Reflective Post #4 - Global Library Initiatives - Aftermath of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Library Initiative

Blog Post 4 - Global Library Initiatives - Aftermath of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Library Initiative

After listening to the lectures and reading the materials for this unit on Global Library Initiatives and learning about the benefits they are doing to populations on a global scale, I was intrigued to read about the work being done by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on a global scale. Their work caught my attention because Bill and Melinda Gates are a local name and foundation that I have come across and dealt with a few times during my time living in Seattle and attending the University of Washington for my undergraduate degree. After reading that their work was wrapped up in 2018, I took the opportunity to do some research to learn about the aftermath of their initiative. I wanted to see who they left behind locally to continue their work and how they would encourage work to continue once they were finished.

Deborah Jacobs, the director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries Initiative from 2008 until it ended, was in charge of distributing the remaining millions of dollars to libraries throughout the US and across more than 50 countries globally (Peet, 2019). When interviewed about the most surprising part of closing out the initiative, she responded by saying that “the most surprising part is that [the librarians] were just like me” which she attributes to the universality of the power and pull of information and the common goals shared by librarians around the world (Peet, 2019). She discussed in her interview the work being done by a local group, the Technology and Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the University of Washington, which was one of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s legacy partners. They were the forefront group in the Seattle area that worked with the foundation that would be continuing the work after the Initiative finished. Their work partnered with the foundation in that it performed “actionable research and…[worked] with multilaterals to collaborate on programs to being the library to the table” (Peet, 2019) to help the foundation figure out how to reach out to younger generations and invite their involvement with global library initiatives.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Initiative did an impressive amount of work and made a huge amount of change in countries all around the globe. They handled their closing with grace and ensured that their work made a lasting mark on the international library community. Their remaining funds went to good use in countries like Kenya and Colombia, they ensured that local and global companies and foundations would still be around to continue to work on behalf of global libraries, and they ended their initiative with a direction for initiatives to move towards. In Jacobs’ own words, she called for global library initiatives following in their wake “to align library services with community needs…[focus on] working together, [and to ensure that] politicians [are] taking more accountability” (Peet, 2019).


Resources:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2018). What we do: Global libraries strategy overview. Retrieved from https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Global-Libraries
Hagar, C. & Ford, B. (2019). A conversation between Dr. Hagar and Barbara J. Ford: Globalization and libraries. [audio recording].

Lipeikaite, U. (2019). People, libraries, and innovation: Story of EIFL-PLP program. [recording].

Peet, L. (2019). Deborah Jacobs on the end of gates global libraries and what happens next. Library Journal. Retrieved from https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=Deborah-Jacobs-on-the-End-of-Gates-Global-Libraries-and-What-Happens-Next

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