NMRT Notes

Questions? Please contact Jenifer Grady, ALA-APA Director, jgrady@ala.org, 312-280-2424.

In tough economic times, consider investing in your current management and cultivating future leaders through the ALA-APA Certified Public Library Administrator® program. CPLA candidates take 7 short courses taught by leaders in the profession like Dr. Robert Burger, Dr. Arlita Harris, Sandra Nelson, Yolanda Cuesta, George Needham and Wayne Piper. Through discussions and assignments, candidates find solutions to issues in their own libraries. Courses are online and face-to-face.

CPLA candidates have 5 years to complete the program. The application fee is $250 for ALA members; with courses (~$300 each) and other fees, the program averages $2700. Compare with the costs of similar professional development and additional graduate degrees, like public administration or business administration. CPLA is affordable, accessible and designed specifically for librarians!

ALA members can apply for only $150 using the code CPLA09 (enter the code in application field 22 at http://www.ala-apa.org/certification/cpla.html). Additional discounts are available for multiple librarians applying from the same system. Offer expires 1/31/10.

APPLICANTS SOUGHT FOR 3M/NMRT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT
Deadline: December 15, 2009

We are excited to announce that members of ALA’s New Members Round Table
(NMRT) can apply to receive a grant, sponsored by 3M Library Systems,
which will cover expenses to attend the ALA Annual Conference, June
24-30, 2010, in Washington, DC.

Want to read about the ALA experiences of last year’s winners? Read their reports in the August 2009 issue of Footnotes, where you will see how professionally rewarding attending an ALA Annual Conference can be.
Linda Crook   |   Mark Danley   |   Pamela Taylor

Pictured: Mark Danley, Linda Crook, David Pointon (3M), and Pamela Taylor

The application form and further information about the grant is
available on the NMRT website here. Application is open to dues paying members of NMRT. Not a member? Join for only $10! To add NMRT to your ALA membership, visit the ALA website and select the “Join ALA” link, or call 1-800-545-2433 and select option 5 for Customer service.

For further information about the grant, please contact:

Anne (Robert) Clement
Chair, 3M/NMRT Professional Development Grant Committee
South Mandarin Branch Library
12125 San Jose Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32223
Phone: 904.288.6385 x230
Email: arobert AT coj.net

Are you a member of NMRT and another ALA unit or library organization? Are you looking for a way to be more involved? Then our liaison program is for you! We are looking for liaisons to a variety of ALA units and organizations. If you’re interested in volunteering, please fill out the volunteer form at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/nmrt/popularresources/getinvolved/liaison.cfm

Please note: All liaisons must be dues paying members of NMRT.

Questions? Email Amy Harris, Liaison Coordination and Support Committee chair: aharrishouk(at)gmail(dot)com.

Have you been a librarian for 5 years or less? Do you sometimes feel you have professional questions to ask and no one to direct them to? Do you find yourself wondering, in the midst of hardcore budget season, or in that massive collection development strategy meeting…What are they talking about? Well, through NMRT’s Mentoring Committee, help has arrived! Here’s your chance to meet a new librarian ally, and to have someone to ask all those questions you can’t really ask!

The NMRT Mentoring Committee will pair up “newbie librarians” with “seasoned vets” as part of our Career Mentoring program. The program will last from October 2009 to July 2010. Conference attendance is not required. Membership in ALA is required, and NMRT membership is encouraged. Applications are due September 25, 2009, with the goal of notifying the matching pairs by mid-October.

NMRT Mentoring Committee

Have you been a librarian for 5 years or more? Do you have a handle on all those professional questions that come up from day to day?  Do you find yourself wishing that someone would have been there to teach you all that you now know? Do you find yourself wondering to whom you can impart all this hard-fought knowledge?

In that case, we have just the person!

Here is your chance to participate in a program from the New Members Round Table of ALA (NMRT), to meet a new librarian ally, and to have someone to guide as they learn the ins and outs of librarianship!

The NMRT Mentoring Committee’s Career Mentoring Program focuses on long term mentoring. We will pair up “newbie librarians” with “seasoned vets” as part of a year-long mentoring program. If you are interested in finding a mentee and in charting new territory with our new program, please read all the details and fine print below.

The NMRT Career Mentoring program will last from October 2009 to July 2010. Conference attendance is not required. Membership in ALA is required, and NMRT membership is encouraged. Applications are due September 25, 2009, with the goal of notifying the matching pairs by the middle of October.

Each pair will have a member of the NMRT Mentoring Committee assigned to them. This committee member will notify the mentor and mentee of their pairing, and send them monthly discussion topics via email. Mentors and mentees are of course free to discuss whatever they want, whenever and however they would like. These topics are merely guidelines. The committee member will also serve as a troubleshooter if any problems come up, for example if you stop hearing from your partner or never make contact.

For further information and to apply, visit the Mentoring Program Web  Site.