PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten Library joined the other libraries of the Dutch Caribbean—the CAS islands (Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten) and the BES islands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba)—in taking an important step in the further development of their shared network during a week-long conference in El Salvador. Together, they signed their joint network plan, setting out how they will collaborate on shared ambitions. While in El Salvador, the Sint Maarten Library and its Dutch Caribbean partners also exchanged knowledge and experience with local library professionals as part of an international exchange, separate from the network itself.
The National Library of the Netherlands (KB) and Rijnbrink attended the conference as network partners.
The conference marked an important turning point in building a strong and sustainable network among the libraries of the Dutch Caribbean. By getting to know one another better, sharing knowledge and experience, and formulating shared ambitions, the libraries are laying a solid
foundation for long-term collaboration among themselves. In doing so, they can strengthen one another and collectively make a greater impact on their organizations and communities.
Joint network plan signed
The Sint Maarten Library, together with the other libraries of the Dutch Caribbean, is building a strong and sustainable network guided by Common Eye and rooted in their needs, experience, and ambitions. Signing the network plan is a significant milestone. Among other things, the shared ambitions focus on strengthening the positioning of the Dutch Caribbean libraries and on developing future-proof libraries. With their signatures, the libraries—including the Sint Maarten Library—confirmed the ambitions and agreements they have formulated together.
The KB, the national library of the Netherlands, the BES islands, and Rijnbrink are partners of the network. As a knowledge and expertise partner, Rijnbrink contributes to the organizational and substantive development of the Dutch Caribbean libraries. The KB and Rijnbrink support the libraries in advancing the ambitions set out in the network plan.
Learning with and from libraries in El Salvador
Alongside the further development of the Dutch Caribbean network, the week also included an international knowledge exchange with local libraries, a separate part of the program, not an expansion of the network itself. The Sint Maarten Library, together with the other Dutch Caribbean libraries, Rijnbrink, and the KB, visited several libraries in El Salvador and gained insight into their working methods, activities, and experiences.
Library professionals from Sint Maarten, the wider Dutch Caribbean, and El Salvador shared their knowledge and practical experience during these visits. The exchange provided space to explore similarities and differences and to draw inspiration from one another.
Connection as the foundation for further collaboration: The combination of joint network development among the Dutch Caribbean libraries and the
international exchange with El Salvador made the conference particularly valuable. The Sint Maarten Library and its Dutch Caribbean partners look back on a successful week in which connection, encounter, and mutual learning were central. In the period ahead, they will work on the shared ambitions set out in the network plan and continue to shape collaboration between the islands.