April 27, 2007
Leading from Any Position Workshop
Back by popular demand!
The CLA Continuing Education Committee, Management Services Section, and Public Libraries Section invite you to attend the workshop Leading from any Position, May 22-23 at the Torrance Public Library. Featuring international library trainers Becky Schreiber and John Shannon, this workshop will help librarians develop practical leadership skills no matter what position they hold.
Here's what last year's attendees from northern California had to say about this unique learning opportunity:
"One of the best practical, hands-on training...I can take back a new skill to my library."
"Great, great program!"
"Excellent presenters! I am definitely going to use some of these ideas!"
"This kind of training belongs to everyone, so I would definitely recommend it to my colleagues."
"I enjoyed the high level of interactivity. John and Becky were engaging presenters. I appreciated their practical perspective..."
"This was a great workshop! Lots of good ideas and techniques to try! Thank you!"
Workshop details and registration information are on CLA's website. Hurry! Space and registration period is limited!
- Registration Form (410k)
- Workshop Details (28k)
Heather Pizzuto
Library Director
Carlsbad City Library
(760) 602-2056
April 2, 2007
Committee Volunteers Needed!
Greetings!
As you all know, membership organizations rely on volunteers to serve on committees, carrying out the mission of the group. CLA has a number of active, vital committees doing just this work. It's now time for me to appoint new committee members and chairs, and I need you to help. If you are interested in working on a committee, complete and submit CLA's committee volunteer form. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at Monique_leconge@ci.richmond.ca.us.
There is no better way to become professionally active than through a CLA committee or task force. I look forward to talking with you over the upcoming month or so, and I know that you will enjoy your time on a committee. Thanks in advance for your help!
Monique A. le Conge, CLA Vice President/President-Elect
Director of Library & Community Services
Richmond Public Library
325 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94804
ph (510) 620-6555
fx (510) 620-6850
monique_leconge@ci.richmond.ca.us
January 30, 2007
CLA PR Committee and Marketing and PR Round Table Joint Meeting
Submitted by Mary Beth Train
November 11, 2006 at CLA
Much of the meeting time was spent on clarifying the confusion surrounding the attendees' understanding of the differences between a CLA committee, a round table and a section. Due to some mis-communications, neither of the incoming 2007 chairs for the PR Committee and Round table were there, nor were their names known. Details on this structure are at the end of the following highlights from the meeting.
Marketing 103, taught by Dianne Bish, Roseville PL; Andrea Woodruff, Lodi PL; Michael Beener, Yorba Linda PL; Ann Miller, Solano County PL, and Suzanne Walchli, UoP. This workshop, sponsored by the PR Committee and Marketing and PR Round Table, with presenters from each, is one of a continuing series based upon the ttendees' feedback. It's a very popular hands-on presentation and Q&A. This year's topics were how to get started in marketing and promoting your library. Bernadette Swanson, Instruction Librarian, Shields Library, University of California Davis, attended and made a video of the session, available via Google video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=198731897418639260&hl=en. The streaming video is 1 hour, 12 minutes in length.
Marketing listserv: All members of the PR Committee Marketing and PR Round Table are subscribed. The marketing_pr@lists.cla-net.org mailing list has been created to be used as a tool for sharing information and planning activities among members of the CLA Marketing & Public Relations Round Table.
To post to this list, send your email to: marketing_pr@lists.cla-net.org.
General information about the mailing list is at:
http://lists.cla-net.org/listinfo.cgi/marketing_pr-cla-net.org.
The incoming PR Committee chair is Julie Warren, PR Manager, Palm Springs PL. The Marketing and Public Relations Round Table chair for 2007 is Barbara Flynn, Orange County Public Library. The round table has 269 members.
Transition meeting: There was a suggestion that the incoming and outgoing chairs hold a transition, or "hand-off," meeting at CLA.
Committee: Chair is appointed by the president who will be in office in the same year the CLA conference is held. The president decides if the chair must reside in, or work in, the section of the state in which the annual meeting is held. Therefore, the chair for 2007 is from Southern California since the CLA conference/annual meeting will be held in Long Beach.
The Committee, formally known as Public Relations and Information, manages the annual PR Excellence Award. The committee's purpose is "to address issues that affect the whole CLA organization and membership" (from the CLA website.) One of the committee members must be a member of the related round table and/or section to represent those groups' interests to the committee. Committee members are appointed by the incoming CLA president and they are normally limited to three-year terms. Their responsibilities directly affect the CLA organization and membership.
Round tables, on the other hand, are open to all voting members and members may rejoin them year after year. They are based on specific interests of library staff and their communities, e.g. Marketing. Round tables are formed to encourage the sharing of ideas; details are at http://www.cla-net.org/faqs.php#about03.
Round tables and sections may sponsor workshops and presentations, post to the blog, and participate in the Awards Dinner planning et al. Round tables are encouraged to have a web page; see links to examples at http://www.cla-net.org/aboutcla/sectionstables.php.
The Round table chair is not the same person as the Committee chair. Round tables are strongly advised to communicate with the committee, which is why a committee member usually participates in the Round table. Round tables whose members aren't active or very few are discontinued.
A list of round table chairs is at http://www.cla-net.org/aboutcla/roundtablechairs.php. The rosters of a section, committee or round table, are in the CLA member directory at http://rsmart.ca/CLA_Members/CLA-Start.asp (the link is on CLA's home page).
Meeting attendees were:
* Loren McCrory - Yuba County Library, outgoing PR committee chair
* Dianne Bish - Roseville PL, Marketing series
* Andrea Woodruff, Lodi PL, Marketing series
* Donna Pontau - Rincon Branch, Livermore PL,
* BJ Combs - student, Carmichael, CA,
* Bernadette Swanson, Instruction Librarian, Library Graphics,
* Cheryl Gratano, South San Francisco PL,
* Mary Beth Train, PLS, PR Committee member,
* Eileen Penson,
* Carole Hull, Whittier PL
Some of the prior committee's accomplishments: Marketing series (Diane Bish & Andrea Woodruff). Slide show of the PRexcellence winners (Michael Beener), Re-design of the PR excellence entry form (Michael Beener). Display of the winning PRexcellence entries on the Swap & Shop table (Deborah Doyle, PRexcellence chair & Michael Beener) New CLA new program "Getting to Win" in which selected PRExcel Awardees share the secrets of their success.
PRexcellence Award winners: See CLA Blog Post of November 22, 2006. Includes all awardees - http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/mt/archives/2006_11.php.
Report of 2006 Committee chair, Loren McGrory CLA Blog Post of November 07, 2006.
November 17, 2006
John & Patricia Beatty Committee Report
Submitted by Jill Patterson, 2006 Beatty Committee Chair
The 2006 Beatty Committee members exemplify the dedication inspired by the only book award that CLA solely bestows. Along with considering sixty titles and selecting the final winner of the 2006 award, the committee updated and clarified all the documents used to guide member activities and promote the award. John Kallenberg took the lead in the initial update phase and the bulk of the 2005 November meeting was dedicated to finalizing the changes. None of the updates required approval from the Executive Committee as there were no changes to procedures or selection criteria. Primarily, wording was added to clarify that only books published in a given year could be considered by the committee and books unable to be considered could not be "passed on" to the subsequent year's committee. Additionally, we updated the award history and itemized specific responsibilities of the chair. Updated documents have been emailed to Susan Negreen, the 2007 and 2008 chairs and inserted into the Beatty Notebook.
The committee selected eleven books to add to the Eureka database of works that highlight California and demonstrate a high level of literary merit. Lisa Bartle then downloaded the entire Eureka database, examined the entries, and created a template. All entries were standardized in format, a number of former winners of the Betty award that were missing from the Eureka file were added, and after review by the Beatty Chair, the corrected file was uploaded. During this review, it was discovered that the Eureka entries for 2002 publications had never been added. We are in the process of contacting the members of the 2003 Committee headed by Julie Passalacqua. Julie was able to send a list of the Eureka titles and one member had annotations for five of the sixteen books. We hope to complete the database by adding these missing titles.
I can not praise the committee enough. Shana Johnson and Lisa Bartle are particularly thoughtful reviewers and have excellent design skills as they created the program and bookmarks. I can highly recommend both as potential chairs of this committee. John Kallenberg, who knew Patricia Beatty and helped create the award, was invaluable in updating the documents. Cynthia Corderman is the creative mind behind the centerpieces. All had strong opinions on the titles we considered and our final meeting to determine the winner was emotionally charged. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the chair of the 2006 John and Patricia Beatty Committee. I extend my sincere gratitude to Danis Kreimeier for appointing me to this position.
November 7, 2006
CLA PR & Marketing Committee Report
Committee Members: Loren MccRory, Diane Bish, Deborah Doyle, Andrea Woodruff; Ann Miller, Michael Beener, Cheryl Gratano, Sandy Vella, Mary Beth Train, Barbara Lynn Flynn
The committee met in Vacaville in February to brainstorm and to determine priorities for the coming year. Sub-committees were formed in relation to ongoing involvement by existing committee members with new members assigned in support roles for their first year. Assuming the responsibilities of the PRExcel Award, Deborah Doyle did an outstanding job in heading this primary role sub-committee. Her group, through the talented work of Michael Beener, reworked the web page's Call for Submissions creating a new look and identity for the award. Additionally, this sub-committee made an agreement with CLA offices to accommodate transport and storage for PRExcel winners and/or Swap and Shop submitters that required help in getting materials to conference. Special commendations to Deborah Doyle, who has identified and recruited award judges for the past three years in a row.
Because there continued to be confusion regarding the role of the Round Table versus the Committee, the committee took on the responsibilities of presenting programs for CLA with past chair, Diane Bish, responsible for Marketing 101 and 102 continuing the tradition for 2006 with Marketing 103. Additionally, we added a new program "Getting to Win" in which selected PRExcel Awardees share the secrets of their success. This new program may be transferred to the Round Table for continuation after 2006 conference.
The Committee again met in July in Sacramento in a joint meeting with CLA President Margaret Miles, Executive Director Susan Negreen and CA State staff members Susan Hanks & Kathy Low to discuss the feasibility of a statewide PR toolkit. Initially, the project was discussed as if it were a statewide PR campaign, but after much discussion, the idea of a online toolkit, consisting of simple pieces librarians from all over the state could use for promotion and advocacy was determined to more closely define what CLA can realistically provide, due to its severe budget constraints.
I would like to thank CLA for the opportunity to serve as chair of this committee and thank the entire committee for their commitment and support.
Respectfully submitted by,
Loren MccRory, Chair
October 31, 2006
Mentoring Committee Report
On behalf of the Mentoring Committee, and with the superb efforts currently by Christina Wainwright and formerly by Ginny Evans-Perry, these are the statistics of the Mentoring Committee Mentor/Protégé Program for 2005-2006:
SURVEYS
46 Surveys/Evaluation forms were delivered/mailed on 8/21/06.
10 people responded.
6 of the 10 respondents said that they would participate again. [Thank you-thank you-thank you.]
MENTORING PAIRS
Of the 23 pairs in the files, only 2 are still actively meeting. Christina recently matched 3 new Mentor/Protégé pairs.
UNMATCHED PROTÉGÉS
There are currently 13 unmatched protégés, as of September. Kathleen has 4 more that will be added to this list, as of the end of October / early November. 7 protégés were removed from the original list due to inactivity or other commitments.
UNMATCHED MENTORS
There are 2 applications on file, and there are 4 respondents from the survey/evaluation form that may be asked to serve again as mentors. Kathleen has at least 4 to 6 more coming in the end of October mail to be matched for November.
Christine also has an inquiry pending with some archivists and their groups, because there are three people who expressed interest in mentoring in Archives.
A HUGE THANK YOU to all the CLA members who responded to Christina's call for mentors on the Round Table lists. We look forward to meeting your requests as quickly as possible.
We on the Mentoring Committee look forward to seeing everyone again at CLA in Sacramento. We have a new Chair (and returning Mentoring Committee member), Ms. Connie Costantino, and we hope to be doing a little tweaking of the Mentor/Protégé Program to compliment everyone's interests. We are also looking to add new members to our group, so consider this as an open invitation to join us for our committee meeting, set for Sunday, November 12, 2006, from 10:30am - 11:45am at the Sheraton Grand Hotel - Clark Room, in Sacramento.
As outgoing Chair, I want to thank all the past and current committee members for their tireless efforts on behalf of the Mentoring Committee and to their care and commitment to the continuation of the CLA Mentor/Protégé Project. I also want to thank the members who were extremely helpful with coordinating and running the Informational Interview Project. You ALL do GREAT work on behalf of CLA, both individually and together. It is an honor to be working with you.
Best to one and all!
-- Kathleen Wade, Buena Park Library District
August 8, 2006
Edna Yelland Scholarship for Minority Students Committee Report
Submitted by Deborah Barrow, Committee Chair
The CLA Scholarship for Minority Students committee received 18 applications. The committee met via telephone conferencing to review the criteria for the scholarship and to go over the evaluation form. Each committee member individually evaluated the applications, assigned points and determined which were their top candidates.
We met again via telephone conference to discuss the candidates and determine which we would like to interview. There were 5 candidates invited to be interviewed by phone. They were: Africa Hands, Brenda Linares, Pearl Ly, Melanee Vicedo, and Ray Wilson.
The committee selected three for the scholarship awards: Africa Hands, Pearl Ly, and Melanee Vicedo. We believe that each of these scholarship recipients will be outstanding librarians and that they have much to offer their communities. Award letters have been sent, as well as regrets letters to the other applicants.
There was one issue that arose from an applicant regarding the application process. The applicant wanted to challenge the requirement that scholarship recipients be enrolled in, or plan to attend a library school in California. A few applicants who intended to go to school out of state were eliminated from consideration. Please note that enrollment or acceptance in an ALA-accredited California library school is the first item listed for eligibility for the scholarship.
The members of the committee were: Jack Forman of San Diego Mesa Community College, Sallie Riley of LAPL Watts Branch Library, Rebecca Hill Long of Stockton San Joaquin County Library's Linden Branch Library, Stephanie Woodbury of Contra Costa County Library, and Deborah Barrow of Sunnyvale Public Library.
August 4, 2005
Library Education, Recruitment and Mentoring Committee Report
Submitted by Kathleen M. Wade, Chair
- Committee members were elated when our poster session application was accepted for the November 2005 CLA Conference in Pasadena. We will be presenting information on our 2 main programs that the LERM committee supports: the Informational Interview Project and the Mentor - Protégé Project .
- CLA members have been responding to our push for new protégés, and now we DESPERATELY NEED MORE MENTORS to meet these requests! Help?!?!?!? Go to: http://www.cla-net.org/membership/mentorship.php to find out about how to become a mentor, then go to http://www.cla-net.org/included/docs/mentorapp.pdf to fill out an application!
- HUGE THANKS from the Committee to all CLA members who have submitted their mentor and protege applications past and present. We sincerely appreciate your interest and we are grateful for this opportunity to serve CLA in this capacity.
- Susan Lynn phoned or emailed 16 of the 17 new CLA members for May, and received 2 emails thanking her for the contact.
- Thanks to the excellent work of Marsha Schnirring, a new CLA Student Round Table has formed. Marsha worked closely with Laura Fisher to write, circulate, and submit a petition to form the new round table, and she will serve as its interim chair. Membership in this round table is free and open to all CLA voting members and experienced library professionals.
- Working closely with Laura Fisher, Kit Willis wrote a welcome letter that Laura will email each month to new ALA/CLA student members.
- Along with Margaret Miles and Sue Negreen, Kit Willis attended ALA's one-day pre-conference workshop, "Developing and Growing Your Membership in the New Realities of the 21st Century." In preparation for this workshop the three worked collaboratively on a survey about various aspects of CLA's membership program, and agreed that membership retention is the main area that needs attention.
- The Membership Committee has welcomed, through email or telephone calls, all new CLA members. We have been averaging about 20 new members a month. Leslie Farmer was the "welcomer" for February, Carla Lehn for March, and Luiza Dini for April.
- Marsha Schnirring is in the process of starting up a Student Round Table and has gathered the names of 30 potential members. She will be circulating an online petition in the next week or so, and will be submitting that to CLA's Executive Committee very soon.
- Kit Willis finished contacting all Round Table Chairs and will be submitting a report to Susan Negreen listing Round Tables that will be doing poster sessions at conference.
- Kit Willis has started contacting Section presidents to offer them exhibit tables at conference. Once all presidents have been contacted, a report will be sent to Susan Negreen listing the Sections that want to participate.
- At the suggestion of CLA's incoming President, Margaret Miles, Kit Willis has registered for ALA's one-day pre-conference workshop, "Developing and Growing Your Membership in the New Realities of the 21st Century."
- Committee members determined during the November 2004 conference that we would present a poster session on the 2 main programs that the LERM committee supports: the Informational Interview Project [http://www.cla-net.org/resources/interviews.php] and the Mentor - Protégé Project [http://www.cla-net.org/membership/mentorship.php]. We look forward to informing the membership as to how LERM makes a difference for CLA and for our future librarians.
- During the San Jose conference, Mr. Les Kong encouraged committee participation to new members, (especially the LERM committee -- thank you so much, Les!). We gained 2 new members at this conference, too! Welcome Christine and Christine!
- After the November conference, LERM experienced a rush of new applications for the Mentor - Protégé program. At least a dozen new protégés have been added to our already active roles. However, we are in need of mentors to apply to help us meet this new demand. Go to: http://www.cla-net.org/membership/mentorship.php to find out about how to become a mentor, then go to http://www.cla-net.org/included/docs/mentorapp.pdf to fill out an application!
- Chair Natalie Cole will be leaving California at the end of March. Kit Willis will take over as chair of this committee.
- We held a phone conference in November after conference and set as our goals the enhancement of current membership and recruitment of new members with an emphasis on recruitment of new institutional members and graduating library school students.
A subcommittee was appointed to create a recruitment brochure and letter for institutional members. Once the materials have been mailed out, Library Directors will follow-up with telephone calls to their peers. Mark Smith will head up this effort.
- In January, we welcomed about 100 new CLA members through personal phone calls or email.
- We held another phone conference on January 25, with CLA's Laura Fisher sitting in on the meeting. She advised us that CLA membership recruitment is going well, that we can be most helpful by focusing on member retention, and that active Round Tables and Sections are key to member retention. We brainstormed ways to help facilitate active Round Tables and Sections and came up with the following ideas:
- Sections and Round Tables could have exhibit tables or poster sessions at conference
- Our committee can meet with or survey Sections and Round Tables to communicate to them their critical role in CLA member retention and find out how we can help them gain and retain members. Carla Lehn will survey the Literacy Section.
- We can encourage Sections and Round Tables to present webcasts of their conference programs throughout the year, and archive the accompanying hand-outs on the members-only part of the website.
- Start a Student Round Table. Marsha Schnirring will research this through her contacts with student groups at SJSU (Fullerton) and UCLA.
- Per Susan Negreen, Kit Willis began contacting Round Table chairs to offer each Round Table a poster session at conference, November 5 (Saturday), noon - 1:45 p.m.
- Per Susan Negreen, Kit Willis began contacting Section chairs to offer each Section an exhibit table at conference for $49.00.
- With input from library school students, the committee finalized wording of the congratulations card going out to all 2004-2005 library school graduates. The number of cards needed at SJSU, UCLA, and CSULB was determined. (The contact person at Azusa Pacific did not respond.)
- One committee member per month will handle welcoming new CLA members. Leslie Farmer will welcome the 19 new January members.
Watch this space for LERM program updates!
June 30, 2005
Membership Committee Report
Submitted by Kit Willis, Chair
May 4, 2005
Technology Core Competencies for CA Library Workers Online!
Submitted by Sarah Houghton, IT Section President
Technology Core Competencies for California Library Workers Library staff deal with technology every day. Technology competencies serve to help staff understand what is expected of them in terms of technological skills and knowledge. Technology competencies can also assist libraries in assessing staff training needs and developing an appropriate training program.
For the last few months, a taskforce from the Information Technology Section and the Continuing Education Committee have been working toward developing a set of Technology Core Competencies for California Library Workers. The Assembly and Executive Board approved the competencies, and they are now in place for all of the California Library Association.
This set of competencies is intended to serve as a base model for technology competencies among California Library Workers. California's libraries are incredibly diverse; there are many different types and sizes of libraries, different staffing, and different technology. The purpose of these competencies is not to be the guidepost by which all libraries measure technology skills, but rather to serve as a starting point for libraries to use in assessing their staff's technology proficiencies, and to assist libraries in building their own sets of tailored competencies to fit with their unique staff and library.
April 28, 2005
Membership Committee Report
Submitted by Kit Willis, Chair
March 10, 2005
Conference Planning Update
Submitted by Barbara Quarton, Conference Committee Chair
The work of the 2005 Conference Committee is in full swing. The committee, which is made up of section representatives and other committed members, has been meeting since December. Many committee members are busy planning local arrangements in beautiful Pasadena, while others are reviewing the more than 130 program proposals received by the CLA office.
We are delighted by the possibilities that Pasadena presents to us as we plan for a fun conference. We are also impressed by the quality of the proposals we have received as we work to address the needs/interests of all our members. Thanks to everyone who submitted proposals! By this time next month we'll have a full slate of accepted programs, just waiting for scheduling. Check back next month for more info.
March 4, 2005
Library Education, Recruitment and Mentoring Committee Report
Submitted by Kathleen Wade, Chair
Watch this space for LERM program updates!
February 15, 2005
Membership Committee Report
Submitted by Kit Willis, Chair
February 14, 2005
Watch for Journal Editor Announcement!
The Research and Publications Committee is in the process of evaluating applications for a new position. CLA will unveil a new print journal later this year, and it needs an editor. The Committee will make a recommendation for appointment to President Danis Kreimeier, who will contact the successful applicant. Watch for an announcement early next month!
January 4, 2005
Welcome to the CLA Weblog
In the coming months, we will be adding articles to each of the main categories to your left. Our most recent articles will appear here on our weblog home page. You can also scan through the archives by Month or Recent Entries or use the Search this site tool to your left.
We hope you enjoy reading our articles!