to cover living costs in NYC and I then pointed to a map of the US and explained that the cost of living in say Montana or other middle states is much lower than on many cities on the coasts. This topic of comparing the cost of living comes up over and over again during my stay in Ukraine.

They also asked me questions about my impressions of Ukrainian librarians. We had a good laugh when talking about the typical librarian stereotype. It seems this stereotype knows no international borders – the mousy librarian indeed!

A special thank you to Anjelika Polovinkina, vice-head of the Centre of International Cooperation for arranging my visit to the university and the excursions.

After my stay in Yalta I traveled by Marshrutka (mini-bus) to Sevastopol to stay with my fellow Fulbright Scholar Nancy Lenihan. Nancy, a professor of English using American films, is teaching at the Sevastopol National Technical University. We had quite an adventure the following day when we explored Balaclava. As we climbed up the hill to view the ruins of the Greek fortress we were accompanied by a pack of friendly stray dogs. Balaclava is known as the location of a soviet submarine factory. A slideshow of photographs of our adventures.