Colloquium

Every Tuesday evening during the semesters there is a colloquium on library topics. I serve as the host for this, which means I introduce the speakers and manage the discussion. Today we had two speakers out of Croatia, who gave their presentations in English. A couple of us wondered whether the colloquium would be well attended. Happily there was very nearly standing room only, and the students took an active role in asking questions. I was quite pleased with how good their English was. It makes me think I could reasonably use more English in my lectures and seminars.

The topic was library education in Croatia, which has the unusual situation of a new law that requires that all librarians have a university-based library degree. This means that there is a signifiant demand for the students. They also founded a program in publishing as part of the library school, and have good relationships with the publishers in the country.

Croatia is small, and perhaps because of that they have been aggressive in finding outside partners. Rutgers in New Jersey is one partner. Others are in Italy and Austria. Most courses are offered in English whenever a non-Croatian student takes part. This means that every student must be fully prepared to function in English as well as Croatian. As they said, the English may not be perfect, but it suffices for communication.