ASCLA selects Mair as 2011 Emerging Leader

Tiffany Mair, student assistant at the California State Library Braille and Talking Book Library, will serve as the 2011 Emerging Leader for the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA).

The ALA Emerging Leaders (EL) program is a leadership development program which enables newer library workers from across the country to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. The EL experience begins with a daylong session during the ALA Midwinter Meeting, followed by six months of project engagement through online learning and networking environments. The program culminates with a poster session presentation to display the results of the project planning work of each group at the ALA Annual Conference. As the ASCLA Emerging Leader, Mair will partner with other emerging leaders on the project of her choosing, and will collaborate with ASCLA leadership to tackle various projects and contribute to the division’s work and member activities.

In addition to her work at the California State Library, Mair previously worked at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments as a data center/library intern. She has been an active member of the American Library Association and the California Library Association. She will graduate from San Jose State University with a Master’s in Library and Information Science in Dec. 2010, and holds a B.A. in English Literature from Mills College.

Networking Uncommons at Midwinter: What it is, how to use it

We wanted to make you aware of the Networking Uncommons space at the upcoming Midwinter Meeting. It’s ideal for impromptu meetings or continuing discussion group conversations beyond the official meeting space.

Hours

Friday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Monday: 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Location

Located in the San Diego Convention Center. More details on the exact location soon.

What is it?

The official hashtag for the Networking Uncommons is #unalamw11 – follow it for updates and news about what’s happening there.

Make the connections you want at the new Networking Uncommons space in the San Diego Convention Center. It’s a dedicated area where you can gather in small groups to have a quick meeting, polish your presentation, or just recharge your batteries.

We’ll have tables, chairs, free convention center wifi, and a projector and screen, as well as some gadgets in case you want to push content out in real-time. And power strips. Always the power strips….

Schedule

Sign up for a time slot if you want to plan ahead – otherwise, just show up. During open times, the area is up for grabs, although it’s big enough that multiple groups can use it at once, even when someone has scheduled something. Or just look at the topics each day to see what interests you. Note that signing up for a time slot reserves the projector for you.

Gadgets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please note that we won’t be able to provide desktop computers or laptops in this space, so you’ll need to have your own laptop. If you have a Mac and you want to use the projector, please be sure to bring your VGA dongle, too.

Ways you can use this space

  • Have a seat on your own for a few minutes to power down.
  • Power up your tech.
  • Continue your group’s discussion the day after your meeting.
  • Offer a short, impromptu talk about a topic (just advertise it on Twitter, etc., and show up).
  • Summarize your meeting and use our webcam to stream it live or record it for posting. It’s totally up to you.
  • Have a hot topic everyone’s buzzing about at Midwinter but there’s no formal meeting to discuss it? You’ve found your space – just pick a time and tell everyone.
  • Whatever else you can think of!

Meet and greet, or bring something to eat – it’s your space to use.

Action Alert: MLSA vote–call your representative!

POSTED ON BEHALF OF Kristin Murphy, Government Relations Specialist, American Library Association – Washington Office. 202.628.8410, kmurphy@alawash.org

Good news! The U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a vote on the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) for Tuesday. Your phone calls to Congress are especially important now as your representatives will be making a decision on how they plan to vote on this bill.  Please call your representative and then distribute this message to your colleagues, listservs and other groups.

Please call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your representative’s office. Tell their staffs that passing MLSA is imperative to ensuring libraries can continue providing critical resources and services to their constituents, particularly in this tough economy. Specifically highlighting programs or resources your library provides to the member’s constituents will make your message stronger.  A link to the full action alert can be found here.

MLSA will ensure that all library programs under the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), including the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), are authorized, therefore equipping IMLS to lead America’s libraries. This bill received bipartisan support from both Republicans and Democrats when it passed the Senate late week, and it will need the same bipartisan support to pass the House. To access the full text of this bill, click here.

Your calls are urgently needed TODAY! If the House fails to pass this legislation when it is on the floor tomorrow, the whole reauthorization process will have to start over after the first of the year. We cannot let that happen.

Consulting workshop: prices drastically reduced!

Due to a change in the event agenda–specifically, the elimination of a working lunch–the prices for the “Assembling a Consulting Toolkit: What You Need to Know to Become a Successful Library Consultant” institute at the ALA Midwinter Meeting have been drastically reduced!

Until registration closes on December 29, you can sign up at the following prices: ASCLA member, $215. ALA member, $225. Non-member, $260. Retired and Student members of ALA, $170.

If you have already purchased registration for this event, you will receive a refund from Experient, our 3rd party registration manager.

At both the 2010 Midwinter and Annual events, this workshop sold out, and with good reason: Nancy Bolt, Sara Laughlin and Beth Bingham offer a presentation that is informative, collaborative and inspiring. Past attendees have raved about how the workshop provided them with the confidence and the guidance to pursue consulting as a viable career option, or improve one’s current consulting endeavors. The agenda includes an overview of library consulting and a self-assessment to determine personal consulting potential. Participants will then work together in an active and engaging format to explore different roles that consultants play, services consultants may deliver to clients, marketing consulting services, managing a consulting business and finding clients.

The workshop will be held 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, in Room 05A of the San Diego Convention Center. Interested participants can register for this event only (event code ASC1) or can register in conjunction with Midwinter Meeting registration by adding it as a ticketed event. For institute-only registration using the online form, select “SO-Institute and Ticketed Events Only” as the registration type and proceed to select this event from the list.

Interface submissions due Dec. 15

Interface, the official e-newsletter of ASCLA, is now accepting submissions for the next issue. The deadline is December 15th so that this issue can be published before the ALA Midwinter Meeting and provide the membership with details on all the ASCLA-related meetings events taking place in San Diego.

The goals of Interface are to 1) present the latest developments in the field of specialized and cooperative library activities through substantive articles and special focus issues, 2) communicate effectively among the diverse elements of the division and 3) report official acts and activities of the various units of the division. We would like to particularly focus on bringing all of the communities of ASCLA together through their common issues, as well as introducing the unique aspects of each community to the others.  In particular, Interface is a great place to report on a successful program at your library or agency.

Articles should be sent as Word (.doc) attachments, and should include the name, title and institution/organization name for any authors. Articles of any length are accepted, however the length should be appropriate for an e-newsletter publication.

Send submissions by Dec. 15 to Anne Abate, Interface editor, at anne@librarydiscountnetwork.com. Ideas for issue themes and article topics can also be submitted to the editor at the same e-mail address–we want to hear from you, the members, and learn more about the important work you’re doing.

Upcoming ASCLA webinar sessions of interest to students and library schools

The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) invites students and library school faculty to take advantage of the affordable and convenient learning opportunities offered by the ASCLA Virtual Convergence—a webinar series that will be hosted online by ASCLA Tuesday, Jan. 18-Friday, Jan. 21.

The Convergence offers webinars addressing topics that go beyond classroom learning, including:

  • Grant writing: where to find out about grant opportunities and how to prepare effective grant applications.
  • Services and information access for disabled and differently-abled patrons, including copyright policy affecting persons with print disabilities and Web 2.0 tools
  • Services to teens of all types, including at-risk teens
  • Providing effective distance reference services
  • Effective library programming for Latino populations
  • Federal library jobs: careers in federal libraries; how to find a federal job; and resume writing and interview techniques

Attending a session is a great way for students to acquire information that will enhance their library school experience, and also give you a leg up in this highly competitive job market for internships and full-time employment. Library school faculty looking to add something extra to their courses or raise awareness of a specialized area of library services should share this information with students or arrange for a group of students to participate in sessions.

A list of relevant webinars can be found in  download here. It contains the complete descriptions, dates and times for the sessions. There are a handful of other sessions not included in this flyer—to learn about them, download the complete schedule here. Webinars will be held throughout the day, and will last approximately 60 minutes, with time for Q&A afterwards. Interested participants are welcome to choose any number of webinars to participate in.

Student member registration is just $45 for a single webinar, and $43 each for two or more webinars. Group registration rates are also available, which makes signing up an entire group of students easy and affordable. To broadcast the webinar for a room full of participants, it’s just $99 per webinar. For multiple logins at a discounted group rate, it’s $38 per person per webinar, with a minimum of two people registered for a single webinar.

To register, go to the registration page. Scroll down to Virtual Convergence and click on “Register” to the right (ALA login required). A downloadable registration form is also available to sign up by fax or mail. Contact Membership and Customer Service with any questions at registration@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, option 5.