Assistance across Borders: American Academic Libraries in Afghanistan and Qatar

Abstract

A recent outreach project brought together the American University of Afghanistan and four world renowned US universities with branch campuses in Qatar’s Education City. Librarians in Qatar often collaborate with each other, but this unusual effort was the first time their collaboration reached across international borders to extend assistance to another country. The experience became a cultural exchange that brought together these dramatically different worlds. By utilizing technologies that make connecting and collaborating so easy these days, four librarians with backgrounds in public and technical services worked together to share their expertise, culminating in a learning visit by an AUAF library assistant to Doha. The sharing of skills and knowledge was a wonderful experience on many levels, and made a distinct difference in a part of the world that needs and wants so much to change.