LOCAL LIBRARIAN SELECTED FOR AUSTRALIAN VOCATIONAL TRIP

Sarah Kostin, Youth Services Librarian at Bud Werner Memorial Library will leave next Saturday, February 6^th for a five-week business, cultural and study exchange to New South Wales, Australia.  Kostin joins four other young professionals from Wyoming and Colorado on the trip which is underwritten by The International Rotary Foundation.

Kostin was recommended for the trip by the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs according to club president Suzanne Schlicht.  Local Rotarian Mike Forney was chosen by the Rotary district to lead the group.

Team member Sarah Kostin reviews the travel manual and itinerary for the upcoming trip to New South Wales, Australia with Steamboat Springs Rotarian and team leader Mike Forney.

Rotary International pays for the round-trip flights and the exchange team members stay with host families of Rotarians in Australia. A similar group of young professionals from Australia will visit Rotary clubs in Wyoming and Colorado In May and June.

Kostin has held several positions at the local library since she joined them in 2004.  She worked previously at Horizon Specialized Services as a community integration specialist.  She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at La Salle University in Philadelphia and a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois.

All of the participants are between 25 and 40 years old and are required to have been fully employed in their profession for a minimum of two years. They cannot be Rotarians or direct relatives of Rotarians.   They were selected based on their interest in the study of diverse cultures, an outgoing personality, a commitment to serve as an “ambassador” to another country and a desire to learn more about their individual fields and vocations.

Other team members include two from Jackson, Wyoming; Matthew Weisman, Director of Information Technology for the Town of Jackson, and Joshua Mallonee, International and Service Program Coordinator at Wilderness Ventures.  Leslie Sampson, senior vice president of HomeState Bank is from Loveland; and Tiffany Lehman, owner and business and life coach for Living on Purpose lives in Fort Collins.

Mike Forney, who served as club president for the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs last year, said  “The team will travel a wide area of Northeast New South Wales, from about 240 to 400 miles north of Sydney.  The team will visit many of the 55 Rotary clubs in the host district, attend their meetings, witness and participate in a wide variety of community and international service projects, and explore the area’s natural resources and highlights.  They will also meet and confer with Australians who work in industries and professions similar to their own.”

The Rotary district in Australia includes seaside resort area and communities deep in the Australian bush.  The district features extensive tourism, farming, equine management, education, manufacturing, aviation, and healthcare. The team will also study the aborigine culture and visit with aborigine leaders during their tour.   February and March are the height of the summer season in Australia with temperatures reaching 110 degrees inland.

The team members were chosen during an extensive interview process in November.  Since that time they have participated in weekend training and orientation sessions in Jackson and Laramie Wyoming and Fort Collins, Colorado.

They leave Denver International Airport on Saturday afternoon, February 6^th and arrive in Sydney Australia on Monday morning, February 8^th after crossing the International Date Line.  They will return to the United States in mid-March.