Arrivederci - e grazie - Milano e IFLA
Two years ago, in Durban, they gave me the job of offering the Vote of Thanks at the Closing Ceremony of the IFLA Congress, and I thought it would be a wizard wheeze to say "thank you" in all seven of IFLA's official languages - not hard, I just had to ask a few people what the word for "thanks" was in their language.
Last year in Quebec, spurred on by the positive response to my multilingualism in Durban, I decided to go one better and do the whole thing in French - dredging up my schoolboy French, getting lots of help from French-speaking colleagues, and rehearsing my lines for several weeks before going on stage. At the reception afterwards Mauro Guerrini, President of the Italian National Committee for IFLA 2009 Milan, said: "Next year, in Italian?"
Well, until about a month ago, I knew just three words of Italian: "ciao" and "arrivederci" and (of course) "birra" and I knew nothing about Italian grammar or pronunciation. So it was a Big Ask to respond to Mauro's request but - with lots of help with translation and pronunciation from my CILIP colleague Helena Attardo (grazie, Helena), and lots and lots of rehearsal in the last couple of weeks - I got the job done yesterday afternoon. Mauro tells me I have a Tuscan accent which is probably a result of all those bottlesof Chianti over the years - the Sangiovese in my veins comes out in my voice! If the video of my Vote of Thanks turns up on You Tube (as last year's did) you'll be able to judge for yourself.
Mauro and his co-pilot, Aldo Pirola, have been everywhere around the Congress during the past week and must have put in a huge effort - like the rest of the Italian National Committee - during the last couple of years. After all, it's not every day that Milan opens La Scala and the Duomo for a bunch of conference goers - and welcomes the conference on the big screen in Piazza del Duomo. Mauro, Aldo, and their colleagues got their reward when it was announced at the Closing Ceremony that over 4,490 participants had attended IFLA 2009 Milan. The Germans (of course) won the inaugural IFLA Football Tournament on Wednesday - sadly, your correspondent was absent on other IFLA business - but the Italians got their own back with the result that really counts; beating the previous IFLA Congress attendance record, held allegedly by IFLA 2003 Berlin. Mind you, I've always thought that IFLA 2002 Glasgow was the best-ever attended IFLA Congress. Not that it's a competition, of course...
It was good to meet the families Guerrini and Pirola at the after-show party yesterday evening at the Biblioteca Braidense, and to thank them for lending Mauro and Aldo to the IFLA cause for so much of their time over the last couple of years. The Biblioteca Braidense, incidentally, added a whole new dimension to the discussion about libraries and "convergence." Usually (at least in IFLA land ) this means convergence between libraries, archives, and museums. At the Biblioteca Braidense the room was so hot it raised the real possibility of convergence between a library and a sauna! But hey, a few glasses of birra Moretti in the Bar Magenta later in the evening and I was soon refuelled and rehydrated with fluid and essential trace minerals (malt, hops, barley....).
And so to Gothenburg in August 2010 - and, if you feel so inclined, to Sao Paulo, Puerto Rica, in 2011 and - announced at the Closing Ceremony yesterday - to Helsinki in 2012. The venue for 2013 will be somewhere in the Asia and Oceania region.
Not surprisingly, music has been a recurrent theme throughout IFLA 2009 Milan. We began with Nessun dorma and we ended with Take a chance on me as the Swedes used Abba (also not surprisingly) to back their invitation to Gothenburg. But, for me, another song has been playing along in my head as I've jogged my way through the Milan marathon.
At the FAIFE dinner back on Monday evening there were many comments about a FAIFE workshop in the Philippines where the Eagles' Hotel California was the constant background soundtrack. I pointed out that the best-known line in that song was particularly apt for several people people at the dinner, including myself, who were "timed out" from service on the FAIFE Committee but who still kept coming back to FAIFE gatherings: "You can check out any time you like - but you can never leave."
That line's been playing in my head throughout IFLA 2009 Milan because I'm now "timed out" of my role on the IFLA GB and EC. Today the new GB met under the new Presidency of Ellen Tise and doubtless, right now, there'll be some GB stalwarts enjoying a late-night beer at one of the pavement cafes around the Piazza del Duomo - I'd put my money on the new Chair of the Professional Committee, Patrice Landry, and the new Chair of the newly constituted Division One, Steve Witt. Meanwhile, I checked out of my hotel, took the train to Milan Malpensa, and flew home. I've checked out as an IFLA Officer - but I won't be leaving IFLA. Back home I unpacked my suitcase to the sounds of Italian bel canto - but now my sound system is playing one of the best dance albums in the world: Abba Gold. See you in Gothenburg 2010!
Skol!!
