Greetings from Lisbon: My GLAM Wiki Story.

I was thrilled to receive a scholarship to attend the GLAM Wiki 2025 in Lisbon. It was my very first GLAM conference, which made the opportunity even more exciting.

In case you’re wondering, GLAM stands for Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums. It’s a gathering that brings together librarians, curators, archivists and wikimedians from all over world to share ideas, collaborate, and figure out how to make cultural knowledge more open and accessible. Basically, it’s a big, global team effort to preserve and celebrate heritage. As a librarian working with a National Library, you can imagine my excitement – I was truly over the moon.

The theme of the conference, “Resilience in its many forms”, set the tone for three days of collaboration, learning, and inspiration.

Presenting in the “Heritage at Risk” session was a particularly meaningful moment. It inspired me to explore more resilient, community-driven ways of preserving and sharing cultural heritage and strengthened the link between my work as a librarian and my role as a wikimedian.

What further stood out most for me was the spirit of collaboration and knowledge-sharing. I’m especially grateful for the advice I received from Carla and Luis from Wikimedia Bolivia on improving my project. Their insights left me inspired and motivated to put what I learned into practice.

Memorable Moments

• Wikibrarian Meet-up at the National Library of Portugal: We discussed sustainability and strategies to bring more librarians into the movement.
• Photo Walks & City Exploration: For those of who missed the official cultural tours, we had a chance to enjoy a photo walk around Lisbon which turned out to be its own kind of adventure with lots of laughter and snapshots along the way.
• Sharing on Social Media: I couldn’t resist live-posting my favorite moments on X (formerly Twitter) and BlueSky under the hashtag #GLAMWikiPT connecting with the broader community in real time was exciting.

Key Takeaways

Preserving heritage and making it accessible is truly a collective effort. Every project, no matter how small, and every contribution, no matter how modest, helps keep stories alive. It’s this shared dedication that connects us to the past and inspires the future. The GLAM community itself is warm, supportive, and full of energy, making the experience even more meaningful.

Gratitude

Many thanks to Wikimedia Portugal for the scholarship; their support made this incredible experience possible.

ICYMI

Just in case you missed it, no worries. The session recordings from the auditorium are available here GLAM Wiki 2025 Program.