Mrs. Venus I. Guyos, University of Saint Louis’ (USL) Director of Libraries, has been a recipient of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) 2016 National US Committee Fellowship Grant.

The grant earned her the rare privilege of attending the 82nd IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) held in Columbus, Ohio, United States of America on Aug.13-19, 2016.

Out of 3,000 applicants, she was one among the 180 chosen delegates to be provided munificently with round trip airfare, hotel accommodation, conference registration fee, and per diems for expenses.

According to Mrs. Guyos, the IFLA WLIC was like a mall of conferences.

“I was literally shopping for sessions to attend to and though I had my planner ready, it was still hard picking the best sessions because all of them were within my interests,” she said.

From left: Maricel Diaz of the National Library of the Philippines (NLP), Gerald Leitner,
IFLA Secretary General, Donna Scheeder, IFLA President, and Mrs. Guyos

She attended the WLIC opening and closing sessions; Standing Committee meeting for Asia and Oceania; sessions on literacy and reading, participatory projects in libraries, and library cooperation and sharing; IFLA President’s session; session on information literacy, to name a few.

Her congress experience was capped with visits to “excellent school libraries” in Columbus suburbs, the Ohio State University Libraries, the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and to the Columbus Zoo and Topiary Park.

The USL Director of Libraries at the Ohio State University Library

“The best part of the congress was learning the best practices from best libraries and librarians in the world,” said the Director, “thanks to the generosity of IFLA and other library organizations.”

Jo Chu from Taiwan and Scott Shoger from the American Library Association (ALA)

Filipinos in attendance, from left: Maricel Diaz, Venus Guyos, Elvira Lapuz of University of
the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Randolf Mariano of American Spaces-US Embassy,
Dolores Carungui of NLP, Christina Villanueva of UP Baguio, and Elizabeth Peralejo,
Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. (PLAI) Ex-Officio

Ohio State University grounds

Mrs. Guyos also said that the congress was an “excellent venue for knowing librarians from all over the world, jumpstarting friendships and connections, and probably future collaborations.”

The IFLA Fellow further said that the congress was also an experience of America, its culture and people.