CIFNAL, the Collaborative Initiative for French Language Collections/Collectif international des fonds documentaires en langue française, is pleased to announce that two Birdie MacLennan Memorial Travel Stipends of $1,500 each have been awarded to librarians to attend international conferences in the coming year. The aim of these stipends is to increase communication and collaboration between CIFNAL members, librarians in Francophone areas, and with other Francophone organizations. 

One of the stipends has been awarded to a librarian working in a Francophone country to support attendance at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in San Francisco, California from June 25-June 30, 2015.

• Ms. Karine Jarrige works in the Bibliothèque Bernheim in New Caledonia.  She received her library training in France in 2013-2014, and completed an internship in Glasgow, Scotland.

The second travel stipend was available to staff members of libraries that are institutional members of CIFNAL. The stipend was meant to encourage attendance at an international conference so the recipient could learn from and network with librarians from the French-speaking world.

• Mr. Richard Hacken was awarded this travel stipend.  He is the European Studies Librarian at Brigham Young University and has been very involved with WESS and CIFNAL activities for many years.  He plans to attend the Salon du livre de Paris March 18-21, 2016 in Paris, France with a special focus on learning more about francophone African publications.

CIFNAL has named these travel stipends in memory of Birdie MacLennan, our colleague from the University of Vermont, whose enthusiasm for travel and the French language still inspires us.