In July 2005, under the leadership of Dr. Michelle V. Cloonan, eight librarians and scholars from the United States and the United Kingdom met forty Iraqi librarians in Jordan to provide training on how to rebuild their libraries. The instruction was held at the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman, Jordan. During a presentation held on September 27, 2005 at the Cecil County Public library in Elkton, Maryland, Dr. Cloonan, who is the dean and professor of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College in Boston, discussed her time at ACOR including the training and the benefits of cultural interaction. “The opportunity to live and socialize with the Iraqis made our time in the Middle East a rewarding cultural exchange. The more we got to know our colleagues, the more effective our teaching became.” The success of the first training has led the group to start planning for another session to be held in United Arab Emirates.

Read article about Dr. Cloonan's talk here.