Job Skills Required for New Librarians

The After-Dark Lecture Series had our first panel discussion of they year regarding a very important topic for students in our program. The panel topic for the evening was on job skills required for new librarians in the workforce. The program was a huge success. Our speakers included Jacqueline Rose (Polk County Senior Coordinator of Library Media Services), Jessica Riggins (Immediate Past President SIS), Susan Oliver (Chief Librarian Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library), and Susan Ariew (USF Tampa Campus Librarian). The panel gave a brief overview of their background and how they ended up in their current position. They also spoke about different characteristics libraries look for in candidates including experience, leadership, and energy.

Annual Book Sale is Seeking Donations

The Student Organizations (ALA,  ASIS&T, and SLA) of the USF School of Library Science are currently soliciting donations for their Fall 2010 Book sale.

Please “weed” your personal collection and donate to the student organizations. We accept books of all types, shapes, and sizes along with cassette tapes, DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes.

Please drop off your donations in the SI Graduate Student area on the second floor of the CIS building at USF.

If you have any questions about donations, directions, or other aspects of the sale, don’t hesitate to contact Kate Gage, Book Sale Chair,  at kgage@mail.usf.edu.

Banned Books Week First Annual Read Out

By Alice Graves

I was afraid our Read Out would be rained out, but we had absolutely perfect weather for it. Diana made a catchy poster and we spread out our collection of banned books and “I Read Banned Books” buttons. It was difficult to hear people reading over the din of the library crowd, but about 50 people over the course of two hours came over to our table to find out what was going on and were astounded to find that books they enjoyed as children were on the ALA’s Banned Books List.

Jeffrey Reads to Crowd

“What’s wrong with A Wrinkle in Time some wanted to know. Harry Potter? Maya Angelou’s autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings? Why was someone’s life story banned? Our conversations about why different books are targeted was lively. Mostly, students were surprised that the Banned Books List exists. One young woman made a list of some of the books on our table for her future reading. We asked people to add to our list of “What banned books have you read?”

West Coast meets East Coast

On Wednesday night, the three presidents of the USF SLIS Student Organizations (Bill, Lana, & Sara) with one of the co-secretaries (Jeffrey) went to the east coast. We went to spread the word about the student organizations and how we can help students throughout the program.

After our four hour trip, we visited in the FAU campus library at Boca Raton with some students, alumni, and the assistant director on the east coast Maria Treadwell.

We discussed some of the different options available for working together on networking opportunities. This will allows us to  include all of the students in the program. We also mentioned elections coming up next month and how we would love for east coast students to apply (For example: co-secretary). We will even create a new social networking coordinator position for the east coast students.

First Brown Bag: Fall Semester

Lana Brand discussing the basics of Distance Learning

Yesterday was a great day for the Student Orgs with a successful Brown Bag of 14 students. If you were unable to attend the our first Brown Bag, here is a link for viewing the presentation to “Doing Distance Learning Well”. You can also listen to the Elluminate recording on Blackboard to hear the presentation and the answers to your fellow students questions. You must be a USF student and a member of the SLIS Student Organizations for Blackboard access. If you are not a student, you will have the ability to listen to the presentation from our iTunesU page in the near future. We have a link from our homepage.

Hope we see you this weekend at the Back-to-School Cookout!

August General Meeting

Our first general meeting for the fall semester will occur on Tuesday, August 10th at 4pm in CIS 2020. This is a great opportunity to learn more about our scheduled workshops and social activities for the fall. Pizza and soda will be provided at the meeting.

USF SLIS Student Organizations Campaign Makes American Libraries Direct

The USF SLIS Student Organizations campaign for LSU’s library school has made today’s American Libraries Direct.

South Florida students lobby for LSU library school
The Board of Governors at Louisiana State University announced in May that they were considering closing the library and information science program, among others, due to budget cuts. After hearing this, the University of South Florida’s SLIS Student Organization decided to set up an email and social media campaign to let LSU know how they feel about the importance of a degree for information professionals….
Librarians-in-Training, June 9

You can join our campaign by sending an email to the LSU Board of Supervisors. You can read more on how you can participate by reading our blog article describing our campaign. Please do not forget about copying your response to our email address: slisstudentorgs@usf.edu. This will allow the student organizations to keep track of the number of participants  in this campaign.

This campaign has brought up some questions by students and alumni on the future of library schools and finding jobs in our profession. The USF Student Organizations will work on creating workshops and resources over the fall semester to assist students in becoming knowledgeable in what skills public, school, academic, and special libraries are looking for in graduates. Please feel free to email us your ideas for workshops during the fall semester at slisstudentorgs@usf.edu.

USF SLIS Student Organizations Join Campaign for Saving LSU SLIS

From Save LSU's SLIS Program Facebook Group Page

The Board of Governors at Louisiana State University (LSU) announced last month that they were considering closing its Library and Information Science (LIS) program, among others, due to budget cuts. This announcement prompted a quick mobilization of the School’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni, all of whom intend to show the governors the need for the program, which constitutes the only library school in the state of Louisiana.

The University of South Florida’s School of Library and Information Science (USF SLIS) Student Organizations are comprised of student chapters of professional organizations: the American Library Association (ALA), the American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIST), and the Special Libraries Association (SLA). After learning about the events in Louisiana, the students in the organization realized that Florida’s schools of Library Science, as well as those in other states, need to join forces with their Louisiana’s peers in order to make a broader statement about the importance of schools that prepare information professionals.

For that reason…

The Student Organizations at USF SLIS are asking all of USF’s students, alumni, and faculty to add your voices to the fight for librarianship:

If you believe that schools of library and information science are not only important but vital for the cultural, educational, and social well-being of each state’s communities, then let LSU’s authorities know that in Florida we support LSU SLIS:

How?

• You can use a template that the USF SLIS Student Organizations created for your convenience. You can find the template in the following post on the Student Organizations’ blog: Librarians-In-Training.
• You can send your own message, voicing your thoughts and arguments in a letter, e-mail or call. You can retrieve some ideas for your letter on the Save LSU SLIS Public Wiki.
• You can join the Save LSU’s SLIS Program page in Facebook and write a message there, as well as keep up-to-date with the latest developments.
• You can join the USF SLIS Student Organizations’ Facebook page to follow the events and participate in the dialogue with your peers.
• You can join the USF Student Organizations and fight the fight with us. We’d like to hear your ideas. You can contact us at slisstudentorgs@usf.edu for more information.

Where?

The LSU system has set up a single e-mail to handle the volume of messages they are receiving for saving this program! Please send all messages for the Board of Supervisors to: rrasmus@lsu.edu.

When?

Now!!

Important:

We are asking that if you write or participate in this campaign, please include your USF’s affiliation and copy the student organizations in your message, in order to keep track of how many of our students are participating. Please copy or write a quick note to: slisstudentorgs@usf.edu and let us know that you added your voice.

Let’s save LSU SLIS Program together!

Save LSU SLIS Program Letter Template

Please view the e-mail / letter template below for the Save LSU SLIS Campaign. This letter is designed to be sent to the Board of Supervisors for the LSU program. You can get more information, including the Board of Supervisors contact information, in the following blog article.

***

Mr. R. Blake Chatelain (Chairman)
Louisiana State University
Board of Supervisors
P.O. Box 12550
Alexandria, LA 71301

Tampa, June 2010

Dear Mr. Chatelain,

As a graduate student in the field of Library and Information Science from the state of Florida, I am deeply concerned by the news that the Louisiana State University is considering the elimination of the only Master of Library Science accreditted program in your State.

The dire economic and social situation that our society faces today is one of the main reasons why libraries are not only still needed, but essential. The libraries of the 21st Century provide much more than books to our communities. Louisiana’s libraries provide Internet services, homework help, e-govenment services, resources for job seekers, cultural and enrichment activities, among other responses to the community’s needs. The only way that libraries can still provide those vital services is if they are staffed with highly qualified professionals like those that LSU School of Library Science Graduate Program graduates.

From out-of-state, we witnessed how vital Louisiana’s libraries were in the recovery after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In 2006, the American Library Association was the first organization to hold a National Conference in New Orleans soon after Katrina, proving that librarians build and rebuild communities. Louisiana needs its libraries now, especially in these tough economic times. And Louisiana’s libraries need librarians. The graduate level program at LSU is the only existing path to achieve a qualified force of new professionals that would bring your communities to the information world of the twenty-first century. Please do not deprive Louisiana’s residents from this service.

I appreciate your efforts to bring quality educational opportunities to your state’s residents, and I am confident that you will understand why eliminating the Library Science program is a bad decision.

Sincerely,

(Name)
Graduate Student
University of South Florida
School of Library and Information Science

Clarice Ruder – First Branch Manager of Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library

Clarice Ruder, first branch manager of the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, passed away on May 24th, 2010 at 61 years of age. She had worked 34 years in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Library System. She recently retired from her position at the John F. Germany Regional Library within the last month. Her family has asked for book or DVD donations instead of flowers. The USF SLIS Student Organizations will donate a book in her memory.

You can read more about her long career in the library system in a St. Petersburg Times article written last Saturday. We should remember all the librarians out there who spend their whole career serving their community.