Fall Quarter Wrap-Up

Eek! After a woeful blogging hiatus, we've finally posted pictures from last quarter's events. We began the school year with a general meeting, at which first- and second-year members gathered to set the course for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Co-presidents Julia Glassman and Cynthia Orozco facilitated the meeting, asking members for input on events, professional development, and other activities. New members also got a quick rundown of what exactly ALA is all about.

As everyone settled into their classes, first-year ALA members got their first taste of the library world with a tour of the Santa Monica Public Library, hosted by docent Nancy Varat. The US Green Building Council recently gave SMPL a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Rating, and Nancy guided us through the library's sustainable features. Most notable is the garden in the central courtyard, which uses native plants to create an underwater atmosphere reminiscent of the beach six blocks away. PIC 3 Nancy also took us through the library's collections, paying special attention to its various murals. Afterwards, we headed to the King's Head Pub for food, drinks, and a pub quiz!

Finally, as the quarter began to heat up and the due dates for our final papers

grew uncomfortably close, we took a break from work with our second annual awkward sweater party. While last year's party centered on decorating cookies, this year we turned our attention to holiday ornaments, decorating clear bulbs with snowflakes, glitter, and other designs. There was a curious dearth of awkward sweaters, but mentors and mentees still enjoyed the chance to meet and discuss which classes to take Winter Quarter. (Data Curation was a popular choice.)

Our events have continued throughout Winter Quarter--stay tuned!

UCLA ALA Student Chapter Hosts Dr. Camila Alire, Immediate Past President of ALA

On Thursday, January 13, the UCLA ALA Student Chapter hosted Dr. Camila Alire, Immediate Past President of the American Library Association, for a lecture on advancing your career through leadership, advocacy, and diversity.

Dr. Alire was greeted at the door with her long-time friend, Dr. Elaine Svenonius, UCLA Professor Emerita and a noted name in cataloging. They had a chance to stop in and talk to the faculty for a few moments, and Dr. Alire then greeted UCLA MLIS students and several local librarians, introducing herself personally to each attendee.

From left to right. Top row: Ashley Sands, treasurer; Julie Glassman, vice-president; Lynn Kysh, secretary; Marisa Christensen, publicity; Sherry Sue, web guru; Caprice Roberson, treasurer. Bottom row: Britt Foster, president; Dr. Camila Alire; Stevie Hartford, president; Stacy Wood, vice-president.

Dr. Alire's lecture focused on a hot topic for UCLA students: How to enact positive change through promoting libraries and information institutions, being a voice for all kinds of diversity in the IS professions, and how to achieve positions of leadership that will enable this kind of change-making.

Some key points from the lecture emphasized the importance of "the volunteer arm": getting your hand in the air whenever opportunities arise. Dr. Alire points out that this builds a network, and puts you in the professional place of being someone who can get things done, which can lead to job opportunities you're not even looking for! Dr. Alire called this, "leadership by default," and this received some titters in the audience: the UCLA ALA student members are very active on campus, and know what it means to step up and get things done!

Risk taking in career choices and advocacy was another theme: being able to succeed in risky ventures shows your willingness to take charge. Even if you don't succeed in the initial project, being able to identify a challenge and attempt to solve it is deeply important during these times when information institutions are struggling so.

Dr. Alire also touched on the importance of commitment to diversity, something that concerns UCLA students serving the Los Angeles area deeply, and the importance of being an emotionally intelligent leader.

The UCLA ALA Student Chapter would like to thank Natalie Cole of the California Library Association for her help in arranging Dr. Alire's visit. Look for an article about the visit in the upcoming CLA E-Newsletter!

UCLA’s ALA Student Chapter Fundraises for Spectrum Scholarship

In support of the ALA’s Spectrum Presidential Initiative the ALA Student Chapter at UCLA recently organized a successful BBQ for Spectrum Scholars fundraiser at the home and garden of Tim Ahern and former CLA President Cindy Mediavilla. The UCLA Student Chapter brought together nearly 30 MLIS graduate students, professors, and library professionals from our community to support this important scholarship to increase diversity within the our profession. We are proud to say that our BBQ helped raise more than $1,000 for the ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship Program.

Among our distinguished guests were numerous professional librarians including Los Angeles City Librarian, Martín Gomez. Mr. Gomez was appointed City Librarian by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2009 and we were honored that he could attend and show support for the fundraiser. Also in attendance was one of our own library science graduate students, Jeannie Chen! Jeannie is a former UCLA Spectrum Scholar who came out to support our fundraiser. Jeannie just graduated from the UCLA MLIS program this year so congratulations to her!

Our BBQ menu included grilled burgers, hot dogs, dips, salads, fresh veggies, and a delicious homemade lemon cake baked by our own former Student Chapter Co-President Lindsay Klick. We are also extremely grateful to Ahern and Mediavilla for opening their home to this important fundraising event. Their beautiful backyard garden is a stop on the annual Theodore Payne Foundation’s Spring Garden Tour, and the diversity fundraiser could not have been in a more appropriate setting than a garden resplendent with a diversity of native California plants.

The ALA Student Chapter at UCLA recognizes the importance of increasing diversity within the library profession, and we were honored to help support the ALA’s national efforts to increase academic opportunities for underrepresented populations.

Save the Date! ALA Career Panel January 28, 2010

ALA's UCLA Student Chapter will be hosting a career panel for IS students on Thursday, January 28th from 12:30-1:45 in the Information Studies Salon (on the second floor of the GSE&IS building).

Panelists will include distinguished professionals in their respective fields, including academic librarianship, children's librarianship, law librarianship, information architecture, and other areas. Librarians will offer advice as to courses and experiences that would be helpful to students interested in these fields. There will also be refreshments. This should be helpful whether you are just beginning to consider your career options, or if you need more specialized information. Please join us!!

[Los Angeles Public Library at City Hall 1905]

Los Angeles City Librarian Fontayne Holmes spoke at UCLA January 17th. She gave a great presentation and the Q&A afterwards was very interesting. The reception afterwards was a lot of fun too!

LAPL is the largest public library system in the nation. It has seen increased use, from 14 million to 16 million last year.

Holmes talked about LAPL’s growth in the last 20 years. In 1986 a fire in the Central Library destroyed 400,000 books. This led to a project to restore the building and gardens (the original gardens had been paved over for a parking lot in the 1950’s). It also started a 317 million dollar branch library construction program. LAPL involved each community in the design process and each library building had a unique architect. In this way each library was individual and fit the needs of the community. The construction program doubled the size of the branch libraries and added some new branches as well.

Bringing computers and technology to people with out home access is another important role of LAPL. According to Holmes, about 1 million people do not have home computers. The computers terminals are some of the most used services in the library. Recently all the branches have wireless access as well.

Holmes emphasized involving the community in public libraries. She talked about reaching out to teens as well as children and adults and the importance of getting community support for projects.





In other news, the student groups are planning a return of Career Fest beginning at the end of this quarter! We all have a lot of work to do before then, but it looks like we’ve got some really interesting talks planned!

(photo taken from Library of Congress Prints and Photography Online Catalog)