The Young Librarians Task Force

by Xima Avalos and Eric Frierson

Hello!  We’re Xima and Eric from the American Library Association’s (ALA) Young Librarians Task Force.  In 2009,  ALA president Camila Alire tasked this group with exploring issues of young librarians’ retention and engagement with the Association.

What we did in 2009 – 2010

We started off by collecting feedback from young librarians – both members and non-members of the association – through a variety of venues: Twitter, Facebook, blog comments, and a survey we distributed online.  We also looked at what other organizations were doing to retain and engage young members and the activities our organization was undertaking targeted at young librarians.  Our full report is here, but a few highlights include:

• young librarians’ experiences at ALA’s annual conference could be enhanced through a focus on the discussion group, not the panel presentation or program.
• virtual participation could be enhanced by making “virtual-only” committees instead of committees that meet at conference with a couple of virtual members.
• elections can be better organized to promote young librarian representation in elected position in ALA.

What we’re doing now and how you can help

At ALA Annual in 2010, we presented our findings.  Because some of our findings would require lots of coordination and buy-in from various sections in the association, and because the feasibility of some of what we felt needed to be done was unknown, our recommendation to continue the Task Force for one year was approved.

This year, we’re exploring how feasible our recommendations are, and we’re providing a blueprint for ALA to accomplish some of the goals we’ve laid out.  We’ve re-organized along a few themes and divided our work up amongst the task force:

• Issues related to membership and young librarians, including the structure of membership dues and benefits
• Issues related to ALA’s Annual Conference and Midwinter meetings, including changes to the usual panel and presentation-heavy schedule to a focus on discussion groups and participatory formats
• Issues related to ALA’s involvement in ALA-accredited schools and the student chapters of the Association
• Issues related to ALA’s relationships with its divisions and roundtables
• Issues related to elections for ALA offices and council and increasing the number of young librarians represented in ALA’s decision-making bodies

We believe that the work we do this year will pave the way for changes in the Association that will benefit not only young librarians, but librarians of all ages.  We need your help!  Good ideas from other organizations, including IFLA and any other groups you are a part of, and examples of things organizations are doing to enhance the experience of young librarians will help use make meaningful change in the way ALA serves its young members.

So – why do you participate in IFLA or other organizations?  What does the organization provide to you that meets your expectations and needs perfectly?  Please post your comments to this blog entry!  We appreciate it!

In addition, we’d like to know what your favorite conference experiences have been!  Please let us know on our short, 2-question survey here.

——

Xima Avalos is the Media and Digital Assets Librarian at the California College of the Arts in LosAngeles, California.  She graduated from The University of Arizona’s School of Information Resources and Library Science in 2005. Contact: ximava@gmail.com.

Eric Frierson is the Digital Services Manager at St. Edward’s University Library in Austin, Texas, USA.  He has held a variety of positions in libraries including positions in reference and instruction and instructional technology since his graduation from The University of Michigan School of Information in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  He blogs at In the Library with the Lead Pipe. Contact: ericfr@stedwards.edu.

Responses to new professional -movements

Hello everybody. I would like to share experiences on what kind of responses “new professionals” and especially expressive, organized “new professional movements” are getting within the wider library profession.

Here in Finland a loose network of relatively fresh librarians are known as “Nuorkirjastolaiset” (engl. Young librarians), a self-chosen name. A small handful of people are more outspoken, and criticise libraries for their human resource management, leadership, innovation strategies, oppressive work-culture, hidden power-structures and so forth.

In the new issue of Kirjastolehti (“Library magazine”, ISSN 0023-1843) there is an interview by Ira Koivu of four people who identify themselves as members of this “Nuorkirjastolaiset” -movement. Here is my brief translation of the article’s ingress:

Kirjastolehti 6/2010: "We demand change"

We demand change!–Young professionals building a new library

Pessimism, cynicism and frustration persist among young professionals, so it’s been told. That’s why we asked four young library professionals what’s wrong with the library now and what would be the library of their dreams. And most importantly: how it’s done?

Now, in response to the article, we are having quite a heated discussion on Kirjasto-kaapeli, the most important public discussion forum of finnish librarians. The discussion there is titled KYSYMYKSIÄ NUORKIRJASTOLAISILLE (Viite: Kirjastolehti 6/2010 (engl. “QUESTIONS TO YOUNG LIBRARY PROFESSIONALS (Reference: Library magezine 6/2010“). It started out as a list of questions to Nuorkirjastolaiset, but the discussion soon lost focus (i’m expect Godwin’s law to fulfill very soon; you know how these online discussions sometimes are LOL).

Anyway, it seems all sorts of fears and frustration within the profession is partly reflected on young professionals, especially if they are united. It’s not just this article and it’s response on Kirjasto-kaapeli, but i think i’ve noticed it elsewhere too. All sorts of reservations and suspicion towards a network of organized, proud, largely unknown people come to my ears. Some librarians are worried about age-racism because the name has the word “young” in it, and some colleagues think that young professionals are all about wasting library resources on Facebook and Twitter and not doing proper work. Some claim that new professionals are too blind to see behind cold statistics and that economic efficiency is something that is categorically wrong and dangerous for libraries. Some ridicule and say that all voices of change will be hushed as soon as the new professionals get a steady job.

All of these fears and accusations has been heard many, many times already. Previously the blame has been on a) politicians b) evil capitalists c) library directors d) consultants or e) the mass media. Now, at least part of the blame is on young professionals… in other words: on close colleagues.

Do you recognize this, or something similar from your environment? I would love to hear what sort of response “new professional movements” are having elsewhere? The NPSIG group seems to be very well received within the IFLA organization, or that’s my impression. Is your library profession openheartedly welcoming it’s young, self-aware, confident and united members with their ideas, energy and innovation, or do some colleague see them (=us) as a threat?

Season’s greetings folks

Questionnaire on Advocacy

by Federica Marangio

—

Dear all,

I would be very grateful if you could devote a few minutes of your time to this survey. It focuses on new ways of social media/new professionals/skills and competencies of new professionals and will be used as input for our workshop at the BOBCATSSS symposium in Hungary in January 2011.

New forms of collaboration are linking people and resources. They enable everyone to take part in cultural environments regardless of whether the aim is education, to experience or to engage in creative activities. No matter where one lives, if you commit yourself in a healthy, international and modern environment you make your system more vibrant and contribute to its growth and improvement.

The respondents I am looking for are new/senior professionals and students.

You are very welcome to contribute and to take the survey by the 6th of January. It can be found here.

I will make sure that your voice will be heard at BOBCATSSS 2011 where the survey results will be presented. Thanks so much for your collaboration!

Best regards,
Federica

BOBCATSSS 2011: NPSIG workshop “This is how we do it”

After the fantastic conference last year in Parma, we are already looking very forward to the next edition of BOBCATSSS which will be taking place in Szombathely, Hungary, from 31 Jan to 2 Feb 2011!

We would like to invite you to another exciting NPSIG workshop, this time including a cross-over from library advocacy through social networking to skills and competencies of New Professionals. Our session will be introduced by a presentation about Advocating for libraries with new advocates. Starting from the concept of advocacy, the paper will focus on new ways of social media as well as skills and competencies of New Professionals. The findings are based on a survey among new and seasoned professionals.

In the following active part of the workshop, we want to explore what these new skills and ways of networking are all about. Can we break it down into a New Professional prototype? Are there different behaviors in different regions of the world? Let’s get creative and find out! For this purpose, the participants will be asked to split up in groups and to discuss these new ways of communicating and collaborating within the profession from their own perspective.  Roving moderators will assist. The goal of this task is to come up with certain basic skills of “The 2011 New Professional” and to visually capture this person in an illustrative drawing. Finally, each group presents its image to the plain audience explaining all the ideas and details that came up during the discussion. The outcomes of the workshop may also be followed up through a paper at the IFLA Congress 2011 in Puerto Rico and a wrap-up in the NPSIG’s social media channels.

See you soon in Hungary!

P.S.:  The early bird discount for BOBCATSSS 2011 is closing tomorrow (15 Dec). So hurry up, if you haven’t registered yet!

Notes from Down Under: New Grads in Australia Part I

by Naomi Doessel

Hi! I am Naomi Doessel, an Information Literacy Librarian from Griffith University in Brisbane, Queensland. I have been actively involved in the Australian Library and Information Association for a few years now, primarily in new graduate initiatives. Sebastian has asked a few of us in Australia to share with you what we do down here, so I thought I would start with an overview of what is going on right now.

The new grad movement in Australia is young (about ten years) and pretty strong. However it waxes and wanes with people’s involvement, commitment, and there is a pretty constant revolving door as “new” new graduates make their way into the profession, and those who have been “new” become “not-so-new” and start to move out of the “new grads” camp and into… wherever suits them! One of the great things about new grads is that they are often coming up with new ideas and pushing boundaries, so this is a snapshot of where we sit now: not where we will be forever.

ALIA New Grads eList (Website)
ALIA eLists are not just for ALIA members – or even just for Aussies! While most of the events advertised on the lists will be in Australia, more and more there are virtual Professional Development events being offered, as well as discussions about professional issues and news shared. Also you will get to find out when our awesome conferences are on and when you might want to make a trip “down under” to visit us!

ALIA New Graduates Group (NGG) (Website | Blog)
The NGG is the localised, “grass roots” sector of the new grad movement in Australia. They provide a forum for new graduates to communicate and socialise with colleagues and build relationships and networks within the profession. The group aims to facilitate networking for the new generation of library professionals, provide a forum for the discussion of issues relevant to new professionals, organise meetings and training specifically relevant to students and new graduates, and facilitate the introduction of new graduates into the wider ALIA community. They have a blog, a facebook page, and a lot of the members tweet. There are currently active groups run by volunteers in all of our six states and one of our territories. The National NGG convenor, Andrew Finegan, also sits on NGAC (see below) to ensure effective communication between the two groups.

ALIA New Generation Advisory Committee (NGAC) (Website)
NGAC is an ALIA Board appointed advisory committee. We advise the ALIA Board on issues related to new graduates and students. Our main function is to discuss the strategic issues related to new graduate participation within ALIA, rather than actively putting on events, however members are often involved in their local area and conference organising committees also. When a position on an advisory committee is vacant, a call for expressions of interest is advertised and personal financial members of ALIA can nominate to join a committee. NGAC members are selected based on various factors including their expertise in the area of relevance, their ability to represent the organisation in a positive manner and contribute to the goals of ALIA. I Chaired NGAC for almost two years before stepping down to focus on my research (below), NGAC’s current Chair, Vanessa Warren, was the NGG Coordinator for Tasmania for two years prior to joining NGAC.

ALIA Access New Grads Stream Committee: Jo Beazley, Naomi Doessel (co-convenor), Rachel Wray (co-convenor), Bonnie Dixon

ALIA New Librarians Symposium (NLS) (Website)
NLS is a stand-alone conference for new graduates and students. It was devised in 2002 by ALIA’s current Executive Director, Sue Hutley. Sue saw a lack of professional development opportunities for new graduates and ran a two day symposium in Brisbane. NLS 1.5 was in Brisbane a year later, NLS2 was held in Adelaide in 2004, in 2006 it was in Sydney and 2008 saw it move to Melbourne. NGAC did a thorough review of NLS in 2008-2009, and recommended to the ALIA Board that NLS continue to be supported by ALIA as an important event for the next generation of library and information professionals.  Previous year’s conference papers are available online. In 2011 NLS5 is being held in Perth, back-to-back with the ALIA National Library and Information Technicians’ Conference. There will also be a Library Camp Perth at around the same time, so if you’ve ever wanted to visit the west coast of Australia (think Margaret River wine tours!) September 2011 will be a great time to do so! Abstract deadline is December 15th 2010 so get writing now!

ALIA Access New Grads Resume Reviews

ALIA Access: What next! Practical Information to Enhance the Career of New Graduates (Website)
In 2010 ALIA cancelled all its regular conferences as the IFLA Annual Congress was due to come to Brisbane. Unfortunately financial circumstances meant that the international conference was moved to Sweden, and in its stead a group of committed volunteers and ALIA staff members organised a multi-streamed conference, including a New Graduates day which was very successful. There was also a LibraryCamp which a lot of new grads attended and participated in. Conference papers are available on the website. Katherine Howard has blogged here about the conference, as have many others. A collation of some of the entries can be found on this Libraries Interact post.

ALIA Access New Grads Networking Bingo

Energise > Enthuse > Inspire (Website)
A column for and by new graduates, EEI has been running in ALIA’s monthly magazine inCite since 2003. EEI seeks to engage and inspire students and new graduates with the association and profession as a whole. Covering all aspects of LIS, EEI offers a glimpse into the many and varied careers, opportunities, networks, and prospects available to those entering or seeking to enter the profession. Having coordinated the column for four years, I am stepping down at the end of 2010 and the new coordinator Lesa Maclean is taking over.

ALIA Study Grant Award 2010 (Website)
Conference mentoring: Assisting new professionals to get the most out of ALIA conferences
The American Library Association (ALA) runs a similar program at their annual conference through their New Members Round Table. I have been awarded the 2010 ALIA Study Grant Award to pilot a conference mentoring project at ALIA Information Online Conference and Exhibition 2011. It will be an opportunity for first time attendees to meet someone more experienced in the industry and in conference participation, and to gain insight into the best way to approach a major conference. First timers are paired with more experienced delegates prior to the conference, and a conference focused mentoring relationship will be established. Watch this space for further details as nominations will open as just as soon as I get my ethics approval, and Sydney is beautiful in February!

A version of this article was first printed in inCite:
Doessel, N. (2010 April). Get involved! New Graduate participation in ALIA. inCite, 31(4), 25. Available from http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/incite/2010/04/EEI.pdf

A version of this article will also appear in LIANZA’s e-Library Life 16 November 2010. http://www.lianza.org.nz/news-events/newsletter

——

Naomi Doessel is an Information Literacy Librarian at Griffith University in sunny Brisbane, Queensland. She has worked in libraries since 2004 in academic, public and law libraries as well as in the corporate world in business research, in London and Melbourne. Naomi has been an Associate (professional) member of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and engaged in the Professional Development sheme (AALIA CP) since graduating from QUT in 2006. She coordinated the monthly new graduate’s column Energise > Enthuse > Inspire in inCite from 2006-2010. She has served on the New Generation Advisory Committee (NGAC) since 2008 and as Chair in 2009-2010. She is now focussed on an research project, as the 2010 ALIA Study Grant Award recipient Naomi is investigating conference mentoring via a trial at the 2011 ALIA Information Online Conference & Exhibition.

Contact: naomidoessel@gmail.com | Twitter | WordPress.

NPSIG Call for Papers, IFLA Congress 2011

Call for Papers
New Professionals Special Interest Group
IFLA World Library and Information Congress
San Juan, Puerto Rico, August 13-18, 2011

“New Professionals beyond New Professionals – skills, needs and strategies of a new generation of LIS professionals”

Theme and scope of the session

Change and innovation have always been a constant factor in the field of library and information science. New Professionals play an eminent role in this process, especially nowadays. Professionally grown up in a setting of rapid technological development, mobile innovation and the huge impact of social media, they got used to try out new tools and ways of collaboration and also developed new skills and competencies on the way. Thereby they are becoming the real drivers of change within the LIS profession. During the upcoming IFLA Congress in 2011, we want to examine the current generation of New Professionals from a variety of perspectives and showcase best practices from all over the world.

One of the most important benefits of attending conferences such as IFLA is the opportunity to meet like-minded people, to share ideas and to come up with great new projects. We would like to foster this experience within our session, so be prepared for some exciting new and open formats and plenty of space for informal networking and exchange!

The session will include up to eight short presentations at 5 minutes each. For this purpose, we are particularly interested in proposals that cover one of the following areas:

• key skills and competencies of a new generation of LIS professionals
• entering the profession – challenges and strategies
• leadership and early career development
• the impact of innovative practices on the profession
• the creation and maintenance of regional and national New Professionals networks

We especially encourage proposals from first-time conference presenters, librarians, library school students, and information workers new to the profession as well as submissions from the Caribbean Area and Latin America.

Important Deadlines

Please e-mail your proposal by February 1, 2011 to Dace Ūdre via dace.udre@lu.lv.

Proposals should include:

• Title of proposed presentation
• Outline of proposed presentation (300 words maximum)
• Name of presenter(s) with employer or affiliated institution, plus full contact details (including telephone, email and fax, if available)
• Short biographical statement regarding the presenter(s) (300 words maximum)
• Indication if you are first-time presenter(s)

The selection of papers is based on the abstract. Presenters will be notified by the end of February, 2011 whether they have been successful. They will be expected to submit final versions of their papers by May 1, 2011.

The session will be conducted in English. All proposals and presentations will be required to be in English. Finals papers can be submitted in one of the official IFLA working languages. They will be uploaded to the websites of IFLA and the NPSIG.

For more information, please contact Sebastian Wilke (Convenor, New Professionals Special Interest Group) via sebastian.wilke@ibi.hu-berlin.de.

(Note: All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation can be issued to authors/presenters, if that is required. For those seeking funding through grants or scholarships, please research this early and apply within the deadline.)

This Call for Papers can also be found in the Call for Papers section at the official IFLA 2011 conference website.