Tune in June 23rd at 1:45 CST for our ALA Annual Conference Orientation Live Q&A. During this time, virtual attendees are encouraged to ask our panelists any questions they may have regarding ALA, NMRT, or the Annual Conference.
Link to the event will be posted shortly before the event goes live.
New Members Round Table (NMRT) 101
Saturday, June 24, 2017 from 8:30-9am
Blackstone, English Room
Please note the NMRT 101 session will take place from 8:30am-9:00am. New Members Round Table leaders and experienced members welcome current and prospective NMRT members to the NMRT 101 session. This session will take the form of an information fair where attendees can learn about the various committees of NMRT. Learn about what NMRT does, NMRT events happening at ALA Annual Conference, benefits of membership, and how to get more involved. This will be a great place to make connections and network with new members and experienced leaders alike.
NMRT ALA Conference Orientation
Friday, June 23, 2017 from 1-2:30pm
McCormick Place, Room W196c
New to the Annual Conference or ALA? Come and get a fun and informative introduction to the Annual Conference and Chicago. Learn how to navigate the exhibits and decipher the conference program, how to make ALA and NMRT work for you, and where to spend your free time in the city. NMRT provides tips from the pros and an orientation that will prepare you to take full advantage of the conference experience.
Robert Sarwark
The Art Institute of Atlanta
Librarian
Brief Job Description: Sole librarian for an arts- and design-focused collection serving ~1,600 undergraduate students.
What are some things you like about your job or about working in libraries in general?
My job: Being able to assist non-traditional students at an impasse with their studies/projects to reach higher levels of learning and capacity.
Libraries in general: They’re sanctuaries of humanity, where anyone can set aside time to either get work done in peace, collaborate with peers, or learn something new.
What’s a project or committee you’re working on right now that you’re excited about?
Integrating library services into the syllabi of all or as many of the faculty as possible.
What got you interested in libraries?
Being a graduate student for my first Masters degree, an MA, when I spent almost every day in the library either working as an employee or completing my capstone project.
What is one of your favorite things about NMRT?
Being able to network with other professional librarians that are just starting their careers.
Do you have any advice for other new librarians?
Be open when it comes to that first job, because you may be able to take your career in a new direction from there, but you need to start somewhere!
Name: Julia Frankosky
Job Title: Government Information Librarian/ Video Game Cataloger
Institution: Michigan State University
NMRT Board Position/Title: Member Services Director
What role does your Board Position serve in NMRT? I oversee four NMRT committees: Endnotes (the peer-reviewed journal), Mentoring, Resume Review Service, and Communications.
How long have you been an NMRT member? About 6 years.
What’s your favorite thing about NMRT? I love how easy it was to get involved. The people in NMRT are just fantastic and not intimidating at all so when I was a new professional and needed to get involved NMRT made the whole thing so easy for me. Since NMRT is open to any new professional/library school student, I’m able to interact with those in completely different library settings than myself, which is something that I rarely would get to do otherwise.
What advice would you give to someone just joining NMRT this year? Don’t be afraid to ask any of us (NMRT Board members, committee chairs, committee members) for advice. We’ve all been where you are now and are happy to share our wisdom (or tell you about some of our missteps that you can learn from). We can help you figure out the best way for you to get involved in NMRT and the profession as a whole. Additionally, NMRT offers so many fantastic resources to help its members and I’d advise any new person to take a look at everything NMRT has to offer. From professional development grants to help you get to conference to writing opportunities in Endnotes and the NMRT Blog, there are tons of ways to get involved without necessarily joining a committee. And if you need additional assistance with your resume or if you need a mentor, fear not because we have committees just for those aspects, too.
Meet Your NMRT Board Member is a 2016-2017 series to help NMRT members get to know their board. If you have any questions about this series, please contact the NMRT Communications Committee Chair, Melanie Kowalski (melanie.t.kowalski@gmail.com).
NMRT Annual Social @ the 2017 ALA Annual Conference
The ALA New Members Round Table (NMRT) is pleased to invite you to NMRT Annual Social at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago! The NMRT Annual Social committee has been hard at working making sure this will be the event of ALA Annual!
This not-to-be-missed event will include the presentation of the NMRT Professional Development Grant Committee, the Shirley Olofson Memorial Award Committee, the Annual Conference Professional Development Attendance Award Committee, and the Student Chapter of the Year Award.
Join us on Sunday, June 25th from 5-7 p.m. at Ditka’s Chicago for light refreshments and a cash bar. Please RSVP here by June 16th.
For information about the ALA New Members Round Table, please visit http://www.ala.org/nmrt/.
Are you on the job market? Is your resume rusty? Are you attending Annual in Chicago? Join us in the ALA JobList Placement & Career Development Center on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25 to get your resume reviewed by an expert! Walk-in reviews are accommodated as time allows, and we encourage signing up for an appointment in advance. Advanced sign-up for appointments closes on Friday, June 16th at 5:00 PM CST.
We also seek volunteer resume reviewers and booth greeters! If you’ve been a hiring manager or served on a search committee, consider signing up to volunteer an hour or two as a Resume Reviewer at Annual 2017! Not ready to review but still want to be part of the action? The Resume Review Service also seeks Booth Greeters! Booth Greeters make sure the resume review service runs smoothly by checking in reviewers and reviewees. Volunteering as a Booth Greeter is a great opportunity for library school students and new professionals; it looks good on a resume and provides you with an excellent chance to network. Sign-up today and visit our informational website for more details.
The sign-up period for these volunteer opportunities closes Friday, June 16th at 5:00 PM CST. People registering by Friday, May 26 will be notified of their volunteer schedule by Tuesday, May 30. People registering between Saturday, May 27 and Friday, June 16 will be notified of their volunteer schedule by Tuesday, June 20.
If you have any questions, please contact NMRT Resume Review Service Committee Chair Brandy Horne & Assistant Chair Hannah Buckland at resumereviewnmrt@gmail.com. Thank you!
Dani Brecher Cook
University of California, Riverside Library
Director of Teaching & Learning
What are some things you like about your job or about working in libraries in general?
I love how different my job can be on any given day–leading a class in interacting with primary sources, leading a lively discussion about the reliability of sources, tracking down a partially-remembered citation, planning a campus event with community partners, writing up work for publication, coding a web project, crunching data…. The diverse nature of the work keeps it interesting, and the intensely collegial nature of our profession keeps the work joyful.
What is one of your favorite things about NMRT?
NMRT was truly my gateway to ALA. My second year in NMRT, I chaired the President’s Program committee for NMRT–talk about jumping in the deep end! I learned so much about how ALA works as an organization, what it takes to put on a national event (a zillion moving parts), and how to delegate in a remote team. I still keep in touch with many of the people from that committee, so NMRT is the reason for many of my on-going professional relationships.
Do you have any advice for other new librarians?
Saying “no” is important! It’s so hard to do, but saying “yes” to everything (as exciting as it all sounds) is a quick path to burnout. I wished I’d learned to be more judicious with my time and energies earlier.
How to Be an Influential Librarian – Leading and Mentoring from Wherever you Are
Sponsored by: ALCTS Leadership Development Committee
Cosponsored by: LLAMA Mentoring Committee and the ALA New Members Round Table (NMRT)
Saturday, June 24th from 1:00-2:30 pm
McCormick Place, W184bc
Librarians in any stage of their career can learn to be influential leaders in not only their own organization, but the library world as a whole. Attendees will learn how to build and leverage strong mentor/mentee relationships, both formal and informal, allowing them to connect and influence from either role. By focusing on interpersonal and communication skills, attendees will be able to effectively support their colleagues and organization by leading from wherever they are.
Our speakers represent librarians from early, mid, and late career points. We have Madison Sullivan (a new librarian at the University of Washington and formerly a fellow at NCSU), Rachel Fleming (the Collections Initiatives Librarian at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga), and Maureen Sullivan (leadership consultant and past president of ALA). We’re hoping this session will be engaging, allowing both speakers and attendees to connect and share their experiences.
The New Members Round Table Mentoring Committee is seeking applicants for its 2017 ALA Conference Mentoring Program, occurring during the American Library Association Annual Conference, June 22nd – 27th, in Chicago, IL. The NMRT Mentoring committee will pair first time attendees with more experienced conference goers.
Applicants should apply to be a conference mentee if this is their first time attending an American Library Association Annual Conference. Program mentors are those who are comfortable navigating the massive, and often daunting, annual conference and can provide guidance and tips to someone who has never experienced it before.
Applicants must attend the conference at least 3 days to be eligible. Mentoring pairs should plan to meet with each other two times and be willing to remain in contact via phone or email during the conference.
The committee will also be hosting a Mentoring Social on Friday, June 23rd, where mentors and mentees from all of our programs have a place to meet face to face! The social runs from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in the Comiskey Meeting Room. Attendance is highly recommended and serves as a great opportunity to not only meet up with your mentoring match but also gives you a chance to meet up with other conference attendees.
Applications are due June 2nd with notification of pairings to occur by the week of June 11th.
For more information and to apply, visit:
http://www.ala.org/nmrt/
Any additional questions or concerns may be directed to the NMRT Mentoring Committee by emailing ALANMRTmentoring@gmail.com.
