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The “Capacity Building for LIS Professionals in Cambodia and Maldives through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) project is this year’s recipient of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½’s International Relations Round Table (IRRT) Mission Enhancement Grant.

This project will address the gaps in CPD for library employees in both Cambodia and the Maldives. Cambodian library employees will have the opportunity to learn basic knowledge and skills of librarianship. It is anticipated that the Maldivian LIS community will also find these CPD programs relevant. As such, these programs will also be extended to the Maldives.

Funds from the IRRT Mission Enhancement Grant will help curate four CPD programs to be offered to librarians in Cambodia. The following four programs are proposed as basic building blocks: 1) Understanding information sources; 2) Reference & information services; 3) Information & digital literacy skills; and 4) Collection building using Open Educational Resources (OERs). Eventually, these programs will be offered to other countries in the region that express an interest in offering them to their local LIS communities.

This year's project was submitted by IRRT member Dr. Shrianjani (Gina) De Alwis Jayasuriya. De Alwis Jayasuriya has initiated the research study on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities available to Library & Information Science (LIS) professionals in selected Asian countries. The focus is on countries that had conducted limited research on the LIS sector and, specifically, on CPD for LIS professionals.

The International Relations Round Table Endowment fund was established in 2016. Interest from the Endowment is used to fund member-initiated proposals for international activities and initiatives which contribute to ALA’s role in international librarianship. Goals for the funding are to provide support for international projects or partnerships; promote a global dialogue about librarianship; increase visibility of international opportunities for U.S. and international librarians and encourage international collaboration in librarianship. For additional information about the grant or to apply next year, please visit the IRRT Mission Enhancement Grant page.