Has anyone else received an invitation to participate in a trip to Israel as a delegate to the "Library and Information Services Delegation to Israel"? I have received two of them, one from Camila A. Alire who I believe is the current President of ALA and a follow up one from "People to People International" which is running the trip. This trip is supposed to happen August 20-28, 2010. It is a one week trip, and it says it will cost approx. $6000.00. The cost of participation for professional librarians may be tax deductable and you can invite someone to travel with you who does not have to be a librarian.
"The goal of this delegation is to return to the U.S. with a much better understanding of international librarianship by listening to and learning from our Israeli counterparts. Additionally, we will have a lot of expertise to share with them that might be helpful in addressing their challenges. Possible collaboration/partnerships with our Israeli counterparts is another goal" (from the letter for Dr. Alire) "The preliminary mission statement and direction for the delegation have been defined initially by both Dr. Alire and our planning team in Israel. The initial topics of discussion are listed below. These will be further refined as the delegation is formed to incorporate delegates' specialized areas of interest and expertise. n The role of information technology in Israeli libraries and the extent to which IT is implemented n What are some of the other innovations in Israeli libraries n From the opposite point of view, what are some of the major challenges the Israeli libraries are experiencing. n What are some major challenges for Israeli library directors and administrators n What is the extent of professional development for Israeli librarians" (from the follow up letter) One seems to need to be invited to participate in this (I have an invitation code number). I have no idea why I was selected to receive it. I am not even sure it is legitimate. IF IT IS FOR REAL, then it seems to me that someone from AJL should be involved. ALA does not have a good track record when it comes to Israel and I would hate for a trip like this to be hi-jacked by anti-Israel people. I am currently retired from public library work and now volunteer in a synagogue. This sounds more research and academic to me. I do not feel I would be a good choice. They want a reply from me by December 29, 2009, and then, if I decline they will offer it to someone else. So does anyone know anything about this? Has anyone in Israel heard about this? What about the Jewish librarians group in ALA, have they been involved? I'll be happy to email copies of the letters I have received to anyone who wants them. There is contact information given about this -- People to People Citizen Ambassador Program at 877-787-2000. emaili...@peopletopeople.com BUT they ask you to reference your invitation code number. I don't know if I should be giving that outÂ…??? I just don't know if this is REAL or not. I look forward to hearing if others have also been invited to be a delegate to this. Sherry Wasserman, Volunteer Librarian Congregation B'nai Moshe 6800 Drake Road West Bloomfield, MI 48322 stwasserman @sbcglobal.net --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
