President's Corner: James King
May / June 2010 Volume 71, No. 3 Inside this issue:
Thank you for taking the time to read this issue of the DC/SLA newsletter Chapter Notes. Our Editor-inChief, Chris Vestal continues to do an outstanding job pulling together columns and articles for this permanent record of the chapter’s activities. I’m honored to serve as the DC/SLA President this year and am relieved that I have such a talented and committed team of professionals standing alongside me on the board. Their efforts make this job look easy! Mary Talley, our president-elect, and her team have been busy pulling together an excellent slate of programs for the chapter focused on professional development, career enhancement and networking. This has included our annual New Member Reception at Elizabeth’s on L featuring SLA President Anne Caputo, who talked about the challenges facing our profession and how the Alignment Project’s findings will be able to help; the annual Joint Spring Workshop focused this year on 360 Degree Marketing: Selling Libraries to Users and Decision Makers featuring Katya Andresen, author of Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes; and our Cinco de Mayo networking event which featured food and a chance to network with several professionals in non-traditional careers. Our Vendor Relations Director may have the toughest job on the board this year. Lois’s not-so-simple job is to find sponsorship opportunities for chapter activities during the Great Recession. Just as members are facing budget cuts, our vendor community has been facing tough times as well. In this environment, it is critical that we create events that demonstrate value to those attending as well as to those sponsoring. Both Mary and Lois have been doing a great job of finding this balance! The chapter’s budget is in good shape at the half-way point due in large part to the sponsorships that we’ve received so far.
President’s Corner ............................. 1
Chapter Events .................................. 3
Library Related Events ..................... 4
Candidates for 2011 SLA Board of Directors ........................................... 8
The Way Forward ............................. 9
Career Column ................................. 11
Apply for DC/SLA’s Scholarships by 16 July ............................................ 12 Government Librarians Tackle the New Face of Value ................................... 12 Librarians can tweak Sharepoint ..... 13 Info Pros Buck Tradition for Cinco de Mayo ................................................ 14 Lights! Camera! Action! Book Talks Go Live at Hardy Middle School Library ............................................ 15
Chapter Notes is the newsletter for the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). It is distributed six times per year (bimonthly) as follows: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, November/December.
Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by the contributors to SLA’s publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official views of SLA. Acceptance of advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by SLA.
Subscriptions: Chapter Notes is free to DC/SLA members. Subscriptions are available to non-members at a rate of $10 per year. The newsletter is also available electronically at the chapter’s website, www.units.sla.org/chapter/cdc
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The deadline for the July/August 2010 issue is 1 August. The issue will be distributed approximately three weeks after the deadline. The preferred submission format is a Word document sent via email. You should receive an email acknowledgement of your submission. Materials for Chapter Notes or requests for mailing address changes should be sent to the Editor.
Chapter Notes Editor: Chris Vestal, ASRC Management Services Phone: 540.227.0718 cmvlibrarian@gmail.com
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DC/SLA Webmaster: Lorette Weldon Research Director Weldon Researchers dcslacalendar@gmail.com
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DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 2
Looking beyond our situation and focusing on the needs of others is an extremely rewarding experience and one that I encourage all of us to do as often as possible. The SLA Annual Conference afforded many people the chance to serve others and we’ll explore that, as well as the entire conference, as part of the next issue of Chapter Notes. However, we are fortunate to have regular opportunities within our own chapter to serve, led by Jessica Beauchamp and Kenlee Ray in the Community Outreach Committee. Read more about their latest successes at Hardy Middle School later in this issue and thanks to all who have volunteered! Space does not allow me to thank every volunteer who has contributed to the chapter this year. To properly thank everyone, Mary and her team are planning a Volunteer Appreciation & DC/SLA 70th Anniversary Celebration this fall. Please watch for details and plan on attending! Finally, it’s not too late to join in! Volunteering in DC/SLA provides each of us with a great opportunity to network with other professionals in the area and gives us a chance to develop or improve upon skills that can also be used in our various careers. Check out the latest list of DC/SLA volunteer vacancies maintained by our Volunteer Coordinator Deena Adelman online (http://tinyurl.com/2wabwhq).
Chapter Events •Non-Fiction Book Club meeting, 6:30-8:30p.m. Wednesday, 28 July. Zorba’s Cafe 1612 20th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009. Members will discuss This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson. More information on the book can be found at http://tinyurl.com/35bc6nx or http:// tinyurl.com/35xfv7v. Please RSVP to gsauvey@gmail.com if you plan to attend.
Memorial Day sunset on Kent Island (Photo by Karen Danoff) • Creating Digital Archives, 6-8p.m. Wednesday, 14 July. NPR 635 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001. Panel discussion on the "lessons learned" from the process of digitizing print collections. • DC/SLA 2010 Student Scholarships Deadline, Friday, 16 July. The Catherine A. Jones Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by IOP Publishing and the IOP Publishing Scholarship both award $2000 for studies leading to a Master’s degree from an ALA accredited graduate library science program. See page 12 for more details.
• Red Light Tour of the New Orleans SLA Conference,6-8p.m. Thursday, 29 July. BNA Conference Center 1801 S. Bell St., Arlington, VA 22202. DC/SLA is holding an informal recap of the Annual Conference for members who could not attend this year. Members who did attend will give 5-10 minute presentations on the interesting and informative programs they heard or presented. RSVP Mary Talley at mary.talleygarcia@gmail.com
• Young
Professionals and Students Happy Hour, Wednesday 21 July. Poste Moderne Brasserie 555 8th St., NW, Washington, DC 20004. For more information about the restaurant please see www.postebrasserie.com/. Send RSVPs to Carrie Port at Carrie.Port@turner.com. •Meet the SLA Candidates Happy Hour, 6-8p.m. Wednesday, 28 July. Elephant and Castle, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004. More details TBA.
DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 3
Kenlee Ray, volunteering at Hardy Middle School-see full story on page 15 (Photo provided by Lynn Kauffman)
Library Related Events
•Maryland SLA Chapter Happy Hour, 5-7p.m.Tuesday, 27 July. West Bistro Grill 7 West Chesapeake Ave., Towson, MD 21204. For their happy hour menu please see http://tinyurl.com/ 27s2894.
Flowers in full bloom for the warmer months (Photo by Karen Danoff) •Young Professionals and Students Happy Hour, Tuesday, 17 August. McGinty’s Public House 911 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20910. For more information about the restaurant please see http://tinyurl.com/33k8fml. Send RSVPs to Carrie Port at Carrie.Port@turner.com
• 2010 Federal Librarians Networking Symposium, 9a.m.-2p.m. Wednesday, 4 August. Library of Congress Madison Building 101 Independence Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20540. Navigating the Federal Library Hiring Processes an Opportunity to Network with Federal Organizations, Contractors and other Information Professionals. Register at http:// www.surveymonkey.com/s/PY5BHWY
• Maryland SLA Chapter Happy Hour, 5-7p.m.Wednesday, 25 August. Eggspectation 6010 University Blvd., Ellicott City, MD 21043. For more information please see http:// tinyurl.com/38mof5f.
Eileen Boswell as Tappy the Penguin, with the CTAA Board President and Tappy's escort (Photo provided by Eileen Boswell) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 4
The chapter welcomed its new members at its annual New Member reception (Photo by James King)
Members were treated to margaritas at the National Geographic Society’s library on Cinco de Mayo-see page 14 for full story (Photo by Elizabeth Ann Blake )
•Library Research Seminar, Wednesday-Saturday, 6-9 October. The Marriott Inn & Conference Center, UMUC 3501 University Blvd., Hyattsville, MD 20783. This conference will bring together a diverse community of scholars from academia and practitioners from libraries and archives who are interested in research that informs policy-making, decision-making, and best practices. For more information please see http://www.lrsv.umd.edu
Anne Caputo spoke at the New Member’s reception (Photo by James King)
NIH’s Green Terrace has been a popular location on its campus for the
warmer months (Photo by James King) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 5
Members enjoyed some hot food before the speakers at the Cinco de Mayo event (Photo by Elizabeth Ann Blake )
•Xtreme Reference, Thursday, 21 October. Kossiakoff Center at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD. A full day event devoted to the content, delivery, and skill sets for today's reference services. This professional development and networking opportunity is being presented by the Maryland Chapter of the SLA. For more information see http://tinyurl.com/dddnym.
Members wait to hear who won prizes from the scavenger hunt at the Cinco de Mayo event (Photo by Elizabeth Ann Blake)
Flowers Continue to delight (Photo by Karen Danoff) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 6
DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 7
Candidates for 2011 SLA Board of Directors President-Elect
Brent Mai
David Stern Division Cabinet Chair-Elect
Chapter Cabinet Chair-Elect
James Manasco
Ulla de Stricker
Scott Brown
Richard Huffine
Director
Nerida Hart
Jill HurstWahl
P. K. Jain
Sara Tompson
To learn more about all the candidates visit http://tinyurl.com/2fj3wrx DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 8
The Way Forward By Montrese Hamilton
The Atlantic hurricane season has begun. Alert coastal residents gather supplies, review property insurance, and contemplate – “If a storm comes, do I stay or go?” The stay-go debate applies to careers as the employment outlook improves and new opportunities beckon. However, moving up Maslow’s hierarchy toward greater job satisfaction does not always mean changing employers. To learn more about how information professionals can deepen contentment in-place, I contacted wellknown career coach Marshall Brown for insight. TWF: Turning from survival to satisfaction as the economy improves, how can we energize ourselves to re-engage with our work?
Marshall Brown, certified career coach
you feel from participation create the drive you MB: Focus on these two facts: 1) You don’t have to need to perform your absolute best. accept the slump you are in. 2) It is possible for you to find satisfaction . . . in the job you have How can we improve our daily experience of right now. work? The first step is to choose your mood. Reframing a Continue reframing the situation and connect with “bad” situation—finding the silver lining in people. Much of the reason why we do our jobs is something negative—can complete change your to serve other people. Understanding how you outlook and increase your satisfaction at work. impact the lives of people around you—both inside and outside the workplace—can increase your Use improved perspective to get in touch with satisfaction. your passions. Your passions never really go away. While they may be a little rusty, the things that Manage your supervisor. Be one step ahead. feed your soul and stir your heart are still within Always have a good strategy in place to address you. resistance from your supervisor. Build a mutually beneficial relationship. Following your passions allows you to engage. The cure for exhaustion is not rest. It’s involvement. When you are truly absorbed in something, you feel energized. The connections DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 9
Clarify job requirements because knowing what is expected of you is key to feeling good about your job. Request clear expectations, advocate for needed education and training, and ask for frequent reviews.
less, chances are you’ll also notice your enthusiasm and
Tweak your job to your natural preferences. When requirements are clear, determine how to align your natural preferences with the structure of your job. Identifying what is and is not working for you, helps you rebuild your job into one that better suits you.
Parting thoughts?
motivation—and eventually your performance— decrease.
There are no quick fixes. You’ll have to take responsibility for your own situation, and you’ll have to make a serious commitment to your job and career growth. But your efforts will be rewarded.
What is the antidote to complacency? Investing in yourself by allocating a specific amount of time toward education and selfimprovement to increase your specific job skills and knowledge about your industry. As you gain the education and knowledge necessary to excel in your job, your fulfillment and enjoyment will increase.
Marshall Brown is a certified career coach, executive coach and personal brand strategist with a passion for helping people find ways to live more fulfilling lives. Contact him at marshall@mbrownassociates.com or visit www.mbrownassociates.com. Montrese Hamilton, MSLS, is librarian for the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Va. Contact her at montrese [dot] hamilton [at] gmail [dot] com.
Challenging yourself. Don’t wait for your employer to engage your interests, skills, and education. What skills and experience do you need for your dream job, and how could you improve them? Take a class, find a mentor, or educate yourself through books, CDs, podcasts, and seminars. Which aspect of job satisfaction is often overlooked? Making time for life beyond work. Paying attention to both your work life and your home life is integral to increasing job satisfaction. If you find that you’re working more and playing DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 10
O U R P E O P L E - YO U R R E S U LT S C O N S U LT I N G & P R O J E C T M A N A G E M E N T
L E G A L S TA F F I N G
I N F O R M AT I O N & A S S E T M A N A G E M E N T
M ANAGED SERVICES
L I B R A R Y & R E S E A R C H S TA F F I N G
RECRUITING
lac-group.com
Career Column By Aimee Babcock-Ellis, James Madigan, and Kerry Mason Weeda One of the best ways to start networking at a conference is, if you can afford it, signing up for pre-conference sessions. Be sure to take advantage of any discounts, including Student Rate, Early Bird, conference scholarships, submit a poster or conference session, or offer to volunteer for one day in exchange for free registration. These pre-conference sessions are usually smaller, and more intimate, so you may have a better chance at meeting other people. There are usually breaks during the session which give you time to talk to the other participants. Some instructors build networking into the class, which is useful. So, if the instructor does not build in time for socializing, how do you start to meet people? Well, everyone likes to talk about themselves and most sessions have people introduce themselves, including where they work, so you can ask a question about their job or place of employment as a starting point. After the session has ended and if you want to follow up with the people you met, be prepared to exchange business cards, or have some paper to obtain people’s contact information. You don’t need anything fancy, just something with basic information including: your name, job title, employer or current school enrolled in, email address, telephone number, and optionally any other interesting information.
Try talking to and connecting with five new people a day. Challenge yourself; it is okay if you don’t meet five one day, you may meet six one day and three the next. Don’t worry about the number; just try putting yourself out there. The earlier you meet people, the better the chance you may be able to meet up for coffee and/or attend or meet at an event later during the conference. Even if you don’t have a business card, exchange cell phone numbers and/or email address so you can at least text/email each other to meet up and discuss what you have learned from the conference or just to get to know each other better. In addition, if the conference offers it, try taking advantage of the resume or writing sample review service. It is always good for another set of eyes to look over these things and this will improve your writing. If you are more experienced, consider giving back and volunteer to review resumes or writing samples at the conference. Conference organizers will appreciate your help and gives you a chance to see the talent that out there. It may help you build your ‘A’ team of the qualities and characters you would like in the people you work with, and may eventually be able to hire.
From the survey responses we have received, we see that some readers would like us to answer some careerrelated questions. We will start a question bank from questions we receive via the online survey on topics After you have exchanged cards or contact information, you would like us to address. Each issue we will answer when you have some down time, write on the back how one or two questions. We will collect the questions and add our answers to the DC-SLA Chapter website for or where you met the person, date, and anything pertinent you discussed. This will be helpful when you people to reference to later. To add a question, please visit our survey, found here: http://tinyurl.com/35llqmm need to refresh your memory later on.
Hello Information Professional (Graphic by Aimee BabcockEllis) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 11
We have found some other sources that may be useful for networking: • Baber, Anne. & Waymon, Lynne. 2007. Make Your Contacts Count: Networking Know-how for Business And Career Success. AMACOM. • Lowndes, Leil. 2009. How to Instantly Connect with Anyone: 96 All-New Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships. McGraw-Hill Companies. • Martinet, Jeanne. 2006. The Art of Mingling: Proven Techniques for Mastering Any Room. St. Martin’s Press. • RoAne, Susan. 2007. How to Work a Room : The Ultimate Guide to Savvy socializing In-Person and On-line. Harper Collins.
Apply for DC/SLA’s Scholarships by 16 July
Government Librarians Tackle the New Face of Value
By Kari Anderson
By Marie Kaddell
The DC/SLA 2010 scholarship program deadline is rapidly approaching. All applications are due Friday 16 July. This year two scholarships of $2,000 each will be awarded by the chapter in August 2010 for studies leading to a Master’s degree from an ALA accredited graduate library science program.
Best Practices for Government Libraries 2010: The New Face of Value. is now available. Best Practices is a collaborative document that is put out annually on a specific topic of interest to government libraries and includes content submitted by government librarians and community leaders with an interest in government libraries.
DC/SLA encourages talented men and women to join us with a career in special librarianship by assisting students who are preparing for a Master’s degree in library science. In support of this goal, the Washington, D.C. Chapter is offering two cash awards again this year: • Catherine A. Jones Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by IOP Publishing • IOP Publishing Scholarship To be eligible students must be a member of DC/ SLA and enrolled in an ALA accredited library science program. Student memberships in SLA are only $40 (join today at http://tinyurl.com/2fvgt and remember to choose the DC/SLA chapter on the membership form). To be considered applicants must also submit a completed application form available at http:// tinyurl.com/2bzeqk7. A 1000-2000 word essay describing his or her interest in special librarianship, professional goals, and anticipated contribution to the profession is also required. Applicants must also provide a letter of academic or professional recommendation.
DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 12
The 2010 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 60 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more. As the editor of Best Practices for Government Libraries, I want to thank the contributors for sharing their knowledge, experience, and thoughtful perspectives in this year's Best Practices. Best Practices is available as a pdf download at: http://tinyurl.com/2e3ato2
Librarians Can Tweak Sharepoint were viewable by the public through the Internet. SharePoint MOSS was used within their work environment but the search capabilities were not If you have ever used enabled. Information professionals would request the social media tools like IT staff to give them permission to customize their discussion boards, department or individual site. The survey indicated picture libraries, wikis and e-alerts, you would that SharePoint was mandated in the government sector. The survey respondents showed a limited have a good understanding of what to usage of the social media tools that were housed expect with SharePoint. within SharePoint’s webparts, such as: Workflow, Picture Library, Discussion Board, Calendar, Blogs, SharePoint is known in Portal, Request Tracker, Wiki, Team workspaces. two forms: Windows SharePoint Services and MOSS. Windows Respondents from educational institutions used SharePoint Services 2.0 SharePoint as a platform for their intranet, like and 3.0 are free. You government agencies did. They also had some probably have heard of portions accessible to the public. Some respondents them referred to as had Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (SharePoint SharePoint 2003 and 2007) and 2.0 (SharePoint 2003). The library portion SharePoint 2007. To of the institution customized their SharePoint sites. have it function with Extended Search Services and The survey respondents used the following social the Business Connectivity Services, your media tools: Reference Tracker, Link List, Document organization would have to purchase MOSS. MOSS Library, Wiki and Team Workspaces. contains extra features for your basic social media environment. SharePoint 2010 has the same type of Association survey respondents used their SharePoint set-up except now the Business Connectivity sites for their intranet, extranet and Internet visibility. Services works with its Windows SharePoint This was controlled through various permission Services version known as Foundation. settings. Their usage expanded past the government agency survey respondents to also include the Through a survey that I conducted for two weeks in following social media tools: Blogs, Link List, EApril 2010, I found out that SharePoint is alive and alerts, Team workspaces, Document Library, Wiki, well in government agencies, educational institutions, and Forms. associations and private firms. The majority of the survey respondents stated they had no preparation in Private firm survey respondents tended not to have using SharePoint. This summary of the survey results their sites open to the public by only using abstracted from my book, SharePoint Without SharePoint as a platform for their intranets and extranets. They operated with SharePoint versions Coding, will shed some light on what SharePoint is 2003 and 2007. This would be the basic form of and how to deal with it in your work environment. Respondents from government agencies hailed from Windows SharePoint Services. The library-type departments used SharePoint sites with the following agencies in the US and around the world while all other groups of respondents were from various areas social media tools through SharePoint’s webparts: Link lists, Trends tracker, Document Library, Forms, of the US. All groups reported their IT departments configured their SharePoint sites for them. The usage Team workspaces, Workflow, Portal, Search Indexing, Calendar, Wiki, Grant tracker, Request of SharePoint was also mandated by all four Tracker, Project Management, Website Template, respondent types’ organizations. Individual departments had a choice of whether they wanted to News Tracker. maintain their own SharePoint sites. By Lorette S.J. Weldon, MLS, BSIFSM
Government agencies used SharePoint as a platform for their intranet. Certain sections of their intranets DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 13
Info Pros Buck Convention for Cinco de Mayo By Chris Vestal Successfully defying the odds in the face of overwhelming adversity is pretty much the heart and soul of Cinco de Mayo (to read about the history of the holiday see http://tinyurl.com/n4sd6). While no one actually engaged in combat this year, DC/SLA honored the holiday by keeping this theme in mind with speakers in unconventional careers. Barbara Ferry and staff at the National Geographic Society Library hosted a lively celebration in the library’s space. Beginning with a trivia/scavenger hunt in the library stacks. The National Geographic Society’s library staff provided the trivia questions, posted them throughout the stacks, and even made some of the library’s resources available to answer them. Attendees entered their answers into a drawing for prizes, including Amazon.com gift cards, jewelry, and books published by National Geographic. Questions really ran the gamut of history, geography, and culture and included challenging ones, such as “What fruit is traditionally eaten in the evening to break the fast of Ramadan?” To hear all the questions and see the prizes see http://tinyurl.com/2vvwbgl. Following the scavenger hunt and networking over tacos and margaritas, attendees broke into small groups and rotated among five speakers. Each speaker talked with individual groups about their non-traditional careers in this challenging economy.
Members networked over tacos and margaritas in the National Geographic Society’s Library (Photo by Elizabeth Ann Blake) quipped that she hasn’t yet encountered any librarians who are also members. Larry Lempert, Director of Product Research and Planning with BNA, noted that he enrolled in an MLS program to learn about Information Architecture and enhance his work at BNA, years after earning his law degree. He believes that librarians’ technical skills are easily transferable to positions that involve optimizing users’ experiences.
The National Geographic Society also contributed a speaker to the program: Ariel Deiaco-Lohr, account Dave Hemingway-Turner, sales consultant for representative in the Society’s International Licensing Innovative Interfaces, wowed some of the attendees by and Alliances, talked about her experience in admitting that in the last 15 years he hasn’t had to apply international publishing. Deiaco-Lohr spoke about the for any of the jobs he’s had. He stressed the importance work she does to facilitate more localized content in the of forming connections with colleagues through Society’s Traveler magazine. professional associations like SLA. View all the videos from the Cinco de Mayo event at the Jennifer Whitfield, Outreach and Communications for DC/SLA Youtube group at http://tinyurl.com/2uqkw3v the Joint Bank-Fund Library, spoke about the value of marketing and the challenges of developing communications and training material for multicultural environments. Whitfield is also a member of the Internal Association of Business Communicators and DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 14
Lights! Camera! Action! Book Talks Go Live at Hardy Middle School Library By Kenlee Ray Popular teen literature made its television debut during National Library Week thanks to a partnership with Hardy Middle School (http:// www.hardyms.org) and DC/SLA, funded by a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant. The grant sponsored an innovative project to promote teen reading. "Book Beat: Teens Talk about Books on TV” is a project that added over 300 new books (the kind that teens like to read) to the school library. The grant also provided equipment for students to practice filming book talks to air on the school’s closed circuit TV and ultimately on the DC Knowledge Network. Book talks are oneminute advertisements that highlight a favorite book from the library. After practicing their book talks “in-house,” student book talks were professionally produced by the Roosevelt High School Arts Media Communication Academy, another grant partner. The book talks were launched during National Library Week and are currently televised on the DC Knowledge Network channels 99/18 (DS TV 99/18.) Volunteers from last year’s Saturday workday at Adams Middle School will remember Lynn Kauffman, the librarian. In the spring of 2009, Kauffman submitted an application for a LSTA grant. As LSTA grant applications need to show evidence of partnership and community support, DC/SLA agreed to be one of the grant partners and pledged a minimum of eight hours to help process the new books, and a minimum of $250 in matching funds to purchase new books. In
June, Kauffman was awarded the grant, the first one to be given to a DC school librarian, but was reassigned to Hardy Middle School for the fall term. Fortunately the grant was portable as long as the integrity of the project was maintained. The Hardy school community came through with flying colors. So, DC/SLA is now working there to continue promoting teen literacy and fulfill the partnership commitment. Much of the $1000 contribution by DC/SLA was used for fast turnaround purchases of books that kids specifically requested. Kauffman was delighted to be able to get many books into the kids' hands within a couple of days, and the kids keep returning with more requests. Politics and Prose, and other bookstores, give schools a 20 percent discount that allows the project to go "local." Last fall students from the Media Club launched “Book Beat” with an excursion to the local Barnes and Noble to hand pick books that kids like. Hardy Middle School, located across from the “social” Safeway in Georgetown, attracts students from across DC, and has rich multicultural enrollment that is 70% minority. Principal, Patrick Pope, has been a strong supporter of the library. He is especially pleased with the boys’ book clubs that met during the lunch period. Thanks to all of you who helped make this another success story of DC/SLA support of DC Public School Libraries.
Students selected their own books Barnes and Noble (Photo provided by Lynn Kauffman ) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 15
Parting Shots-Lois Ireland and Lily McGovern pose with a Mardi Gras King. See this and more in our next issue of Chapter Notes-The Conference Issue (Photo by Lily McGovern) DC/SLA Chapter Notes | May/June 2010 | pg 16