Membership/Interested Persons: approx. 120
Our mission is to enhance the professional image and status of Montana library support staff as contributing partners in service to our patrons, by providing a network of communication, and by encouraging continuing education and training opportunities for Montana's library employees.
ANYONE is welcome and encouraged to participate in the Montana Library Paraprofessionals interest group. We encourage librarians to support and share with us. We encourage membership in professional organizations such as the Montana Library Association, but do not require it.
Colleen Ferguson, Co-Chair (2002-2003) cferg@mtlib.org
Tracie Shepherd, Co-Chair (2002-2004) tshepherd@helena.k12.mt.us
Marcia Lubick, Co-Chair (2003-2004) MLubick@mtech.edu
Rita Gibson, Past Chair rigibson@state.mt.us
"Para" means "beside" or "near". A person trained to assist a professional.
Library support staff personnel who work under the supervision of a library director.
Any library employee with a job title in any of these or similar terms: "support staff", "paralibrarian", "library assistant", "library technician", "library clerk", "library administrative assistant", "library associate".
For information, contact Montana State Library, Helena, at 1-800-338-5087.
Download a copy of the Montana Certification Manual in PDF.
Library Journal will honor one support staffer with its fourth annual Paraprofessional of the Year award in its March 1 issue. The award recognizes the essential role of paraprofessionals, now the largest constituency of library workers, in providing excellent library service and places special emphasis on the efforts of the winner to further the role of paraprofessionals in the library profession. The editors see this award as equal in importance to LJ's annual Librarian of the Year Award, which debuted in 1989 and recognizes those who hold the MLS.
Nominating criteria The criteria for LJ's first Paraprofessional of the Year are excellence in performing their job, including contribution(s) enabling the library to best serve its constituents and/or its community (whether town, college/university, school, or corporation), the encouragement of reading and the use of the library's resources, a commitment to free access to information for all, and the candidate's work to build networks, organizations, and/or groups to back excellence in library work and new career paths for support staff, and improved communication and the breaking down of barriers between support staff and the MLS librarians with whom they work. Nominating letters should name the candidate and describe in 500 words or less why the nominee deserves the award. Supporting letters and accompanying material will be considered, but the nominating letter itself will be of prime importance.
Nominations may be e-mailed to fialkoff@reedbusiness.com .
Nominations sent through regular mail should be addressed to: Francine Fialkoff c/o Library Journal 360 Park Avenue South. New York, NY 10010.
Please note: the deadline for all nominations is January 2, 2003.
The deadline for the Library Mosaics/COLT Annual Awards is fast approaching (January 20, 2003), however it is not too late to submit recommendations for both the awards. These awards recognize the accomplishments of dedicated men and women who have worked to enrich the professional lives of each of us. The Support Staff award is for your peers. The people you know who give of themselves to serve on committees, write for publications, serve as mentors, organize activities, etc. The Supporter of Support Staff is for librarians and administrators who consistently make a commitment to support those issues that are important to library support staff and/or enable support staff to reach higher and participate in professional activities. The only way the people who make a difference can be recognized is if *you* nominate them. Do it now!
Announcement:
Annually Library Mosaics and the Council on Library/Media Technicians (COLT) present awards for "Outstanding Support Staff" and "Outstanding Supporter of Support Staff." These awards are given to individuals who have been outstanding in their service to library support staff. Recipients are recognized at the annual COLT Conference. Each is presented with a $100 prize and a plaque noting their special achievement. They are also the focus of a cover and feature article in Library Mosaics. The deadline for nominations is January 20, 2003. For additional information about the awards contact Library Mosaics, P.O. Box 5171, Culver City, CA 90231. You can also e-mail publisher Raymond Roney at <rroney@librarymosaics.com>
Nomination criteria and information about past recipients are on the COLT home page at http://library.ucr.edu/COLT/awards.html Please be specific about the nominee's accomplishments.
These awards have been presented since 1995. Past recipients include:
Support Staff Award
2002 - Cynthia Mielke - Hilton Briggs Library, South Dakota State University
2001 - Rita Gibson - State Law Library of Montana, Helena, Montana
2000 - Paulette Feld - Forrest R. Polk Library, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
1999 - Meralyn Meadows - Stanly County Public Library, Albemarle, North Carolina.
1998 - Linda J. Owen - University of California, Riverside, California
1997 - Dorothy Morgan - Liverpool Public Library (New York)
1996 - Martha Parsons - Washington State Energy Office, Olympia, Washington
1995 - Ruth Tolbert - Central Indiana Area Library Services Authority, Indianapolis, Indiana
Supporter of Support Staff Award
2002 - Billie M. Connor-Dominguez - Los Angeles Public Library
2001 - Sue Mahmoodi - Minnesota Department of Children Family and Learning, Library Development and Services
2000 - Linda Slusar - College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
1999 - Edward T. Gillen - New York State Education Department, Albany, New York
1998 - Annamarie Erickson - Chicago Library System, Chicago, Illinois
1997 - Dale Montgomery - University of Wisconsin -La Crosse, WI.
1996 - Willie Hardin - Torryson Library, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas
1995 - Arolana "Lana" M. Meissner - Alfred University Library
(updated 23 July 2003)
by
Rita Gibson
New Chair and Co-Chairs:
Colleen Ferguson, Hearst Free Library in Anaconda, has volunteered to chair the
Montana Library Paraprofessionals interest group this year
(2002-2003). Tracie Shepherd, Helena High School Library, and Marcia
Lubick, Montana Tech Library in Butte, have volunteered to co-chair. Tracie will
co-chair this year (2002-2003) and next year (2003-2004); Marcia will
co-chair next year (2003-2004).
Please see the Contacts Section to email these ladies
with your suggestions for next year's conference workshop (Butte, April 2003)
and any other ideas you'd like to see implemented by MLP.
MLA Conference Report (April 2002 Great Falls):
Board Meeting, April 24: Interest group chairs were invited to attend and we were all in agreement that this was very beneficial. The purpose, function, and roles of interest groups, their chairs, and the two Directors at Large (East and West) were discussed in order to begin clarification and implement changes into the association handbook. It was noted that interest groups are typically created to fill specific needs, don't necessarily continue every year, and tend to be "grassroots" in nature. In order to address the need for clearer procedures and continued communication to insure fully functioning groups, it was decided that the interest groups would be placed under the Directors at Large; the chair/co-chair system would be encouraged; and the handbook updated to reflect new procedures to assist interest groups function better within the organization. John York (Director at Large-West) suggested that a budget be created to have a separate retreat in order to devote more time to interest groups.
Leadership training opportunities were discussed and this could have great positive impact for support staff. I hope to have more personal involvement in helping get these kinds of opportunities available for paras. Both of our regional library associations either have a leadership institute in place (Mountain Plains Library Association), or are working on one (Pacific Northwest Library Association; see the schedule for the conference in Missoula August 7-10). There was also discussion regarding Montana sponsoring one of its own also, which may be discussed again at the MLA Board meeting July 31-Aug 2. It was suggested that MLA past presidents be involved in this, and also invite the interest group chairs. MLA would benefit from this as it would encourage members to step up into leadership positions within the organization, and also I think support staff would benefit too since as a recent ALA report stated, with the impending retirement of many baby-boomer librarians, there is a real need to fill their positions and in some cases they can and perhaps will be filled by paraprofessionals, whom leadership training would benefit.
Mentoring project meeting: The mentoring project has been approved by MLA and will be administered by the Professional Development Committee. MLA sees this project as one method of addressing the leadership issue. The PDC will request in its budget $100 to begin with for travel reimbursement (50 mile radius, one way). Mentor and protégée applications, evaluation forms, and guidelines will be created and loaded onto MLA's web page for people who want to participate. When forms are filled out, they should be sent to the PDC who will pair mentors and protégées. It will then be up to the pairs to contact each other and set up, using the guidelines to help them, ways to establish a workable communication system with each other from which the partnership will develop. Please watch WIRED-MT and FOCUS for continuing updates.
"Ambassadors in Our Communities" workshop: The MLP sponsored workshop was well attended and there was some excellent discussion after the panel shared their individual volunteering experiences. Paulette Parpart (Missoula Public Library) discussed her experiences as a volunteer in the Sons of Norway, various genealogy and woodcarvers groups. Pam Henley (Bozeman Public Library) shared about her time with the Museum of the Rockies. Peggy Kude (Carroll College Library, Helena) talked about her experiences as a reading volunteer with the HOST and STARS programs in the Helena area. Rita Gibson shared about her involvement with MLA and COLT, reading volunteering at a local elementary school, using holidays to share ethnic cultures in her daughter's classroom, and as a board member of a local Irish dance school, in addition to other people's experiences in fire departments and hospitals. Topics such as how and why we became involved and the personal benefits (opportunities to meet new people; "vision" for eventual retirement; keeping active in the field when there is no employment and having that foot in the door when employment does open up) which keep us involved, how our libraries benefit from the extra PR were discussed.
Interest group business meeting: The need for a new chair, and ideas for next year's conference workshop; a future retreat for paras; and an update on the mentoring project were discussed. Brochures for the two national para organizations (COLT and ALA's SSIRT) were distributed.
Continues to be our most challenging hurdle. A more efficient method of keeping folks informed on our activities is being tried this year, that being what you're accessing now: the para portion of MLA's web page. Everyone's encouraged to periodically check here for news on what's happening regarding our group. We're hoping this method will make it easier for people without convenient email access to keep informed because nearly all libraries have public Internet access terminals that staff should be able to use on their break times. Be advised that there are free email providers (for instance, Hotmail, Juno, or Yahoo) that folks can use in conjunction with the public terminals so one doesn't need a computer at home to get "connected"! Updates will still be submitted to the MLA's Focus along with occasional email/snail mail messages of time-sensitive nature to those who have contacted Rita with their addresses (also, please let me know of any new or corrected addresses).
Please remember to check the MLA web page for updates.
Rita Gibson