NMRT Notes

We are starting our next round of socials! In the fall, we tried to get as many regions as possible (see the older post here) and we are working on doing the same for the spring.

We have socials confirmed in the following places:

BAY AREA CALIFORNIA

Date: Sunday, April 12th
Time: 12pm
Venue: Elk Glen Picnic Area in Golden Gate Park (http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-elk-glen-picnic-area/)
RSVP on Facebook Invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/1404655556509803/

RICHMOND/CENTRAL VIRGINIA

Date: Monday, April 27th
Time: 5:30-9pm
Venue: Legend Brewing Company
http://www.legendbrewing.com/

CHICAGO

Date: Tuesday, April 21st, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM
Venue:
The Map Room
1949 N Hoyne Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
http://www.maproom.com/
Facebook Invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/442043349283250/442043862616532/

MISSOURI

Date: May 27, 2015
Time : 5pm – 8pm
Venue: Les Bourgois Vineyards, Rocheport, MO
http://missouriwine.com
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/462810437206967/

PENNSYLVANIA

When:Thursday, June 11
Starting at 1:30 PM
Venue: State Library of Pennsylvania
Forum Building
607 South Drive
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Registration: http://www.palibraries.org/events/event_details.asp?id=638058

Stay tuned/bookmark this post for more information on socials as we add them!

Networking between conferences is a great way to keep momentum and to share ideas, and it is also a great way to help stay connected if you aren’t able to attend conference! Consider helping start a social in your area. Please let me know at tinamarie.vella@gmail.com if you have any questions about getting involved.

DEADLINE EXTENDED! Members of ALA’s New Members Round Table (NMRT) can apply to receive a grant, which will cover expenses to attend the ALA Annual Conference, June 25 – June 30, 2015 in San Francisco, CA. Two grants are available, funded by Mango Languages and Gale/Cengage Learning. Applicants need only apply once to be considered for both awards.

You can find more information about the award here.
2015 MANGO LANGUAGES /NMRT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT

2015 GALE CENGAGE LEARNING/NMRT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT

To apply, please fill out this form. Deadline for application is April 6, 2015, 5pm EST.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Jessica Sender
Chair, NMRT Professional Development Grant Committee

Email: jsender23@gmail.com

The NMRT Footnotes Committee is seeking articles and reviews for the May 2015 issue.

Feature Articles
We are always looking for feature articles. If you want to share a project, aspect of your job or interest, we want your article! Footnotes is a great opportunity for professional writing and publication.

Book and Website Reviews
Recently read a book that would appeal to other new librarians and want to share your thoughts? Have a favourite website or set of web resources for a particular topic? Consider writing a book or website review!

Please email submissions to the Editor: staceynordlund@gmail.com

Please also review the Submission Guidelines: http://www.ala.org/nmrt/footnotes#submissions

All articles and reviews will be due by Friday May 1, 2015.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Stacey Nordlund
Chair/Editor, NMRT Footnotes, 2014-15

Susan Jennings, NMRT’s former councilor, has finished her write-up for Council actions at the 2015 ALA Midwinter meeting. Please see her blog here for an update on what’s happening for ALA in the coming year.

While Susan has been an excellent councilor for NMRT, she will no longer be able to perform this function for us. Fortunately, we have a wonderful interim councilor through June 30, 2016, Margaret Howard, who is very excited to work with us! Below is a little about Margaret in her own words.

“I am Margaret Howard, your new NMRT Councilor. I am an Assistant Branch Manager at Chesterfield County Public Library, a nine-branch system located in the suburbs of Richmond, VA. I was a member of the 2013 ALA Emerging Leaders class and was sponsored by NMRT. I chaired the NMRT Vice-Presidential Planning Committee 2013-2014 during Megan Hodge’s tenure as Vice President, and I currently serve as Co-Chair of the NMRT Mentoring Committee. I was a member of the NMRT mentoring committee 2013-2014, served as a NMRT Liaison 2012-2013, and the LLAMA Continuing Education Committee 2013-2015. In addition to my participation in ALA I am an active member of the Virginia Library Association (VLA) and currently serve as VLA NMRT Chair. I served as VLA NMRT Chair-Elect 2013-2014 and as VLA Secretary/Treasurer 2012-2013. I have been on the Library Quarterly Review Board since 2014.

My plan for keeping NMRT members up to date on council is through a blog fancylibrarian.wordpress.com and notifying members of new posts through NMRT-L and coordinating with NMRT Secretary on NMRT social media outlets. In addition to thorough blog posts I would also include a “tl;dr” highlighted version of council happenings.”

Thanks Margaret for stepping up to the plate for NMRT and keeping us so well informed!

When: Thursday March 26th 2015; 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, US/Eastern

Conference Proposals and Scholarships can be a very rewarding aspect to one’s career as a librarian.  Join NMRT for a live chat to learn and share tips and tricks on writing a conference proposal and/or scholarship application.  This can be very helpful whether you are a student, new librarian or someone with many years in the field with a lot of conference proposal and scholarship application experience that can be shared with all.  Come chat and learn from one another!

This chat will be happening on Twitter. To join and follow the chat, follow Leigh Milligan at @INALJ_PA and/or follow the hashtag #nmrtchat You can follow the tweets by typing #nmrtchat into the search box or use something like TweetDeck or HootSuite to filter the tweets.

The most important thing is to include #nmrtchat in all of your tweets to make them visible for all participants.

When the chat starts, send a tweet to introduce yourself, it’s always helpful to know who everyone is.

Leigh, the chat moderator will be asking 4 questions in the Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 format, and followers will use the #nmrtchat and answer in the A1, A2, A3 and A4 format.

Feel free to retweet any comments you like or agree with, and share any articles or blogs of interest.

Look forward to seeing you all at #nmrtchat !

Join us for the NMRT President’s Program at the ALA Annual Conference, “Cultivating Your Influence: How to be a Leading Librarian.” Becoming a leader can be quite an intimidating prospect for many new (and not-so-new) librarians and information professionals. No matter your career level or library type, being a leading advocate is an important component of librarianship and is critical when rallying support for ideas, services, and library users. Join us to learn from experienced librarians on how to make your voice heard.

This interactive pre-conference featuring a diverse panel of librarians will be held on Friday, June 26, from 1pm to 4pm. The session is a wonderful opportunity to learn from some leading librarians. Register for this ticketed event using the special code NMR2015 for a member discount.

We hope to see you there!

http://alaac15.ala.org/ticketed-events#NMRT

From NMRT Vice-President/President Elect, Kirby McCurtis:

Are you looking for a way to get more involved in the profession but don’t know where to start? New Members Round Table (NMRT) is the place to start and now is your opportunity to do so! The first step is to complete the 2015-2106 volunteer form. By completing the volunteer form you are guaranteed a spot on a committee. For no other Round Table and/or Division is meaningful involvement so simple!

I joined NMRT in 2010 after an invitation from then NMRT President (now ALA President) Courtney Young. Courtney inspired me to take the next step in building a professional network by not only joining the Round Table but by volunteering to serve. I found a great group of people from across the country that I connected with, and of course I was hooked. Now, five years later I’m anticipating the start of my term as NMRT President in July 2015. I would love for you to serve with me in 2015-2106—let’s work together to make both the Round Table and profession a great and welcoming atmosphere for everyone!

NMRT members are invited to submit an essay to win a ticket to attend a ticketed event of their choosing at the 2015 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA.The award is intended to facilitate professional development and networking opportunities for NMRT members through participation in special ticketed ALA events.

The essay contest is open to any NMRT member who is not currently serving on the Annual Conference Professional Development Attendance Award Committee or the NMRT Executive Board. To enter the contest, please write a short essay (about 250 words) telling the committee why you want to attend the selected event and how you feel you would benefit personally and professionally.

Applications due: April 16, 2015.
Winners will be notified by: May 7, 2015

The committee does not consider geographic location, age, sex, religion, race or national origin in the award selection process. Applications can be completed here.

Kai Alexis Smith is the 2015 recipient of the New Members Round Table (NMRT) Shirley Olofson Memorial Award. This award, named in honor of the late NMRT President Shirley Olofson, is given annually to defray the costs of attending the ALA Annual Conference. Criteria for the award include membership in ALA and NMRT, promise or activity in the area of professional development, and financial need.

Kai Alexis Smith is the Librarian-­in­-Residence at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. She earned her MSLIS from Pratt Institute (New York, NY) and her BFA in Writing for Publication at Pratt Institute (New York, NY). Current leadership roles in  library professional organizations include chair of the Diversity Committee of Art Library Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), liaison to the Black Caucus of ALA on Diversity Council, and a member of the ACRL/Arts Conference Programing Committee San Francisco 2015 and the Digital Technologies and the Arts Committee. Kai is also active in ALA, and NMRT, and is currently serving as NMRT’s Liaison to Library Information Technology Association (LITA). She will receive $1,000 to attend the ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA.

The committee would like to thank all who applied for this year’s Shirley Olofson Memorial Award. Further information about this award, including past recipients, can be found at the NMRT Awards, Grants & Scholarships page.

Please join us in congratulating Kai Alexis Smith!

NMRT Shirley Olofson Memorial Award Committee
Rachel Jaffe, chair
Elizabeth Lieutenant
Sophie Rondeau
Jenny Stout
Maurini Strub
Samuel Suber
Lois Wilkins

ALA elections are approaching and this year NMRT is electing a Leadership Development Director, Vice-President/President-Elect, Member Services Director, and Secretary. Below, our candidates answer a few questions about their plans for the position.

Why are you interested in this position?

Karen Doster:   I would like to become more involved in ALA from a leadership perspective. I have found the NMRT to be a very engaging committee of ALA, and believe my involvement would give me the opportunity to provide influential to support to new individuals to our profession.

What skills and experiences do you bring to the position?

Karen Doster:  I served as secretary for the FSU ALA student chapter.

As Secretary your responsibilities include coordinating NMRT social networking presence on the appropriate tools. What do you feel is the best method to get information to the NMRT membership, and why? What is your plan for coordinating NMRT’s social networking presence?

Karen Doster:  My first responsibility will be coordinating with the out-going secretary to make sure the existing social networking efforts continue. I think it would be beneficial to poll our members to assess which social networking sites they use the most. Facebook has become a staple, but maybe members prefer receiving news from the round table though Twitter. Based on member feedback I would focus the NMRT social networking presence through those selected channels, and use secondary ones as needed.

What do you hope to learn if elected?

Karen Doster:  If elected, I hope to learn more about the structure and roles of executive boards for ALA committees. I also hope to learn more about our members to help identify how the round table can enrich their new careers as a librarian.

If elected, what time management skills will you employ to ensure that your NMRT duties remain a priority?

Karen Doster:  I plan to work closely with my supervisor to make sure that I am available for every online meeting, will set aside specific time during the week to maintain the NMRT’s social networking presence, and establish deadlines for important reports and information required by the committee and round table members.

Do you have questions of your own for the candidates?  Please post your question & the names of the candidate(s) you wish to answer on the NMRT Facebook page within the next week.