Three Young Taiwanese Do Internships at San Francisco Public Library
Young people are a driving force for sustainable development and transformative innovation and the Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative includes an iYouth Talent Program that provides opportunities for young people aged between 15 and 30 to go abroad and broaden their horizons. They can go on study tours, do training programs or do internships to enhance their skills, and gain first-hand experience, and interact with people in other parts of the world. The Youth Development Administration of Taiwan's Ministry of Education selected Wade Liu 劉弈緯, Wu Yi-Jiun 吳奕均, and Lu Sin-Bei 盧歆倍 to do a one-month internship at the San Francisco Public Library's main library and other branches. They arrived in San Francisco on June 29 and began their internships on July 1.
San Francisco Public Library was established in 1879. It now has a main library located in the Civic Center and 27 branch libraries across the city that regularly host a wide range of services, including book clubs, lectures, children's activities, and language learning programs.
Michael Lambert, City Librarian for the City and County of San Francisco, made time to welcome the three young people from Taiwan on their first day of their internship. He is the first Korean American to serve as city librarian and he has a passion for library work and considers cultural exchanges extremely important. He told them that this internship was an excellent opportunity to learn how the San Francisco Public Library actually operates and urged them to throw themselves enthusiastically into all aspects of the library's operations, from daily management, and providing reader services to event planning. This would give them a fuller understanding of the library's role in community education and fostering cultural development.
The City Librarian also expressed his personal hopes that the interns would take what they learn from observing the commendable practices of San Francisco Public Library, and their valuable experiences there, back to Taiwan to contribute to the advancement of Taiwan's libraries.
