Uzbekistan at DPL

Submitted by Stefanie on July 22, 2010 - 12:41pm

Nargiza Tulaganova says that one of her favorite novels written in Uzbek is Tushda kechgan umrlar by Utkir Hoshimov, whose title in English means "Lives Passed in Sleep," but Nargiza seems to have no intention of sleeping through her life, thanks to the internship program made possible by the Denver International Program, USA (DIPUSA).

A graduate with a degree in International Relations, a speaker of 4 languages -- Uzbek, Russian, Turkish and English -- and a manager at a company in Uzbekistan, she wanted to continue growing and learning even more, so she visited the Educational Advising Center (EAC) at the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent which led her to the Denver International Program and the Denver Public Library. The aim of her program here in Denver is to gain "comprehensive knowledge of library science in the U.S. and to develop leadership skills."

During her internship -- in addition to visiting the mountains and four other states, attending educational and cultural events and watching the World Cup -- Nargiza has worked at five different DPL Branches. She is impressed by how U.S. library systems are able to provide entertainment, information, community and literature for everyone.

"In Tashkent there are very good research libraries within universities and institutions. But we don't have huge public libraries like in America. When I was a child, my parents used to just buy books for me. Then I used to go to the school library. All textbooks for all school subjects were given by the school library to us for free for the whole year. Then, at the end of the school year we gave them back."

The highlight of her work so far has been attending DPL preschool storytimes.

"Watching kids learn how to read gives me joy. Even very little kids are so interested in books; they carefully listen to the stories a librarian reads to them. From my observation, librarians here are very attentive to users' needs. For example, my co-worker Amanda understands children very well - she is excellent with kids. She has passion for her job."

About her work at DPL, Nargiza says, "No matter what I am doing, checking out items or shelving books, helping users find particular things they are looking for - I am happy when my work is helpful." By the end of her training she hopes to return to her country with fresh, useful ideas and new professional skills. Uzbekistan needs experienced and well-educated specialists. Her work as an intern has helped her perfect her fluency in English and build her research abilities, and will help her contribute to the development and growth of her young country, which she describes as "different from both Asian and European countries" and blessed with "very hospitable, generous and kind" people. Plus, she adds, "Our fruits grown under the tender Asian sun taste fantastic!"

Check out these links if you'd like to learn more about Uzbekistan: