Northern Lights Library Network Event

Media Center Staff…and other interested people:

Before you leave for the Christmas holidays, mark your calendars, register, and begin making arrangements to join us for a spectacular workshop in late January to learn about games and gadgets in an informal setting, and to spend some quality time with fellow Destiny users acquiring new skills and applying new applications to your Destiny system.

Sunday evening, Jan 25, 2009,
Games and Gadgets
(with hors d’oeuvres buffet)
4pm - 8pm…or whenever

Monday, Jan 26, 2009
Meet Your Destiny in the Sandbox
(with breakfast and lunch included)
8:30am-3:30pm

Who is invited: All members of the North Star Library Consortium
All Minnesota Destiny users
Anyone interested in networking with colleagues about enhancing media center services

Cost: Registration is required, but there is no cost to attend. Please use this online <http://nlln.org/Reg1-26-09.html> registration form to register.

Location: Arrowwood Resort and <http://www.arrowwoodresort.com/> Conference Center, Alexandria, MN
Lodging arrangements can be made directly with Arrowwood by calling 866-386-5263 and request the Northern Lights Conference rate of $79.00.

Laptop Computers: It is strongly recommended that you bring a wireless-enabled laptop computer. This is hands-on event and to be fully engaged you’ll find a computer is a great benefit.

Content: This is the fun part. This Conference will largely be built on the interests of the participants.

A planning wiki is available at: meetyourdestiny.pbwiki.com <http://meetyourdestiny.pbwiki.com/> . Check it out. Add your thoughts, ask your questions, make suggestions, share great ideas. Do you want to know about e-book devices, or see World of Warcraft in action, try a WII, or learn how to make your Destiny Homepage glitzier or how to add e-books to Destiny or how to set up a gaming event? What are your interests? Deepest questions? Things you’d like to know more about because it seems everyone else does?

This wiki is open for you to contribute. Add your areas of interest, gadgets you might bring, games to share, topics you’d like discussed, suggestions for the flow of the day.

This Conference will be participant created and produced. This will be the perfect setting and perfect combination of knowledgeable practitioners to learn with and from. We must have a minimum of 35 registered participants by Jan 16 to ensure we will have the Conference, so register early and start contributing to the planning wiki.

Weather issues: In the event that we are unable to have the conference due to bad weather, we will simply cancel. It will not be possible to re-schedule the Conference. Arrowwood will honor lodging cancellations made for weather-related reasons if you contact them prior to the date of your reservation. Please include a cell phone or home phone number on the registration form so that we can contact you on Saturday or Sunday if necessary. This is the only reason the registration form asks for a home number. Past experience has shown us this is important in the event of changes or cancellations.

More information: is available on the Northern Lights Library Network webpage at: nlln.org <http://nlln.org/> and on the online registration <http://nlln.org/Reg1-26-09.html> page. Also on the planning wiki at http://meetyourdestiny.pbwiki.com <http://meetyourdestiny.pbwiki.com/> . Anyone can contribute to the wiki, but you must be registered with pbwiki to log in.

Contacts: Feel free to contact the Conference organizers: Patricia Post at CMLE (papost@stcloudstate.edu) or Ruth Solie at NLLN (rsolie@nlln.org) if you have questions.

We’re very excited about this event and look forward to having an energetic group of fun and talented people, on a winter weekend in a lovely setting, to play some games, share some gadgets, and figure out our Destiny! We hope you will join us!

Library Clerk - Houston

Library Associates Companies (LAC) seeks a part time Library Clerk to work on a temporary reclassification project at a global energy company located in Houston, TX. This position will work part-time, approximately 3 days per week, for a period of 4-8 weeks, possibly longer. The primary responsibility of the position is to conduct a shelf inventory of approximately 25,000 items working off a printed shelf list, while taking notes in two teams of two.

Responsibilities:

* Conduct a shelf inventory of approximately 25,000 items working off a printed shelf list;
* Take extensive notes on inventory & other required items;
* Label books with appropriate tags;
* Reorganize & re-shelve corporate library using newly re-label materials;
* Additional duties as assigned and required

Qualifications:

* Previous experience working in a library setting required, corporate work experience is a plus;
* Knowledge of library shelving and classification standards is preferred (LC/Dewey);
* Excellent attention to detail required;
* Excellent communication skills including the ability to write is required;
* Demonstrated reliability & punctuality is required.

To Apply:

* For immediate consideration please email your cover letter and resume to Brad Rogers at, jobs@libraryassociates.com<mailto:jobs@libraryassociates.com>.
* Please use "Library Clerk - Houston" as the subject line of your email.
Library Associates Companies is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that values diversity in the workforce.

LIBRARY ASSOCIATE - SIOUXLAND LIBRARIES

LIBRARY ASSOCIATE - SIOUXLAND LIBRARIES

Hiring Range DOQ: $18.39 - $19.94 per hour
Deadline for Filing: Friday, January 2, 2009 at 5:00 pm.

The Position

Perform complex paraprofessional library work with extensive public contact. Assist library customers of all ages to locate library materials, use the Internet, find specific information and do research. Coordinate interlibrary loan. Use library and office computer software as well as Internet resources in daily work. May be assigned to Main Library, Branches or Bookmobile. Current position is in Information Services at the Main Library.

Qualification Standards

Graduation from a college or university with course work in library science and a minimum of two years' library experience, or any such combination of education, experience, and training as may be acceptable to the hiring authority. Must be willing to work evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays as required. Ability to perform physical work, including lifting and/or moving up to 30 pounds of library materials frequently and up to 50 pounds occasionally; pushing a loaded book truck, and standing or sitting for long periods of time. Positions assigned to Extension, Circulation or Youth Services must possess or be able to obtain, prior to hire, a valid driver's license.

Application and Selection

Apply online at www.siouxfalls.org or at:
South Dakota Department of Labor
811 East Tenth Street
Department 41
Sioux Falls, SD 57103-1650.

Most qualified will be invited for testing. Special accommodations for application and/or testing or job information in alternative formats available upon request.

Donna Cranmer
Technical Services Librarian
Siouxland Libraries
200 N Dakota Ave.
PO Box 7403
Sioux Falls, SD 57117
605-367-8712
605-367-8754 fax
dcranmer@siouxfalls.org

WebJunction Minnesota

All Minnesota multicounty multitype library systems and five of the twelve regional public library systems (MELSA, Lake Agassiz, Traverse des Sioux, Great River, SELCO) have agreed to contribute time and effort to making WebJunction Minnesota a one-stop destination for library staff seeking news & information about Minnesota libraries, resources to improve library service, continuing education and more. Liaisons in these systems will help the WJMN Team get the word out, find content, and keep the site fresh and useful for you.

Internship - Hennepin County (MN)

This is a good opportunity for those considering a Spring 2009 internship that haven't finalized their plans.

Job Title: Literacy Specialist Internship - Northeast Library
Closing Date/Time: Fri. 01/02/09 5:00 PM Central Time
Salary: See Position Description
Job Type: Internship
Location: Northeast Library, Minnesota
Department: Library

Literacy Specialist Internship
Hennepin County Library

Hennepin County Library - Northeast Library is offering an internship opportunity to develop programs, services and resources to support literacy initiatives at the Library. This is an excellent opportunity for students in early elementary education, youth services librarianship, or youth development.

Commitment:
Winter semester 2009, 120 hours - part-time, flexible weekday/weekend/daytime/evening.

Wage:
This is an upaid position. The Intern will receive academic/internship credit through the college or university where enrolled.

Location:
Northeast Library, 2200 Central Avenue NE, Minneapolis and Northeast Middle School, 2955 Hayes Street NE, Minneapolis.

Job Duties:
At the school you will lead book clubs two Fridays a month over the lunch break.

At the library you will observe and lead storytimes, assist with storytime preparation, assist with collection management, observe and possibly lead other book clubs, offer informal literacy activities to children in the library, prepare for your book clubs, and observe and assist with reference services to all ages.

Requirements:
This is an excellent opportunity for a student completing a bachelor's or master's degree in elementary education, youth development, library science or a related area of study. Ideal candidates will be creative, reliable, patient, adaptable and possess the ability to approach and engage youth, and will possess a strong commitment to literacy and libraries.

To Apply and for Questions:
Send cover letter outlining qualifications for this position, resume and contact information for two references to:

Tom.Grund@co.hennepin.mn.us
- OR -
Tom Grund
Hennepin County Library - Ridgedale
12601 Ridgedale Drive
Minnetonka, MN 55305
(952) 847-8518

For more information contact Susan Woodwick at smwoodwick@hclib.org or (612) 630-6903.

Job posting - Washington State

King County Library System, Washington State
Lead Library Assistant II- Full Time
Job number: 2008-272
King County Library System, Auburn/Muckleshoot/Algona-Pacific Cluster

Application Deadline is December 15, 2008

Library Assistants are usually the first point of contact in KCLS libraries. As customer services representatives they provide basic information about KCLS materials, programs and services. This position directs the work of Library Assistants at multiple branch locations. Performs circulation services to patrons and resolves problems and answers questions of patrons.

REQ: A typical way of obtaining the knowledge, skills and abilities outlined above is with a high school diploma or GED, supplemented by some post-secondary training in a related field, plus 2-4 yrs experience in library operations, policies and procedures. Application deadline is December 15, 2008. $21.434 per hour plus excellent benefits. Send completed KCLS application and supplemental questionnaire (available on our website) to:

HR, King County Library System
960 Newport Way NW
Issaquah WA 98027
425-369-3224
Fax: 425-369-3214
www.kcls.org <http://www.kcls.org/>
EOE

Thank you,
Susan Hang
Human Resources Technician II
King County Library System
960 Newport Way NW
Issaquah, WA 98027
425-369-3224
FAX: 425-369-3214
Jobline: 425-369-3222
www.kcls.org <http://www.kcls.org>

More Blogging MLA... Introduction to RDA/FRBR

No, we're not talking about Recommended Dietary Allowances, nor are we talking about a particular child rearing method, although one says FRBR like "Ferber." We're talking serious insider cataloging baseball talk. And nothing says "cataloging" like a bunch o' acronyms.

RDA, or Resource Description and Access, is the "new" AACR2r (that's Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd Edition, Revised), bringing library cataloging standards right into the 1990s. Uh, I mean the 21st century. FRBR, or Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, builds on an entity relationship model for cataloging resources. Until I went to this session, I confess, I did not really "get" FRBR. I've read quite a bit, I generally think I'm pretty quick to figure things out. But for whatever reason, I did not have a good understanding of what FRBR did. After 45 minutes with Chew Chiat Naun, Principal Cataloger at the University of Minnesota Libraries, I had a true "ah-ha!" moment, when it finally all clicked together. Here's my attempt to explain:

Basically, a catalog, or metadata, record for an item has some information that is unique to that particular item and some information that may be shared by other records. FRBR is an attempt to notice those differences in the information, and make distinctions between them by introducing different language to describe them. Let's consider the first book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosophers's Stone. The basic intellectual concept of the story is the work. Once that information is put into a tangible form, it becomes an expression of the work, with potentially different manifestations of the work: The book with the U.S. title, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the audio book (which might be on CD or as a digital download), the large print edition, and so on. Eventually, we get to the item, the specific manifestation that Library A gives the call number, Juv Fic Row and barcodes with 3030222169788.

Then we look at what information is shared between all manifestations. Name of the creator, title, date of copyright, and basic topical controlled vocabulary terms would be shared. What is unique to the manifestation? The carrier (print book or audio CD), descriptive information that goes along with the carrier (the book's dimensions and number of pages, for example), publisher. What is unique to the item? Call number, barcode, local notes. RDA uses the framework provided by FRBR to restructure the elements of describing the various manifestations of an expression of a work. All that perfectly clear? That's what I thought.

Anyway, back to the session. I had my ah-ha moment about midway through the session. In a perfect world, we would have library catalog systems that would allow us to take full advantage of this entity relationship model and we could link all this information together. For example, J. K. Rowling writes other books too and is involved with other works (the movies, etc.); rather than copy her name into every metadata record for something she's been involved with, there should be a name authority record for her (actually, there is), and we should just plug in the identification number for that authority record into the information for the manifestation we're cataloging (that part, we can't do yet). Same thing with publisher. Have the version published by Scholastic? Look up the publisher authority record and put the number for Scholastic into the record (nope, can't do that yet either).

So, I had the epiphany that we should work toward an "HDTV" moment for library cataloging, where we move from the flat-file model we have now with metadata records that literally contain all of this information over and over again, to a "virtual" bibliographic/metadata record that fully makes use of the relationships between these information pieces and uses linking data to bring the user a uniform display that looks like what we're used to seeing. No reason we can't do that. Just need the will and some reinvestment in time and energy.

Anyway, the session went over some more nitty-gritty details of RDA changes, like moving from "main entry," to "preferred access point," no longer using GMD (General Material Designation) to media/carrier/content, and no more "rule of three" regarding access points. And, at some point, there's gonna be a whole lotta trainin' goin' on.

Scholarship for Continuing Education

Have you thought about how valuable it would be for your career to attend national conferences such as ALA, SLA, ISTE, AASL, or others? Or even a statewide conference, but the money just isn't available? This scholarship will require some advanced planning - the deadline for applications for events between 1/1/09 and 9/30/09 is January 15, 2009 - but your career will
thank you for it.

The Metronet Board has created a scholarship for library staff in the seven-county metro area in honor of Lars Steltzner who passed away this summer. Lars was a true believer in libraries of all types and believed that if one library is strengthened, all are stronger. He was a great supporter
of media specialists and librarians just beginning their careers and was always generous with his time and knowledge. His service on the Metronet Governing Board was greatly appreciated.

The Lars Steltzner Scholarship will be given annually to one staff person from a Metronet member library who is early in her/his career (five years or less). This scholarship of $500 may be used for expenses for a continuing library education event or a national or local library conference. Recipients are eligible to receive the scholarship once in their career. A
plaque listing scholarship recipients will be in the Metronet office.

Click here for a <http://www.metrolibraries.net/res/steltzner_schol.pdf> pdf with details and application form. If you have questions, please contact the Metronet office at info@metronet.lib.mn.us.

Remember, the deadline for events 1/1-9/30/09 is January 15, 2009.

Branch Out 2009

Those of you that attended the MLA Conference – thank you. I hope you all had a great time as I did!

Now that the conference if over… I hope you’re making plans to attend the Branch Out Conference in August (4th and 5th)… You’ll be receiving e-mails periodically throughout the next several months as a reminder… Also… as time permits, periodically check the Branch Out Web site as we update conference information. www.branchoutmn.org <http://www.branchoutmn.org/> Tell you non-SSPiN co-workers about the BranchOut Conference too… attendees, although encouraged to be members of MLA/SSPiN, are not required to be…

Have a great Thanksgiving…

Chris Lang, Office Administrator
Plum Creek Library System

Job Posting - Walden University Library

Library Technician Position

Walden University, which offers graduate degrees at a distance in education, business, public health and the social and behavioral sciences, as well as bachelor degree completion programs in business administration and information systems, is seeking a detail-oriented person to join our team as Walden University Library Technician. The Walden Library Technician works in the Office of Student Development and reports to the Director of Library Services. This position is located in downtown Minneapolis, MN and will begin as soon as a suitable candidate is found.

Under the leadership and supervision of the Director of Library Services and collaboration with library services staff, the Library Technician will coordinate the library's document delivery service and support the work of the library's teams.

The Library Technician will verify citations, search library databases, verify invoices, cancel and place document requests using ILLiad, reconcile statements, send library bills for processing, interface with students regarding requests, and other responsibilities described in more detail at https://sh.webhire.com/servlet/av/jd?ai=737&ji=2300248&sn=l. Applications must be submitted through the web site.

Qualifications for this position include a BA degree and experience in a library or equivalent setting (i.e., library vendor or consortium), M.S. Word, PowerPoint, Access, and Excel proficiency required.

Sue Davidsen
Director of Library Services
Walden University
155 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-312-2500 or 800-925-3368, ext. 2500
susanna.davidsen@waldenu.edu

LibraryThing: Social Cataloging and Social Networking

Tim Spalding, the creater of LibraryThing, was the luncheon keynote speaker at the Minnesota Library Association conference yesterday. He definitely made some provocative comments, and raised some excellent points, many of which I agree with. Bloggers at SELCO and Kasson Public Library again have summarized his presentation. A few things he said and some commentary, noting that these are huge paraphrases and not verbatim:

• Be afraid of OCLC
  Okay, this is a little "inside baseball" talk... I am further convinced that OCLC is evil and ultimately does not have our best interests in mind. They have grown too big for their britches, and the organization that was originally created by libraries to help libraries do what they need to do is now dictating to libraries how to do what they need to do. Their lastest announcement about essentially claiming copyright to the intellectual property in bibliographic records is the last straw, and while they're backpeddling as fast as they can, I say we need to stage a coup and retake our organization. Barring that, we need to take our toys (and intellectual property) and stop giving it to them in what has turned out to be a "work for hire" arrangement.
  
  
• Choose "bandwagons" strategically
  Specifically, Spalding suggested libraries should quit spending time creating Facebook and MySpace pages and hosting gaming events in libraries, just because they are the Latest Things and are Things Young People Do. Just because young people do them doesn't mean the library should too. He actually said something quite funny, but I won't remember enough of it... It was something to the effect of starting a MySpace page for the library and ending up with two teen social misfit friends, a bunch of pedophiles, and the last update being 6 months ago... Okay, he didn't say the 'bunch of pedophiles' part, but one can see it coming. Remember, I went to the library security preconference earlier, where a fair amount of conversation was around using library computers for exchange of child porn. My take: when you're hangin' with your "friends," are you really going to "friend" the library?
  
  
• Use Web 2.0 where it makes sense
  There are certainly places where web 2.0 makes sense, but Spalding suggests that libraries didn't even really get web 1.0 right; why even bother with web 2.0? Okay, I don't go THAT far, but he has a point. We ARE way behind Amazon and Google and... Well, the list goes on... as far as dumping information goes and ease of use and getting "good enough" information. Where we have a strategic advantage is that we know how people USE information, and can get at better information, and of course there's the old what's free and what you have to pay for issue.
  
  
• Tagging can help us catalog
  I agree that individually, tags have a limited use beyond the personal. Your tags aren't going to mean too much to me, and my tags won't mean too much to you. If I tag my picture of a menorah on Flickr with Judaica, that has some meaning to someone else, but wedding gift? Eh, not so much. So, tags in individual iterations are not particularly meaningful. But, in the aggregate? Much moreso. Using LibraryThing for example (of course), he pointed out the use of the tag, chick lit, which incidently is now a Library of Congress official genre heading. Some 86,000+ items tagged cooking, but only 5,800+ tagged cookery. I had a flashback to Sandy Berman and the Good Old Days of Hennepin County Subject Headings - a man ahead of his time. Give the public their own language. And, FWIW, there are real humans who "vet" the tags and do some co-location (i.e. create see references)
  

A couple of cool LibraryThing Things:

I See Dead People's Books This is a group for those interested and involved in entering the personal libraries of famous readers into LibraryThing as Legacy Libraries. Explore the personal libraries of Thomas Jefferson, Willa Cather, and Tupac Shakur among others.

Open Shelves Classification A project to build a new Dewey-like classification system that would be in the public domain (unlike DDC).

Library Security: Everyone's Resposibility

In our library, we're currently reviewing our disaster plan. Library security is a component of disaster planning, so with that in mind, I signed up for this preconference session led by Jeremy Johnson, Hennepin County Library security officer and computer forensics specialist, and Ben Trapskin, HCL senior librarian. Others have already blogged on this session, such as the posts from SELCO, and Kasson Public Library, and those posts provide a nice overview of the session. But, some takeaways that I noted for our library are:

• Establish a procedure for handing criminal computer use
  While we're an academic institution with different issues in some cases than a public library, we still get our fair share of community users and certainly there may at some point be some student activity that is problemmatic. We would do ourselves a favor by having a process to follow than being reactive after the fact.
  
  
• Design the library spaces with security in mind
  Much of that was done when this building was opened about 7 years ago, but we can continue to think that way. For example, we purposefully are adding additional computer stations in a cluster, to encourage self and peer-policing, but separated from the existing computer stations, to avoid "over-concentration" of people.
  
  
• Secure our staff areas
  We started leaving the doors into our staff areas, such as access to the area behind our circulation desk, unlocked because of all the in and out with carts, etc. Our library faculty offices are in this secure area, and it is not uncommon to have students walk back into this secure area unannounced to visit a faculty member. However, with recent thefts of items from offices on campus, and thinking of what was addressed in this session, we may want to rethink that strategy.
  
  
• Develop emergency closing procedures
  We've had two recent bomb threats on our campus which have necessitated building evacuations. In the most recent one, there was some confusion over a misplaced library check-out laptop computer. Making sure we have emergency closing procedures in place possibly could have addressed this problem.
  
  
• Use programming to improve the library environment and security
  A couple of weeks ago, our library staff had Becky Nordin and Lisa Mohr from our campus Judicial Affairs office talk at a staff meeting about working with students to communicate expectations for library behavior. We talked about making a video to demonstrate okay and not okay behavior, and having an open house and other events to give us opportunities to get campus students "on our side."
  
  
• Create a student advisory group
  Again, thinking along the lines in the above note, how can we get more students to be "on our side" with enforcing and modeling desirable library behavior, like not bringing food in and not talking on cell phones, etc. Maybe we want to work with a focus group of students to talk about our services and environment, and how we can compromise on some of these issues. We may want that group to be an advisory group, or just meet for a fixed period.
  
  
• Create our own HCL "Welcome to the Library" signage
  HCL has signage that has a "friendly" or "yes" side: be respectful, use a quiet voice, etc.; and a "stern" or "no" side: no illegal computer use, no violence, etc. Maybe we want something like that posted at our entrance.
  

Ben and Jeremy had participants break into small groups and use a couple of "How Do You Manage" columns from Library Journal to discuss choices and security issues. I was in a group that used The Lesser of Evils. Other groups used Insecurity. I wish I had been in the group that discussed Insecurity, as that related to an academic institution, but it was interesting hearing the public library folks in my group talk about our situation.

For additional information and discussion, Ben Trapskin created a website/blog for library security called, uniquely enough, "Library Security" (http://securelibraries.com/). I'll definitely be using that in my Intro to Tech Services course when we talk about disaster planning.

Blogging MLA...

I couldn't blog live yesterday from the Minnesota Library Association conference because there wasn't a public internet connection at the hotel and the conference didn't pay for attendee access. So, I'm going to post today on the sessions I attended.

Planning on taking the LIT program internship?

You'll want to register then for the following web conference:

Topic: MCTC Library Information Technology Internship Planning
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Time: 8:30 pm, Central Standard Time (GMT -06:00, Chicago)

-----------------------------------------------------
To register for this meeting
-----------------------------------------------------
1. Go to https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/j.php?ED=100747847&RG=1&UID=0
2. Register for the meeting.

Once the host approves your request, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the meeting.

-----------------------------------------------------
For assistance
-----------------------------------------------------
1. Go to https://mnscu.webex.com/mnscu/mc
2. On the left navigation bar, click "Support".

You can contact me at:
virginia.heinrich@minneapolis.edu
1-612-659-6296

Temporary Job Opportunity at the University of Minnesota

I'm going to be hiring a one-year temporary copy cataloger for a current project cataloging the Kerlan Collection in Children's Literature at the University of Minnesota. If you know of any good candidates, particularly those who have had some cataloging coursework or experience, send them my way!

The job posting is at https://employment.umn.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=76975. Applications need to be entered into the online employment system.

Christine

(612) 625-0381 (work)

dezel002@umn.edu (work)

Paid library internship on MCTC Job Bank

Heather Isaacs, Career Development Advisor here at MCTC, has posted info on a, get this, PAID library internship, available through a company called Enclos in Eagan. Now, I haven't actually seen the description, so beware, but PAID sounds good! According to Heather, students will have to register at
https://minneapolis-csm.symplicity.com under students/alumni to set up an account to access.

If you have problems accessing the info, please contact Heather at heather.isaacs@minneapolis.com.

Literacy Activities Internship at Hennepin County Library

Job Title: Literacy Activities Internship - North Regional Library

Closing Date/Time: Mon. 11/03/08 5:00 PM Central Time

Salary: See Position Description

Job Type: Internship

Literacy Activities Internship
Hennepin County Library - North Regional Library

The Hennepin County Library - North Regional Library is pleased to offer an internship opportunity to develop programs, services and resources to support literacy initiatives at the Library. This is an excellent opportunity for students in early elementary education or youth services librarianship to gain real world experience in the field.

Commitment:
Winter 2008/2009, 120 hours.

Wage:
Unpaid college credit internship.

Job Location:
North Regional Library, 1315 Lowry Avenue North, Minneapolis.

Deadline for Application:
November 3, 2008.

Duties:

· In conjunction with Library staff, plan and deliver after-school programming focusing on youth ages 6-11.

· Develop creative and engaging projects and activities to enhance learning and literacy in a drop-in environment.

· Help with homework assignments as needed.

· Create a safe, respectful, and youth-development-based learning environment.

· Establish supportive relationships with youth.

· Foster positive group dynamics for youth and families.

· Keep accurate records of participation and prepare reports of activities.

Requirements:
This is an excellent opportunity for a student completing a bachelor's or master's degree in Elementary Education, Youth Development or a related area of study. Ideal candidates will be creative, reliable, patient, adaptable, and possess the ability to approach and engage students on a one-to-one basis. Candidates will possess a strong commitment to literacy and libraries.

Work Schedule:
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings.

To Apply and for Questions:
Send cover letter outlining qualifications for this position, resume and contact information for two references to:

Tom.Grund@co.hennepin.mn.us
- OR -
Tom Grund
Hennepin County Library - Ridgedale
12601 Ridgedale Drive
Minnetonka, MN 55305
(952) 847-8518

For more information contact Barbara Elg at bjelg@hclib.org or (612) 630-6601.

Utne Magazine Library Internship

Utne Magazine has a library internship opening to start mid-December 2008. The internships are unpaid, however, the experience is invaluable. The Utne Magazine is located on 12th Street downtown, just across Hennipen from the new MCTC science building.

Editorial: Library
Library interns help develop and manage a special collection of some 1,300 alternative periodicals, including magazines, journals, and zines. Interns also pitch story ideas for the magazine, work with editors on research projects, and write for Utne.com. Ideal candidates have both library and editorial experience, but neither is mandatory. Internship length is 6 months, 20 hours per week. Library school students (or recent graduates) are encouraged to apply. To apply, send a cover letter, resume, professional or academic references, and writing samples to Danielle Maestretti, Librarian. Questions? Email Danielle Maestretti.

Goals + Plan = Success (GPS)

The GPS LifePlan will help you develop plans in five key areas: Career, Education, Finance, Leadership and Personal.

Free workshops will be offered on campus throughout the year. You can also learn more about the GPS LifePlan in the 2008/09 Handbook and Planner.

Set goals. Plan early.

New Issue of Info Career Trends Online

September 2, 2008 - vol. 9, no. 5 - ISSN 1532-0839
Read the entire issue online, with live links: http://lisjobs.com/career_trends/

Welcome back! Today's issue, on nontraditional careers, contains a wealth of ideas and experiences from contributors that have taken their own careers off the beaten library path. (And, if you want more, more, more, let me gently plug my title on the topic: What's the Alternative? Career Options for Librarians and Info Pros offers more stories, tips, and possible directions for those contemplating alternative careers.) Also, be sure to check out Kim Dority's column this month on Going Independent: Asking the Key Questions, for more advice on pursuing a career as an independent information professional.

Meta notes

An unfortunate technical issue in July led to the loss of a lot of comments. So, if yours has disappeared, please don't take it personally -- and do feel free to comment again. If you haven't commented in the past, but have thoughts or opinions about an article, please do share now. Authors love getting feedback on their work, and your voice contributes to the ongoing conversation.

You can also now easily read and comment on older articles: All ICT back issues are now housed on the blog, which means they're both searchable and browsable by date or category from the sidebar on your left. (If you are reading this via email or RSS, click through to enjoy.) The old archives will be going away within the next six weeks or so when I launch the new LISjobs.com, so if you link to a pre-2008 article or issue outside of the blog, please be sure to update those links now.

Let's talk about it

Speaking of comments, what's up over on the forums? Popular topics lately include:

* MLIS vs. non-MLIS
* How to address a long stretch of unemployment
* Online vs. traditional programs
* New issues, conferences, or readings

Come participate in the discussions -- because it's just not a community without you!

Let's think about it

I regularly receive email asking for advice on job-hunting or career-related issues. While I do my best to respond to these, I don't have much time to do so, and my personal expertise is limited to certain areas. You'll get much better results when you turn to the Info Career Trends Career Q&A columnists or to the collective wisdom on the forums. So, if you have a job-hunting or career-related question:

1. Email the Library Career People at librarycareerpeople@lisjobs.com. Your question can be answered on their Career Q&A blog, benefiting you and the many other people with similar questions. (And yes, you can remain anonymous!)
2. Ask your question on the forums over at the LISjobs.com online community. Registration is free -- all you need is a valid email address, so you can remain as anonymous as you'd like -- and you benefit from the insights from experienced moderators and community members.

We all have questions, so don't be shy about asking yours!

Let's write about it

How else can your voice be heard? Well, I'm seeking contributors for the following thematic issues:

January 2009: Alternative work arrangements
Do you cobble together a career through part-time work at one or more institutions? Do you work as a substitute librarian? In a job-sharing situation? Have you worked out a flex-time or telecommuting arrangement with your organization? Have you parlayed alternative work into a regular full-time position? This issue talks about all sorts of alternative work arrangements and how they might work for you.

March 2009: Education
Do you value your MLS? Now that you're on the job, what do you wish you'd learned in school? Has your non-library education been useful to you in your library career? Have you continued your education post-MLS? Are you pursuing an LTA or post-graduate certification? A PhD? What's the best way to fund an MLS, or to fund continuing education? If it's related to the education of librarians and info pros, find it here.

Please send your queries via email to editor@lisjobs.com. Let me know what you want to write about, for which issue, and why you're a good person to do so. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

- Rachel

On-Campus Opportunity (non-library)

The MCTC Foundation is hiring student callers for our 1st annual phonathon. Students will be calling MCTC alumni to update our records and ask them to support the College with a financial contribution.

If you know of a student who is enthusiastic about MCTC, makes a great impression and wants to make a difference, please encourage them to apply.

Student callers could earn $8-$10/hr + bonuses.

All callers will have the opportunity to:

Develop great communication and leadership skills

Build their resume

Talk to interesting alumni

Meet more MCTC students

Work study and non-work study applicants are welcome. All callers must attend a training session. Hours are 5:30-9:00 PM Monday-Thursday, October 13-23.

If you know a student interested in this short term, part time job, please have them contact Marni Harper at 612-659-6311 or email marni.harper@minneapolis.edu

MCTC Job Bank

Here is information about a new Job Bank offered through the MCTC Career Development Services, located in T.2500.

Hello all:

I'm very pleased to announce the launch of MCTC's new job bank for students and alumni- MCTCJobs through the NACELInk Network.

With this job bank we join our sister institutions of MN State Mankato, Metro State, Inver Hills Community College and Dakota County Technical College in offering the largest network of jobs for students and alumni. Students will have the option of searching for postings specific to MCTC or tapping into the NACELInk Network which features 1000's of jobs every day.

Students can post resumes and set up job search agents to get leads sent directly to their email accounts. They can also check the calendar to find out about Career Development Services events such as workshops and job fairs.

The web address for our job bank is:

https://minneapolis-csm.symplicity.com with a link to the MCTC web site in the works. You as faculty and staff can sign up for a free account under students/alumni if you would like to be able to search for postings for your students.

Training sessions for using the new job bank will be announced soon and will be held in T2500. Faculty and staff are welcome to attend the training sessions.

Heather Isaacs
Career Development

MLA Annual Conference and Membership Deal

The Annual Conference, November 19-21, in Bloomington, MN, is just around the corner. You can find a draft schedule of programs on the MLA website, as well as the Annual Conference registration form (PDF). The online form will be active in the next few weeks. Look for an announcement soon.

If you haven't renewed your membership for 2008, take the time now to do so. The Individual Membership Application can be found on the homepage.

And a special invitation to potential MLA Members you may know...

New Members only! Join MLA by paying your 2009 membership fees and MLA will welcome you to the 2008 Annual Conference at member registration rates. To take advantage of this limited, one-time offer, new members must pay for both 2009 membership and 2008 conference registration fees. This offer is extended by the MLA Board because of the late date of this year's annual conference, to promote attendance following the PLA conference that was held in Minneapolis this year, and to encourage membership in the association.

http://www.mnlibraryassociation.org

Need more information or have questions? Feel free to contact me directly.

Alison Schaub
651-641-0981
mlaoffice@mnlibraryassociation.org

Job Opening at Augsburg College

LIBRARY CIRCULATION COORDINATOR

Augsburg College is a private co-educational college of the liberal and professional arts and sciences, affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.  The College offers an education grounded in Christian values, a diverse campus community, and an exciting metropolitan setting in the heart of the Twin Cities in Minnesota.  The College is committed to diversity and the education of students in a global perspective.

Lindell Library empowers learners to search for and think critically about information both within the Augsburg Community and beyond.  

POSITION STATUS:  Full-time, regular, non-exempt.  Friday evening and some weekend hours required. Salary in the low $30,000's.

RESPONSIBILITIES (include but are not limited to):  
-  Supervising and mentoring up to 40 student employees
-  Managing the Circulation Department, including policies, procedures, billing, AV, and book stacks
-  Participating in consortium and campus committee work

QUALIFICATIONS (include but are not limited to):  
-  Required:
   -  AA degree
   -  Substantial supervisory experience
   -  Exemplary interpersonal and customer service skills
   -  Flexibility
   -  Skill in using office productivity software (e.g., Word, Excel)
   -  Ability to learn and teach library software
   -  Ability to keep track of multiple details
-  Preferred:
   -  College degree
   -  Familiarity with library operations
   -  Experience with circulation procedures
   -  Familiarity with online course management and social networking

TO START:  October 1, 2008           APPLICATION DEADLINE:  August 25, 2008

HOW TO APPLY:
To start an application for employment, go to http://www.augsburg.edu/hr/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLEGE & LINDELL LIBRARY:  
http://www.augsburg.edu/ and http://www.augsburg.edu/library

Augsburg is an equal opportunity employer                             Posted: 8/13/08

--

Mike Bloomberg
Systems/Circulation Librarian
Lindell Library
Augsburg College
612-330-1379

Job Opening at Winona State

WINONA STATE UNIVERSITY, Winona, MN

Winona State University has an opening for a Library Technician,
Evening Supervisor.  This position is Sunday-Thursday, 1:30 PM to 10:00
PM during the academic year.  The working days and hours may change
during school breaks and summers, or to provide coverage for absent
library staff. The individual in this position provides support for
Access Services processing and supervises student workers in Access
Services and the Information Gallery.  Processing services include
interlibrary loan, circulation, shelving and stack management, patron
records management including fines and transcript holds, reserves
(regular and electronic), security gate violations and video scheduling.
 A complete job description can be obtained at
www.winona.edu/humanresources ?Employment Opportunities?.

Please apply directly online on the DOER website (Job Posting #08MNSC000576) at
http://www.doer.state.mn.us/employment.htm or submit a cover letter,
resume and three professional references to Library Technician Search,
Winona State University, Human Resources, P.O. Box 5838, Winona, MN
55987. Application deadline is Monday, August 25, 2008. 

WSU is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System
and is an equal opportunity educator and employer. 
Women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to
apply.

Job posting in North Dakota

Notice of Vacancy
Dickinson, ND 58601-4896
Position: Project Manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Digitization Project and Theodore Roosevelt Center

Salary: $38,000 - $40,000


Appointment Date: As soon as possible

Responsibilities and Qualifications: Dickinson State University is seeking applicants for an exciting new position, the Project Manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Digitization Project and Theodore Roosevelt Center. Reporting to the President, the project manager will collaborate with the center director and key university personnel to implement the initiatives of the Center. The first project will be to supervise the creation of a metadata system for the Theodore Roosevelt digitization project. To accomplish this, the successful project manager must have extraordinary organizational and administrative skills; the ability to communicate with and create partnerships with public, private and academic sectors of the community; demonstrated ability to
plan, initiate, and implement effective programs, projects, and services; excellent interpersonal collaborative and communication skills; and the ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively, in a rapidly changing environment. A bachelor’s degree is required. Preferred qualifications include: experience working with a variety of constituents and technical experience in document handling (especially digitization). Applicants who have a strong interest in history and documents or who possess a graduate degree from a program accredited by the ALA will be given special consideration. Since this is a new position, sustainability beyond the first year will be contingent upon the availability of funds. Explore the initiatives of the Theodore Roosevelt Center at http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.com/Default.asp or _______________ This full-time, twelve month position offers a comprehensive benefit package including full family coverage for Blue Cross/Blue Shield Health Insurance and TIAA-CREF retirement.
Application Information: Review of applications will begin August 8, 2008 and continue until the position is filled. Send letter of interest, resume, list of five professional references, and a completed Dickinson State University employment application to: DSU.hr@dickinsonstate.edu or mail to Ms. Gail Ebeltoft, Coordinator of Human Resources, Dickinson State University, 291 Campus Drive, Dickinson,ND 58601-4896. For further information about this position, call Ms. Ebeltoft at 1-800-279-4295. Visit our website at http://www.dsu.nodak.edu/Jobs.asp. Employment is contingent upon a satisfactory criminal history background check. AA/EOE

About Dickinson State: Dickinson State University (www.dickinsonstate.edu), a progressive four-year institution of higher education, is one of eleven institutions within the North Dakota State University System. The University offers more than 50 undergraduate programs, and currently enrolls 2,670 students from 42 states and 33 countries. Covering 132-acres, the campus is situated in Dickinson, a city of 17,000, located near the scenic Badlands of North Dakota. Dickinson serves as the economic, social, governmental, and medical center for southwest North Dakota.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
Dickinson State University is an equal opportunity and affirmative action institution that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, gender or handicap in its admissions, employment practices, educational programs or other related activities. Inquiries regarding employment of the affirmative action program may be directed to Affirmative Action, Dickinson State University, 291 Campus Drive, Dickinson, North Dakota 58601-4896


Revised 09/13/2007

Job opening at University of St. Thomas

Non-Exempt Positions Available

Evening/Weekend Circulation and
Late Night Library Supervisors

The University of St. Thomas is accepting applications for two positions
in the Circulation Department at the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library.

These positions provide high-quality access to research services,
academic resources, and spaces for students, faculty and staff to do
group and individual work. Responsibilities include: providing library
assistance to patrons; opening and closing the building; supervising
student employees; implementing and interpreting library policies;
maintaining the library's collections, patron and inventory databases.
For more details and to apply, see the individual job postings at
http://jobs.stthomas.edu.



1. Evening/Weekend Circulation Supervisor
; is a
part-time position working 25 hours per week. Schedule is every
Wednesday and Thursday evening and every other weekend. This position is
eligible for a generous benefits package which includes paid leave time,
paid holidays, medical and dental coverage, and other policies and
programs. A summary of benefits offered may be found at
www.stthomas.edu/hr.

Qualifications: Equivalent to a high school diploma and three years of
related library experience, preferably in circulation at an academic
institution. A Bachelor's degree is preferred.



2. Late Night Library Supervisor
; is a
part-time position working 25 hours per week during the Fall and Spring
Semester. The schedule is 9:15 p.m.-2:15 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.
This position is eligible for a generous benefits package which includes
paid leave time, paid holidays, and other policies and programs in
accordance with your part time status. A summary of benefits offered may
be found at www.stthomas.edu/hr.

Qualifications: Equivalent to a high school diploma and three years of
related library experience, preferably in circulation and/or reference
at an academic institution. A Bachelor's degree and an MLIS degree
coursework in progress, with a basic reference class completed
preferred.



Inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, the University of St.
Thomas educates students to be morally responsible leaders who think
critically, act wisely, and work skillfully to advance the common good.
The successful candidate will possess a commitment to the ideals of this
mission statement.



We are looking for candidates with strong customer service skills;
ability to work independently with little supervision; attention to
detail; proficiency with personal computer applications including e-mail
and word processing; experience with library automated systems; and
aptitude for learning other support software.

Please apply online at http://jobs.stthomas.edu
; .



(Posted 7/23/2008)



The University of St. Thomas is an affirmative action and equal
opportunity employer. Women, persons of color and persons with
disabilities are encouraged to apply.





_________________________________________________
Conie Borchardt, Circulation Manager, OSF Library
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN
clborchardt@stthomas.edu ~ (651) 962-6874
http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries

The winds of grace are always blowing;

we've only to set our sails. ~Indian mystic

Hennepin County Library Internship Opportunity

Internship Opportunity At Hennepin County Library

Job Title: Library Outreach Services Internship

Closing Date/Time: Open Until Filled

Job Type: Internship - Unpaid

Location: Minnetonka, Minnesota

Department: Hennepin County Library

Outreach promotes the use of the library by the nontraditional or under-served user through the development and support of programs and services. The Outreach Department's goal is to bring the experience of the library and its resources to the community - in their homes, senior living facilities, rehabilitation centers, the correctional facilities of the county and through events held at the library.

Commitment:
One semester, 4 to 8 hours per week.

Job Location:
Main work location is at the Ridgedale Library, 12601 Ridgedale Dr., Minnetonka, with some work in Downtown Minneapolis at the Juvenile Detention Center, in Plymouth at the Adult Correctional Facility, and in Minnetonka at the County Home School.

Duties:
Duties may include the following:

· Assist at outreach events aimed at first generation library users

· Assist in classifying / organizing Adult Correctional Facility collection

· Assist in compiling and analyzing data for Adult Correctional Facility programs and Deposit Collection booktalking program

· Assist in creating documents for use in Large Print book club kits, including writing book discussion questions

· Assist in implementation of resource workshops at Adult Correctional Facility

· Assist in the creation, implementation and evaluation of a reading interest survey for use with the Deposit Collection sites, at the Adult Correctional Facility, and at the County Home School

· Assist in weekly filling of information requests from Adult Correctional Facility

· Plan, develop, and implement a book discussion group at the Adult Correctional Facility (women's) and District 287 (teens)

· Plan, develop, and implement a project of interest related to Outreach

Requirements:
Intern must have taken at least one class in collection development, information services or public libraries.

To Apply and for Questions:
Submit a resume and brief cover letter outlining your qualifications for this internship to:

tmgrund@hclib.org
- OR -
Tom Grund
Hennepin County Library - Ridgedale
12601 Ridgedale Drive
Minnetonka, MN 55305
(952) 847-8518

For more information contact Patrick Jones at pjones@hclib.org or (952) 847-8859.

Library Intern

Student Intern - Librarian (St Paul)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: gnelson@sehinc.com
Date: 2008-04-29, 3:35PM CDT


Student Intern – Librarian (Job #0642)

Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. (SEH®), a multidisciplined consulting firm, is looking for a Student Intern Librarian for our Administrative group located in our St. Paul, MN, Office. SEH is a team-oriented firm providing challenge, personal growth, and career advancement opportunities. We are looking for individuals who want to be part of a team that provides exceptional service to our clients.

Candidate must have a Bachelor's Degree, MLS preferred, or equivalent experience in a specialized library setting. This position will work with the Administrative Services Director to develop a formal company-wide library system. Responsibilities will include assisting in developing a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis, researching and recommending software, and searching literature and materials for patrons. In addition will inventory, catalog and log existing library materials and resource systems. Candidate must be proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel. Strong research skills and records management training and/or experience desired.

For confidential consideration, please submit resume to gnelson@sehinc.com or fax to 612.758.6701. Please refer to Job #0642. Please mention Craig's List.

Link to Craig's List post:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ofc/661194711.html

Volunteer opportunities at the Minnesota Children's Museum

The Minnesota Children's Museum has a number of summer volunteer and internship opportunities available. You can see the full listing at:

http://www.mcm.org/volunteering.shtml

Listed internships that could be appropriate for graduates and students in our LIT program would be:

Access® Database – Build two new databases from the ground up. One will be designed for visitor comment tracking and the other for tracking staff and volunteer training.

This one is all about knowledge management, database construction and function, and meeting user needs. A good fit for someone with a tech services orientation.

Community Partnerships – Help build collaboration between the Museum and our community partners.

Great opportunity to get to know some of the community organizations that would also work with libraries. If you're thinking about public libraries, this would be a good choice.

Corporate Fundraising – Research fundraising opportunities, assist in Raiser’s Edge database management and assist with grant proposals.

Knowledge of fundraising and grant writing can only help in today's library climate.

Marketing – Conduct research and assist with news releases and media relations.

"Conduct research..." Need I say more?

Temporary Position at Faegre & Benson LLP

Position Title: Research Resources Specialist

Faegre & Benson, LLP, Minnesota's largest law firm, has a new temporary position with our Information Resources team. We anticipate this position lasting between 8 to 9 months and working 30 hours per week. This position is responsible for supporting the electronic resources which are managed by Information Resources, along with creating and updating documentation for these resources and applications. The Resource Support Specialist will also be responsible for the coordination of projects relating to electronic resource access changes.

Our ideal candidate will have an interest and/or experience in electronic libraries and librarianship, strong organization skills, excellent documentation skills, the ability to communicate effectively with all types of individuals, and possess a solid service orientation.
In addition, candidates must have demonstrated proficiency in standard PC applications, have the ability to learn new technologies, and be able to pay meticulous attention to details.

Faegre & Benson LLP offers a professional work environment and competitive wages. For additional information about Faegre & Benson or to apply on-line, visit our web site at www.faegre.com. You may also send your resume and salary requirements to:

Faegre & Benson LLP
ATTN: Human Resources
2200 Wells Fargo Center
90 South Seventh Street
Minneapolis, MN 55402

or fax to 612-766-1763, or email them to hr@faegre.com. EOE.

Macalester College Acquisitions Assistant - Temporary

Macalester College's DeWitt Wallace Library welcomes applications and suggested candidates for a Temporary Acquisitions Assistant. This is a temporary position to assist in end-of-year processing for books, videos, and other formats.

The position starts immediately and goes through May 31, 2008. We look forward to hearing from you! Apply Online.

Angi Faiks
Associate Library Director,
Collection Management
Dewitt Wallace Library
Macalester College
1600 Grand Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105
faiks@macalester.edu

Library Assistant Job at St. Thomas - Temporary

The University of St. Thomas is accepting applications for a Library Assistant.

Duties include: providing assistance to patrons; opening and/or closing the building; supervising student employees, including assisting with the hiring and training of student staff; performing routine circulation functions.

Inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, The University of St. Thomas educates students to be morally responsible leaders who think critically, act wisely, and work skillfully to advance the common good. The successful candidate will possess a commitment to the ideals of this mission statement.

Qualifications: Minimum one year library experience required, preferably in an academic institution. Experience with library automated systems required. Supervision experience preferred. Strong customer service skills; self-directed; attention to detail. Proficiency with personal computer applications including e-mail and word processing, and aptitude for learning other support software.

Hours for this position are 11:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m., Sunday through Thursday during spring semester.

Please apply online at http://jobs.stthomas.edu.

Job posting - Faegre & Benson

Faegre & Benson, LLP, Minnesota's largest law firm, has a new temporary position with our Information Resources team. We anticipate this position lasting between 8 to 9 months working 30 hours per week. This position will provide troubleshooting assistance for all electronic resources which are managed by Information Resources, along with creating and updating documentation for these resources and applications. The Resource Support Specialist will also be responsible for the coordination of projects relating to electronic resource access changes.

Our ideal candidate will have an interest and/or experience in electronic libraries and librarianship, strong organization skills, excellent documentation skills, the ability to communicate effectively with attorneys, staff and vendors, and possess a solid service orientation. In addition, candidates must have demonstrated proficiency in standard PC applications, have the ability to quickly learn new technologies, and be able to pay meticulous attention to details. A Bachelors Degree is required.

Faegre & Benson LLP offers a professional work environment and competitive wages. For additional information about Faegre & Benson or to apply on-line, visit our web site at www.faegre.com.&nbsp; You may also send your resume and salary requirements to Faegre & Benson LLP, ATTN: Human Resources, 2200 Wells Fargo Center, 90 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402, fax to 612-766-1763 , or email to hr@faegre.com. EOE.

LJ's Paraprofessional of the Year Nominations

Are you an outstanding library paraprofessional/support staff
individual? Perhaps you might want to send your supervisor or director a copy of this message to submit your name/information for the Library Journal Paraprofessional of the Year award. The deadline has been extended until January 23, 2008 so why not either submit a colleague or ask someone to nominate you for this prestigious award. The following are the guidelines or criteria for this award with instructions on how to file a nomination:

Paraprofessional of the Year Nomination Guidelines

Extended Deadline: January 23, 2008

Library Journal will honor one support staffer with its ninth annual Paraprofessional of the Year award in its March 1, 2008, issue. Sponsored by Brodart Library Supplies & Furnishings, which underwrites the $1500 cash prize and a reception to honor the winner at the American
Library Association conference in June, the award recognizes the essential role of paraprofessionals, now the largest constituency of library workers, in providing excellent library service. It places special emphasis on the efforts of the winner to further the role of
paraprofessionals in the library profession. The winner will be profiled in the March 1 issue of LJ.

Nominating criteria
The criteria for LJ's Paraprofessional of the Year are excellence in performing their job, including contribution(s) enabling the library to best serve its constituents and/or its community (whether town, college/university, school, or corporation), the encouragement of reading and the use of the library's resources, a commitment to free access to information for all, and the candidate's work to build networks, organizations, and/or groups to back excellence in library work and new career paths for support staff, and improved communication and the breaking down of barriers between support staff and the MLS librarians with whom they work.

Nominating letters should name the candidate and describe in 500 words or less why the nominee deserves the award. Supporting letters and accompanying material will be considered, but the nominating letter itself will be of prime importance.

Nominations may be e-mailed to akim@reedbusiness.com

Nominations sent through regular mail should be addressed to:
Ann Kim
c/o Library Journal
360 Park Avenue South.
New York, NY 10010.

Please note: the postmark deadline for all nominations is Wednesday, January 23, 2008.

Sue Knoche
Past President, ALA/LSSIRT
LJ Paraprofessional of the Year 2003