I first discovered the International Library Networking Program (ILNP) through LinkedIn and thought it would be an interesting program to take part in. After submitting the application form and waiting a few months to discover if I was a successful applicant, I was accepted into the program. At the time, I didn’t realise how popular the program is, and how beneficial it was going to be!

The ILNP is organised by The International Relations Round Table (IRRT) Committee. This is a Membership Committee within the American Library Association. Their mission is to promote interest in library issues and librarianship worldwide and to help coordinate international activities within the American Library Association. In 2026, 201 participants from 87 countries and 6 continents were represented. This was narrowed from 862 applicants in 201 countries. 

I was incredibly lucky to be with Sonja from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Stacy from the United States of America. Stacy is a specialised librarian in Health Sciences at New York Universtiy and Sonja works at the National and University Library of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka, in the northern area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our only challenge was the obvious time difference; our correspondence was on a fortnightly basis through email but thankfully we made our time differences work for some Teams meetings which was extremely exciting!! 

On discussions were very casual and we covered such a range of topics including mentoring, our countries library associations, different library qualifications, current library projects we are working on, budgets and funding and advocacy! There were lots of similarities on these topics despite our countries being vastly different. We were moved by stories we shared on advocacy and loved sharing our stories on how we became librarians and why we all got into the sector. Discovering that Sonja is a member of IFLA and having her discuss the benefits of being a member finally motivated me to join. 

The final project for the program was submitting a photo for the World Libraries Photo Gallery, an online site that highlights different library initiatives around the world. The 2026 theme was ‘Libraries as agents of change, inclusion, and community building.’ The discussions we had were around how our libraries build different communities, and in choosing one photo. Our submission was from Stacy’s library, highlighting the ‘Weaving Connections’ knitting program, a program open to both library staff and students at the university. To ensure we all had some input, we had to write a descriptive narrative on the program explaining the context of the program, how the library is implementing the service and the benefits to the users. It was exciting to see the diversity of projects the 2026 participants collaborated on.

We are looking forward to continuing connecting with each other, organising an online collaborative project and hope one day to meet each other in person. 

I found the International Library Networking Program to be highly beneficial in expanding my international connections and in understanding and comparing library services worldwide. The program is open to any library professional or student and would recommend it to anyone at any stage in their career. 

Explore the Best Practices from World Libraries Photo Gallery.