Publications of AzLA:

A First Time for Everything in Azerbaijan
"American Libraries" Journal, November 1999.

In this particular country, a visit with a library executive board includes purchasing a live sheep at market and barbecuing it in a country glen; then board members and American guests retire to an old Russian Caspian resort where they sleep five to a room. Librarians here earn as little as $7.50 a month, and the national library has not purchased a new book since 1992. We are in Azerbaijan, where long toasts accompanied by vodka are the norm, and where ALA Immediate Past President Ann Symons is addressed respectfully as Mr. Ann (for reasons yet to be understood).

As ALA with its 58,000 members begins its 124th year, it may be hard for American librarians to imagine a country only now establishing a library association. Nestled between the Caucuses and the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan has some 10,000 academic, public, special, school, and scientific-technical libraries—but no library association. In September, Symons and U.S. librarians Jordan Scepanski and Lea Wells led the first formal, event of the fledgling Azerbaijan Library Development Association (its legal name) or AzLA, as members refer to it.
AzLA Vice-president Muzhgan Nazarova (left) with Ann K. Symons, Jordan M. Scepanski and H. Lea Wells at the Caspian Sea.

It is difficult to determine how AzLA will support itself, but the enthusiasm of some 40 participants in the two-day workshop on library associations, cooperation, and consortia was easy to see. Funded by grants from the International Research Exchange, the Soros Foundation, and the United States Information Service, the event brought together the Azerbaijani library leadership and employed interactive learning techniques never before encountered by the librarians in attendance.

The vision for an Azerbaijani library association patterned after ALA comes from Muzhgan Nazarova, AzLA vice-president and director of the Information Resource Center at the U.S. embassy in Baku. Nazarova, a recent MLS graduate from the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill, believes that "to have a truly democratic society you have to have modern libraries providing access to information." It is her hope that the newly founded organization will move the development of libraries in her country forward.

From A to Z

AzLA President Halil Ismaylov, dean of the library school at Baku State University, summed up the two days: "Libraries are our national heritage. The development of Azerbaijani libraries to bring them up to the Western standards is of crucial importance. The main objectives of our new organization are to create close connections with international library associations and to use this experience for developing Azerbaijani libraries, implementing the new technologies, the social protection of librarians, and library legislation."

Ann Symons marked Halil Ismaylov. A first US MARC in Azerbaijan

AzLA's meeting attracted valuable attention for the new association among the media and in governmental and educational circles. Coverage of libraries and the establishment of AzLA appeared in three of the country's major newspapers and on national television. Participants visited four of Baku's universities, the national library, and the children's library, and met with representatives of major U.S. and international foundations. U.S. Ambassador Stanley Escudero and USIS Public Affairs Officer Craig L. Dicker provided briefings on current political, cultural, and social developments in the country.

Dicker, who participated in the workshop's opening session, said, "Recognizing the important role libraries play in building a civil society, the United States Information Service in Baku has and will continue to support programs in library development. Through exchanges, scholarships, book translations, book donations, programs held at the Embassy's Information Resource Center, and most recently a hands-on librarian training program, USIS-Baku hopes to help Azerbaijani librarians assume their critical role in the development of their country."

In a fitting end to an exciting and professionally rewarding week, visitors were included in what Ann Symons dubbed "AzLA's first executive board retreat," an overnight trip to the important regional center of Quba and the Caspian town of Nabron and visits to a regional public library, all enhanced by the unsurpassed hospitality of our Azerbaijani hosts.

Azerbaijan Library Association President
Halil Ismaylov prepares lunch for visiting librarians.

—Ann K. Symons, Juneau School District; Jordan M. Scepanski, Triangle Research Libraries Network; and H. Lea Wells, North Carolina State University

Copyright (c) 1999 American Library Association.
"American Libraries" Journal, November 1999.
Materials in this journal may be reproduced for noncommercial educational purposes.