Cambodia - same, same only different

Back in Bangkok waiting for my early flight tomorrow morning after four days in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Shuffling through the over 400 pictures I took and reflecting a little on my experiences.

Despite the sauna-like heat and torrential rains each evening (one which knocked out all the power in the city), the little piece of Cambodia I experienced was truly a remarkable place. And while the scenery and temples were amazing, I was left with a genuine affection for the Cambodian people - at least the ones I met.

Stepping out of the airport terminal, I requested "moto" transport into town. And I made my trip-long connection with Mr. Vong Hoy.

Mr. Hoy was the proud owner and driver of the small "moto" that I spent a rather large amount of time perched on the back. (Cambodia requires drivers to wear helmets but not passengers.) And while my big American butt felt somewhat cramped, I soon realized that I was rather selfish when such a bike could really serve as a whole minivan. Count carefully - that's a family of six on the bike below.

Mr. Hoy suggested the guest house where I was planning to stay was far too noisy and I would be more comfortable at the New Green Hotel, where he seemed to spend much of his downtime with other drivers in the restaurant/bar watching violent movies on TV. The New Green was a clean, if spartan accommodation that seemed a value. The bill for my three nights stay, five meals, many beers and waters, and even a load of laundry came to $89. 

I'll not bore you with blow-by-blow descriptions of all the temples. You need a picture of Angkor Wat, the Bayon, and more Hindu and Buddhist deity carvings than you can shake a stick at, let me know. But I am sure you can find far more professional images on Flickr or someplace. It's a magnificent collection of temples built when my European ancestors were still running around naked painted blue.

At each temple, the regular collection of touts quickly appeared. Often small groups of land mine victims played instruments, sometimes with stumps, adding a eerie music to the atmosphere of the place.

What seemed different here were the number of kids hawking books, post cards, cheap jewelry, etc. I do believe "one dolla" sung in a high pitch may well be the first words these kids utter as babies. US dollars are the primary currency in Cambodia and my 50 one-dollar bills I brought with me were gone in two days.

But how could anyone resist such a charming salesgirl who would sell you 10 postcards for "one dolla" and count them out for you - in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and (in my effort to stump the chump) even Swedish. Or at least what sounded like Swedish to me. She was confused, however, when I asked her to count in Minnesotan. This selling, rather than keeping kids from school, usually financed their education. So the guidebooks and Mr. Hoy assured me.

Religious devotion is always present. Whether single nuns at small shrines in the temples,

or in the more flamboyant spectacle of brightly colored flocks of monks visiting.

The iconic image of the Cambodian temple is the peaceful smiling faces from the temple of Bayon. 

It is still a fitting image for the Cambodia people I met and talked to. Always a smile, a bow, a soft reply, and always unforced laughter. When I said something to Mr. Hoy that was clearly in error, his response was, "Yes, same, same - only different." A rather nice way of being told you are wrong. Mr. Hoy and his fellow moto drivers thought themselves very funny. The national beer's slogan is: "My country. My beer." 

To which Mr. Hoy always added, "But if you buy - "My country, your beer." Followed by a laugh at his own joke. 

Three small pieces of advice if you visit:

• Read Geoff Ryman's excellent book The King's Last Song that intersperses a story of modern day Cambodians with that of King Jayavarman VII who built many of the temples in the area. Well researched and well written and it puts much of what one sees in context.
• Visit the Angkor Museum, only 2 years old, in Siem Reap early in your visit. You'll understand some of what you are seeing in the temples. Many of the original carvings are actually in the museum instead of onsite. After you see how many statues have been decapitated to sell to collectors, you'll understand why much of what is left is under lock and key.
• Oh, rent one of the motocycles that pull the little trailers behind them - moto-romauks. It will save your  butt and you'll probably get better photos.

Anyway, it was a very nice trip and I've added Cambodia to my list of countries where I would like to be a snowbird for a few months when I retire. (No trailer park in Arizona for me, I hope.) Back to my badly neglected e-mail that's been accumulating these last few days.

Some Cambodian smiles to close...

Libraries and commitment

Build it and they will come. - Ray Kinsella

The busy ISB Bangkok MS/HS Library, May 2009

I was surprised by the number of comments from my last post - "The Essential Question." Obviously, the survival and form of school libraries is front and center on many people's minds.

First, thanks to all who commented (often at length with great thoughtfulness). If you have not read through what others wrote, take a few moments and do so. 

For myself, the recommendations that Ann Krembs and I made in our initial report to the school brought home strongly just how interdependent library facilities, curriculum and methodology really are.

Not many years ago one could easily find recommended "numbers" for library facility planning: recommended square footage, size of collection, amount of seating, number of instructional areas, etc. But these numbers grow increasingly meaningless as entire schools commit to information and technology literacy skills taught in all classes, by all teachers. Or choose not to.

Let's face it, a school where text books, classroom book collections, and the "term paper" as the only means of student communication don't need much of a library. A small popular book collection and a word-processing lab with access to Google may actually be all that such a school needs. If the librarian and technology staff are viewed as not having knowledge that is sufficiently relevant to implementing and teaching IL/IT skills, the book room can be staffed by clerks and the techs can keep the e-mail server and student information system up and running from a small hidden office until those applications are outsourced.

At the same time, if a school truly decides they want all their students to graduate having mastered a sophisticated set of IL/IT skills, having learned how to solve real problems creatively, and having experienced the power of global communications and collaboration, then a lack of resources - physical plant, equipment and human expertise will truly undercut this effort. Such an undertaking will require 1:1laptop programs, well-stocked print collections, productivity labs, a fast and powerful network, good online materials, and, of course, a crackerjack professional staff to support both staff and students. 

I would have liked to have been able to consult some professional standards that would quickly satisfy administrators and architects.  I would really like to have been able to confidently state a "Library of Dreams" philosophy: Build it and they will come.

But we're not talking mystical baseball fields in Iowa cornfields here. Modern library facilities, technology and professional staff come at a cost that must be weighed against other possible efforts made to educate kids. And competing visions of what an educated student looks like.

No sense building a baseball field if you are only going to play ping-pong. 

The essential question?

Form follows function.
- Louis Sullivan

ISB student "using" the library, May 13, 2009

The question our team was to help answer was supposed to be: How can the MS/HS library program and facilities be improved to support student learning and achieve the ISB Vision for Learning?

But somehow it changed in a meeting with school officials this afternoon to: Does a school need a library when information can be accessed from the classroom using Internet connected laptops?

The new question is uncomfortable, messy, and incredibly important and not restricted by any means to one particular school. It is one to which all library people need a clear and compelling answer.

I've been addressing this question in articles since, well, for a long time, including:

• Why do we need libraries when we have the Internet? Knowledge Quest, Vol #27 no. 1 (1998)
• Are Libraries (and Librarians) Heading Toward Extinction? Teacher-Librarian, Dec 2003
• Letter from the Flat World Library Corporation, LMC, March 2006
• The Importance of Bricks, LMC, August/September 2006

Do you have a good response? What part does a facility play in a ubiquitous information environment? How does the librarian's role change? How do we assess our impact if physical visits become less frequent?

Your answers?