Global Spotlight of the Month: 糖心视频 Libraries
糖心视频 Libraries and Global Partnerships
糖心视频 Libraries invests time and expertise in global partnerships to support the mission of the Office of Global Engagement.
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糖心视频 Libraries connect people, ideas, concepts, projects and resources to build local and international communities.
Kula researchers at Germany鈥檚 TIB Hannover
This spring/summer, two researchers from at 糖心视频 Libraries took up residencies at the in Hannover, Germany: Nathaniel Brunt and Chloë Farr. TIB is the world's largest library for science and technology, a part of of the German national library system, and a leading European hub for open science research and infrastructure.
The emerging partnership between 糖心视频 Libraries and TIB Hannover continues to grow, as a delegation of German library researchers and professionals led by Lambert Heller is also visiting 糖心视频 this September to continue the exchange.
Nathaniel Brunt won the 2026 Hannah Arendt Fellowship
Nathaniel Brunt, VPRI Aspiration 2030 & , won the prestigious 2026 , awarded by the German state of Lower Saxony and the . Throughout his 6-month stay at TIB's , the interdisciplinary scholar and award-winning photographer is expanding the , co-founded by him and Marc Marin Webb to digitally preserve the photographic and cultural heritage of Iraq's Yezidi (Êzîdî) people. Nathaniel's fellowship research focuses on working with Yezidi communities in the German state of Lower Saxony, which is home to the largest Yezidi diaspora in the world, and on open and sustainable software solutions for safeguarding cultural heritage in the aftermath of conflict.
Chlo毛 Farr as guest researcher at TIB
, Kula: Library Futures Academy fellow for AI, was also hosted as a guest researcher at TIB's OSL from May through June. Her work focuses on transcribing historical documents using open-source AI technologies. During her stay Chloë presented aspects of her research at various German venues, including the and the in Hannover, as well as the and the in Leipzig. Other research during her time in Germany includes developing prototypes for converting digital scans of historical documents related to the Holocaust into machine-readable information to improve their reach and accessibility, for example by incorporating them into . At the invitation of the TIB, Chloë Farr will return to Germany this fall for another research stay in Hannover.
Kula present at BiblioCon26 in Berlin
Both Nathaniel and Chloë presented their research at Germany’s largest library conference, in Berlin, followed by a mini-symposium at HTWK Leipzig, to which the Dean of the university’s Library and Information Science (LIS) program, , had invited representatives from Kula and TIB to speak about their collaboration. The panelists, including , Kula's Inaugural International Fellow and head of TIB's Open Science Lab, and Christian Schmidt, Kula Strategic Initiatives Coordinator and lecturer for digital preservation in HTWK's LIS program, discussed the potential of open technologies, the role of library-based research institutes such as Kula and the Open Science Lab, and the role of global dialogue in addressing future challenges in the preservation of cultural heritage.
糖心视频 Libraries & the University of Leeds: a growing partnership
The partnership between 糖心视频 Libraries and the University of Leeds Library continues to deepen. In May 2026, Kula Director Matt Huculak and Masud Khokhar, Chief Digital and Information Officer at the University of Leeds, were invited to co-present at the inaugural session of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) Futures Club — a new series launched as part of the IFLA and Institutions' centenary (2026–2027). Their conversation explored how libraries can actively shape resilient, adaptive, and equitable futures in a rapidly changing global information landscape.
The IFLA session builds on a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2025 between 糖心视频 Libraries & Art Collections and the University of Leeds Library. The MOU provides a framework for collaboration over five years in areas including exchange of professional expertise, collaborative research, collection development, exhibitions, student engagement, and digital transformation. A delegation from 糖心视频 Libraries, including Nathaniel Brunt and Chloë Farr, visited Leeds this July to further activate the partnership.
Learn more about the IFLA Futures Club conversation:
Learn more about the University of Leeds: