final thoughts on the Vietnam tour

I'd wanted to save this reflection until I was home, not while I was in the thick of travel still.  I'm starting this on Friday morning, but I think I will come and go from the draft through the weekend and finally post next week so as to have a little more distance.  Still, in my view, the trip was a success.  Some random thoughts and thank yous below... 

This was a very different trip than the Ireland trip from two years ago.  Not just in terms of destination, no, but in terms of what I had to do and how the meetings went.  In Ireland, I was but one of the group, and I had no responsibilities save for interest, appreciation, and respect.  In Vietnam, though, I had agendas and speaking and writing notes and presenting gifts on top of what I had in Ireland.  I was "on" for multiple days, and that does take its toll.  Worth it, in my opinion, but it was a professional activity through and through.

That said, there was plenty of time for tourism.  I have, in the past, felt a little odd about the tourism aspect, as if we should not participate in any because this is a professional activity.  But the tourist activities provide context for the libraries to some extent, and that is a good thing to have.  There was an emphasis on post-colonial and post-war memorializing in the sites we visited, and I think more than one of us wished we had seen other things.  I think, for example, it would have been interesting to see a museum that celebrates contemporary Vietnamese art and craft.  I might have enjoyed some form of entertainment that has the past as its foundation but looks forward.  That aspect was missing from the tour, in my opinion, and I think it would have enriched our experience.

I really did like Vietnam, though.  It was so very different from any place I'd ever been to, and it was less western-feeling than Thailand.  There was great disparity between the gleaming towers of Ho Chi Minh City and seeing folks in the outskirts or rural areas in homes that seemed more to be shelters than houses.  The food was very good and interesting to me.  The chaos of Hanoi's traffic was so fascinating - as I said to someone, they aren't bad drivers, they have to be very good drivers to enter into and thrive in the churn of scooters and more.  I don't foresee a trip to SE Asia soon, but were I to go back, I'd be interested in seeing more of Vietnam than of Thailand at this point.

You never know what sort of a group you will get with tours.  Who will the others be, and will everyone fit well together.  I feel that yes, we did, happily!  There was a nice range of skills, knowledge, and experiences across the team, and that seemed to me to make the discussions with our Vietnamese colleagues richer.  I really enjoyed being with the group all week there, and I hope to see all of them again on future library tours.  So let me thank them one by one: 

Amy.  I did not know Amy until we met on the Zoom call before the tour and then in person, and I have to say, she was a delight.  She has years of experience and is at a level in the field that shows that.  I was so glad to have her knowledge to call on, and I really appreciated her questions that we all could benefit from.  Plus, Trina Turk!  I was so glad she came.

Ann.  Ann, too, was new to me, and she was a wonderful addition to the cohort.  I found her such easy company to be with, for one thing, and I loved her style as well.  Ann's area of expertise was in cataloguing and acquisitions, and that came up multiple times across all of the meetings.  I was so grateful that I could turn to her, and she would respond so well.

Denelle.  I adore Denelle!  We met on the Ireland trip, and since then she has gone on to be elected into a governance role in ALA, so you know that I'm really thrilled about that.  Denelle is so terrific to spend time with, and I learned even more about her on this trip, which I'm glad for.  Denelle was deeply engaged in multiple of the discussions because of her great knowledge of staff development, something that came up at library after library.  Such an awesome person and a real asset to the cohort.

Linda.  Linda was one of the two other community college participants in the tour, and I have to say, what a treat it was to have her there.  It's always good when you have colleagues from within the same system so that we could reinforce each other in the meetings.  Linda knows the OER worlds, and that was of interest to folks in the meetings.  But Linda also had some experience of traveling in Asia, and that insight was terrific, too.  Very good company to have.

Milena.  Milena comes from the California Community Colleges as well, so take what I said about Linda and being from the colleges and apply here.  But Milena, like me, was not brought up in the US, so she has some outsider, non-American eyes that she could apply to the experience.  I liked her humour, and I appreciate how she was able to speak to staff development as well.

Prue.  Prue was another of the Ireland gang who made it on this trip, and I was so thrilled that she did.  Prue is such a lovely person, very thoughtful and empathetic.  I enjoyed spending time with her in Ireland, and it was no different this time.  What Prue also contributed to the cohort was her perspective coming from public libraries, and although most of the libraries we visited were in higher education, as Prue pointed out, public libraries are dealing with many of the same issues.  I'm so glad I got to have another trip with her.

Our guests.  I mean, Conrad, for starters.  I suggested Vietnam to Nanda because Conrad had spoken so highly of visiting Hanoi years ago, and I wanted him to get to go back with me along with him.  I love spending time with Conrad - I don't tire of it at all - and seeing Vietnam together was so awesome.  But there were other guests as well.  Amy's partner, Robin, whom I wish I had chatted with more because I enjoyed it when I did.  I can say the same of Milena's husband, Nasser.  He was always so warm and friendly, and we mostly only got time to talk at breakfast because the four of us were the early risers.  And then there is Peter, Prue's husband.  Peter is a big personality, and I love that.  I also love that he and Conrad got on like gangbusters (Conrad got on with all of the guests, to be fair).  I got to know Peter in Ireland, and I was delighted for another trip with him.

Shiv.  Shiv works with Nanda (and other companies) on tours in Asia.  Based in India, he flew in and was with us the whole time, making sure that arrangements went smoothly.  And they did.  We teased him about karaoke and more, and we liked hearing about his life outside of tour groups as a peanut farmer with a young family.  We liked him a lot, and I kind of hope we might do another library tour that he can be part of.

Dr. Hien.  Dr. Hien is not a librarian but part of the faculty of public health at Phenikaa University.   In addition, though, she worked with Nanda (and has worked with others) to set up contacts at libraries and make the meetings happen.  She also accompanied us to every meeting, translating where necessary.  I enjoyed sitting with her at lunch a couple of times.  I also wanted to make sure that we did right by her.  I hope we did.  I am so grateful for all she did to make this tour happen.

Richie and Anne.  Richie and Anne were out local guides in Vietnam.  As I understand it, tours in Vietnam must employ local guides.  What is more, local guides operate locally - Richie could not stick with us and come to Ho Chi Minh City.  A shame - he was a nice guy, and I appreciated him telling us a bit about his family.  Anne was our guide for the second half of the trip, and she was a bright and fun personality.  I was very glad when she joined us for our last dinner (and sorry that Richie never ate with us)(and also sorry the last dinner wasn't better since that was the only one Anne joined us for).  We had good guides in Vietnam, and that helped make the trip a success.

Nanda.  It has been a good relationship with Nanda.  As expected, there was a flurry of stuff at the last minute, but the planning was all in place, and the trip went smoothly for us all, so far as I know.  I look forward to continuing touring with them, leading the library tours.  Thank you to Nicola and Debra for all that they did.

Vietnam is behind us.  My gosh, it's over two weeks now since Conrad and I traveled to Thailand.  Wow.  Next up for library tours will be Colombia in October of 2027.  With luck, some or all of the Vietnam folks will return, and with luck, we'll have additional people joining us, making for another very good tour.

visiting libraries in Vietnam, day three

Ok, this one is the biggie.  Ready for it?  Let’s do this and then get this blog moving on to group sightseeing and vacation!

Three library meetings plus a tour at a fourth library meant a long and very busy day ahead.  We started out with a public library, the General Sciences Library Ho Chi Minh City, which is under the direction of Mr. Vinh Quoc Bao.  

I really appreciated seeing a public library operation as a break from academic libraries.  It was encouraging to see how very well used the library was and to learn more about their relationships with other libraries.  What I liked even more was their effort to preserve culture and history, not just through collections but through their own preservation workshop that we got to visit.  Very cool.  Even better, though?  Their commitment to accessibility.  They make their own braille versions of books along with other tactile reading aids.  They record audiobooks in their studio either using volunteers or leveraging AI.  All of us on the group were buzzing about those things, and it was awesome to get the tour to see those parts of their library.

The second stop before lunch was at the Smart Library, University of Economic, Ho Chi Minh City.  

Not a large space, but the traditional library space is elsewhere on their campus.  What library Director Ms Hoang Tuyet Anh has achieved, though, is a series of library modernizations that has culminated in a facility for student research, study, and collaboration.  An information commons, but beyond what I have seen elsewhere with monitors for noise and more that the students can see themselves.  The whole team talked with us, and as with some of the previous visits, staff development was a big topic of conversation.  The director was a Simmons alum, I should add, and that made for a nice connection with our delegates from New England.  We had such an enjoyable visit there.

The group had lunch at Hoa Tuc, and although I liked it all, what really stood out for me was the beef wrapped in betel leaf (not pictured below).  My introduction to that leaf, and the flavour was intriguing and good.

We were running behind by this point, and the drive to the next library was considerable.  By the time we sat down with Dr. Bui Thu Hang and her team at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City,

we were at least a half hour behind schedule, and I felt terrible that we had so little time left for conversation with them.  Dr. Ngo Thi Huyen from the Department of Information and Management was also part of the meeting, and there was some robust conversation between her and Amy in particular given that Amy is at a university with an LIS program.  Milena, meanwhile, was able to speak to sabbaticals and professional development opportunities, which I was grateful for.  We didn’t see much of the library but we did get a short visit to their museum, and l know we would have loved more.

It was raining hard when we left, and I recall being slightly anxious about slipping on the stairs and wet surfaces outside.  The last stop was a brief one, stopping at the new Library Center at the University of Economics and Law, Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City.  

And I really do mean new:  it had opened a few days earlier.  The second floor was not yet ready.  But there were students using the facility, and it had that new library smell.  A stark, spare space, it shunted the smallish collection to the side and emphasized student study and activity.  Kudos to their library team on opening the center!

It was 6:30 by the time we got back to the hotel, and I spent a while in the lobby writing some thank you notes for Dr. Hien to take back with her.  I was happy to do that.  It was important to me that each library receive thanks and appreciation for hosting us and sharing the good work that they do.

By the time I got to the room, I was worn down.  Rather than look for dinner, Conrad, Denelle, and I joined some of the others at the roof deck bar for bites and drinks.  

The drinks were ok at best.  The food was terrible.  But it was convenient, the views were great, and when the rain returned to pound down, we could retreat under cover and then head back to our rooms without getting wet.  The day was done, and I was glad to head to bed.