Our candidate for Treasurer:
- Lesley Looper
Question 1: Why are you interested in this position?
Lesley Looper: I firmly believe in the mission of the New Members Round Table, and want to help maintain a healthy budget for NMRT to make sure that mission continues to be supported, for each fiscal year of my tenure, and beyond.
Question 2: What skills and experiences do you bring to the position?
Lesley Looper: I’ve been a member of ALA for seven years and NMRT for five. I’ve enjoyed committee memberships with NMRT, LLAMA, ALCTS, and RUSA, including committee chairmanships within NMRT and ALCTS. With each committee experience, I learned to communicate with committee members from across the country to reach common goals, from division awards to Annual programs. Within NMRT, I chaired the 2014-15 Student Reception Committee, which has been my favorite ALA committee assignment so far! My duties for the Student Reception Committee included working with the committee to select a reception menu that stayed within the committee’s budget.
At work, I supervise a unit that, among its duties, inputs invoices for monographs into the library’s integrated library system. As part of my work, I also communicate with Acquisitions and Collection Development staff about monographic budgets as needed. Through this work experience, I’ve learned the importance of monitoring and communicating about this part of the library’s collections budget throughout the year, to ensure a smooth, accurate fiscal yearend.
On a personal note, I’m involved in a local Toastmasters club, where I’m enjoying developing my communication and leadership skills, while currently serving as Vice President-Public Relations.
Question 3: As Treasurer, you will communicate with all committee chairs and board members. How do you propose to track these communications?
Lesley Looper: I’m a big fan of email folders and to-do lists. I currently keep my work emails organized in folders, and would continue this practice with NMRT treasurer-related email communications, if elected. I also keep running to-do lists online, currently in Remember the Milk (rememberthemilk.com) and Google Tasks (since I use Google Calendar for my personal appointments). I also have experience with WebEx, GoToMeeting, Google Hangout, and virtual and phone meetings and conversations can be beneficial as well. Making personal notes of action points after real-time virtual and phone communications would be help me keep track of what needs to be done.
Question 4: What do you hope to learn if elected?
Lesley Looper: If elected, I look forward to learning more about what goes on behind the scenes to make NMRT run smoothly. As treasurer, I look forward to learning how to monitor and maintain the NMRT budget, in conjunction with the ALA budget, in a prompt, accurate, and stress-free manner.
Question 5: If elected, what time management skills will you employ to ensure that your NMRT duties remain a priority?
Lesley Looper: I will learn all I can from the current NMRT treasurer and other available resources during my year as Assistant Treasurer, while meeting budget and communication deadlines for both NMRT and ALA. I’ll keep NMRT documentation and notes on a file sharing service (my current accounts are with Dropbox and Google Docs) so that I can access them both at work and at home. Keeping my work and Google calendars up to date and in sync is an ongoing priority now, and I will continue that practice.
During my 3-year tenure as a part-time library school student (MLS ’14), I juggled on-campus classes and assignments with full time work as a unit supervisor, as well as offices (Secretary, then Vice President, and finally President) of my library school’s ALAStudent Chapter. This was valuable experience in juggling priorities between work, library school, and home, making sure deadlines and other responsibilities were met, with the help of my online work and non-work calendars and to-do lists. Another thing that made the library school + work experience a rewarding one was communicating frequently with my professors, fellow ALA Student Chapter officers, classmates, and library coworkers. I would definitely carry these time management lessons and skills forward, if elected NMRT Treasurer.