Our candidates for Secretary:
- Nicole Lamoureaux
- Allie Janvey
- Holly Boyer
Question 1: Why are you interested in this position?
Nicole Lamoureaux: I have been an active NMRT member for the last several years as either a committee member or a committee chairperson. I am interested in increasing my duties within the round table and I think the secretary position would allow me to expand my knowledge of NMRT and the inner workings of the executive board.
Allie Janvey: Serving on the NMRT board would be a great way to become more involved in the leadership of ALA. I have always appreciated all that NMRT does for ALA and would welcome the opportunity to continue and build upon the great work they’ve been doing.
Holly Boyer: I would like to take on a greater leadership role within NMRT. Secretary is especially interesting to me because of the role this position has in using social media to promote NMRT – our events, our activities, our members. I enjoy using social media for fun, networking, and professional development, and have even participated on a very successful panel discussion at NJLA last year on Social Media for Professional Development.
Question 2: What skills and experiences do you bring to the position?
Nicole Lamoureaux: In my current position, I am the Library’s blog editor and Twitter coordinator and I believe my experience will allow me to successfully manage the NMRT social media outlets. I was also the secretary and president of the ALA student chapter during graduate school which ingrained my current note taking and management skills.
Allie Janvey: I recently served as the Secretary for the Academic and Special Libraries Division of my local library association, NCLA. I am also familiar with coordinating an organization’s social media presence. For several years, I was responsible for publicizing news and events on social media for a non-profit based on Long Island University’s campus.
Holly Boyer: I have been active in NMRT since 2012 when I started my MLIS. During the past 4 years I have served on a variety of committees and have chaired the Membership, Promotion, Diversity, and Recruitment Committee and am currently chairing the Annual Conference Professional Development Attendance Award Committee. Because I’ve spent several years doing committee work in NMRT, I understand how we work and why what we do in NMRT is so important for new ALA members. We provide opportunities for our members to learn and grow within ALA and their professions through leadership opportunities, monthly listserv chats, training and other events at conferences, resume review (which is worth the cost of membership!) and so much more.
Question 3: As Secretary (more information) your responsibilities include coordinating NMRT social networking presence on the appropriate tools. What do you feel is the best method to get information to the NMRT membership, and why? What is your plan for coordinating NMRT’s social networking presence?
Nicole Lamoureaux:I believe in using a combination of communication methods when reaching out to the NMRT members. These would include the NMRT list-serv and a variety of social media outlets. This combination will guarantee that members are reached via their preferred contact method. When coordinating the social media presence for NMRT, I believe using tools such as HootSuite can be a big help. Creating a posting schedule is also key. This would be created after looking at the NMRT calendar and working with the executive board and committee chairs to be aware of upcoming due dates and events to publicize to the NMRT members.
Allie Janvey: I wish to continue the existing social networking efforts of the out-going Secretary and improve upon them. The best way to get information to the NMRT membership is to distribute information across several frequently used platforms. I believe the majority of professionals receive a lot of their information through listservs, Facebook and twitter. I would focus my efforts on those three avenues as I continue to explore additional options.
Holly Boyer: I don’t think there is any one best method for reaching NMRT membership. We use so many different forms of social media and each of us has our favorite. We need to go where our members live – for instance, I use Facebook more than I probably should. If NMRT posts information on Facebook, I’ll see it. But not everyone is like me, obviously, so we need to use all the tools we can reasonably manage. Twitter, NMRT Notes, the listserv, reaching out to sister round tables and divisions within ALA and other library associations, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine are all options we can pursue. Each committee needs to know how to reach the Secretary for their promotional needs, and posts, tweets, etc. need to be scheduled so that we don’t bombard people with information one day and not again for a month.There are apps that can help manage social networks (Hootsuite is my preferred platform).
Question 4: What do you hope to learn if elected?
Nicole Lamoureaux: If elected, I hope to learn more about the inner workings of the round table as well as the duties of each of the board positions of NMRT. I believe it will also give me a better understanding of how the round table fits in within the association. If elected, I also hope to take the experience and use the managerial and organizational skills that I gained through this position in my career as a librarian. I currently organize an annual conference focused on the past, present, and future of fashion information and I think that the experience gained from this position will be an asset to that process.
Allie Janvey: If elected, I hope to learn more about the structure, roles, and operations of ALA committee executive boards. Learning more about the NMRT membership is another priority so the NMRT board can find ways to better support them as new professionals.
Holly Boyer: I hope to prepare myself for future opportunities within ALA. NMRT is a wonderful part of ALA to grow up in. There are so many opportunities for those who want them, and each committee appointment, each chair position I take, I grow, I get better, and I reach for something higher. That’s exactly what NMRT is for and I’m hoping to continue that path as Secretary.
Question 5: If elected, what time management skills will you employ to ensure that your NMRT duties remain a priority?
Nicole Lamoureaux: The best way to guarantee that I am able to stay on top of my duties as the secretary is to dedicate specific days to the duties required of the secretary. This will guarantee that the requirements of this position are met and constantly looked after throughout the year.
Allie Janvey: I am very fortunate to work in an environment that supports and encourages this kind of professional involvement. I will keep in close contact with my supervisor and co-workers to ensure I am available for all meetings and schedule time during the week where I can focus on completing my NMRT secretarial duties.
Holly Boyer: Time management is struggle for me, as I’m sure it is for many of us. Because I’ve had to work hard to make sure I stay on top of things, I’ve learned ways that work for me, such has intensive calendaring, scheduling posts/emails/tweets, and setting aside a day or part of a day each week to work on committee and volunteer related duties. As long as I have a (detailed) plan, I can do anything.