P ERSPECTIVE: DIVERSITY RESEARCH GRANT .......

ISSUE 1

VOLUME 9

2012

P ERSPECTIVES: YALSA LIT S YMPOSIUM ............ 2

SLIS N EWS ............ 2

F EATURE: GRADUATE REFLECTION ................. 3 CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATES! ................ 4

ALA Student Voice

THE UNIVERSITY OF AL ABAMA STUDENT CHAPTER immigration sentiments. We will be presenting the results of our research this summer at ALAs annual meeting. Through this project, I have had the opportunity to learn all about the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval process, as well as to put to use a lot of the skills that I garnered through my Research Methods class. Our research will involve sending surveys to public library directors by email in each of the states, and then following up by phone with those who wish to provide further information. The ultimate goal of this research is to help libraries better serve an underserved population of people in spite of laws that encourage racial profiling. I am so excited to be a part of this project, and am grateful for such an awesome opportunity to help people!

Diversity Research Grant awarded to SLIS

I
t has been an exciting fall semester! Dr. Jamie Campbell Naidoo and I received an ALA Diversity Research Grant in May of this year to complete a year long project entitled, Beyond Broken Borders: Examining Library Services to Latino & Spanish-Speaking Populations in New Latino South States with Anti-Immigration Laws. Through the project, we will gather data from public libraries in Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina to see how it is the libraries in these states are continuing to provide the best service possible to the populations of Latino immigrants in their respective states in spite of the racist immigration laws that each of these states has enacted over the past two years. The end result of our research will be a toolkit offering suggestions and strategies for serving Latino and Spanish- speaking populations, especially in light of anti-

Lance Simpson, an ALFA Fellow, will graduate in August 2013 with a focus on Public Librarianship & Service to Diverse Populations .

2012-2013 OFFICERS ELECTED 2012Callie Ann StarkeyPresident Beth DobsonVice President Robert BodendorfTreasurer Stephanie FrireeDE Representative Thanks to former Vice President, Kara Riley, for a smooth transition.

SLIS Students Embrace YALSA Symposium

Kara Riley, an ALFA Fellow, will graduate May 2013.
LGBTQ programming, FanficAs if the events of the confertion, Contemporary YA selecence werent enough, it was tions, and utilizing electronic also set against the backdrop resources in services to young of one of the coolest cities Ive adults. The most exciting event had the pleasure of visiting. We was the evening that featured didnt have enough time to see the YA aueverything, but we thors who The YALSA Lit Symposium did get the highgave away is held every other year and lights: Italian food signed copies is a great introduction to the on the Hill, Gooey of their latest world of professional Butter cake, Ted books. Grantconferences. Drews frozen cused, standing in tard, the arch, the BETH DOBSON line behind a zoo, and the Loop bunch of anxious librarians was district. It was a great experinot the greatest, but once the ence, and such a great way to crowd died down I had an opnetwork and enjoy the compaportunity to speak with some of ny of other librarians with simithe authors and it was worth lar interests. I look forward to the hassle. Not to mention all seeing fellow SLISers interestthe great books I came away ed in YA librarianship in Austin, with! Texas at the 2014 Symposium!

Success!

B OOK D RIVE :

This year I had the opportunity to go the 2012 YALSA Symposium which was held in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was my first trip to YALSA, but not to the city of Saint Louis. I had the good fortune to go with two other SLIS students who are passionate about YA librarianship. The conference featured many YA authors as well as workshops and discussions with relevant themes. Some of the sessions I attended included

This year, The ALA Student Chapter at UA decided to have a book drive initiative for each months activities. The kick-off was at Jim N Nicks for BBQ & Banned Books. Halloween saw All Hallows Read and the annual SLIS Thanksgiving Potluck became a Booksgiving Potluck! Thanks to all that participated,: we were able to gather 56 books to donate this semester!

Meet Me in St. Louis!

Callie Ann Starkey, ALA Student Chapter President, will graduate May 2013 with a focus in Youth Services.
activity. We were also able to was able to meet some fanmeet several YA authors and tastic librarians and see come away with some great some of the great neighbornew books! hood branches of the St. We were able to meet other Louis Public Library. I spent a LIS students wonderful afterand profesnoon with Patty Fun Fact: The St. Louis sionals, share Carleton and Judy Public Library Central ideas, and Bruce, seeing the establish netmany things that Library was closed for 2 works that will years and just reopened! St. Louis has to definitely offer. I am so come in handy grateful for a great for our futures! first interview exI was even able to catch up perience. with some friends of mine, It was a fantastic weekend to who are LIS students at the learn, network, and explore a University of Wisconsin. new city! The next symposiWhile there, I had the opporum will be in Austin, Texas! tunity to interview with the St. Mark your calendars for the Louis Public Library. It was first weekend in November my first library job interview, 2014, because you definitely so I was extremely nervous. I dont want to miss out!

S PRING 2013
Events

The first weekend in November, Kara Riley, Beth Dobson and I were fortunate enough to attend the YALSA Literature Symposium in St. Louis, Missouri. We were able to attend several classes, allowing us to explore new trends in YA literature and technologies that can be used in the classroom and library. I was very excited to learn about some great, new technologies that help make reading a more community oriented

FUNdraiser! Edible Book Festival Guest Speaker Look for ALA to partner with SAA, SAC, and SLA throughout the semester for more activities.

ALA STUDENT VOICE: T HE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA STUDENT CHAPTER

ALA STUDENT VOICE: THE UNIVERSITY OF AL ABAMA STUDENT CHAPTER

Feature

Reflection of a DE Graduate
W
ho can tell me about...? Where do I find? How to I access? These are a few of the re-occurring thoughts that peppered my brain during the first few semesters as a distance graduate student. By the end of my fourth semester these thoughts had morphed into Im having a blast; this graduate experience is great! Interestingly enough, those initial thoughts wound up having a notable influence on my area of focus library user instruction and DE reference. As long as I can remember not knowing the answer has driven me crazy. It is because of this that I made service to distance students the topic of many large class projects; my experiences helped me notice where distance students might benefit from specific types of library related assistance. As part of a small but growing percentage of distance students the mid-lifer, career changing kind I can honestly say that graduate school via distance was a perfect fit for me. Nearly everyone I had classes with either had jobs or families or both. Very few of us had the luxury of stepping off the life train for two years to earn a degree. Choosing to go distance enabled me, and many of my friends, to stay where we were, be with our families, keep working, and go to graduate school. None of my previous life/work experience was wasted in fact it was drawn upon over and over for various assignments. Compared to the younger students my only inadequacy was having limited online academic library experience. Before attending UA, my digital library experiences were limited to online catalog use at my local public library. What changes the digital environment have made to a college education! Im so grateful for todays distance education programs without them I would not have been able to pursue, and obtain, this degree unless I moved hundreds of miles away from home. Beth Riggs is SLISs secret weapon; I would have wasted some valuable time being panicked about some technical detail or issue that distance students sometimes come up against that isnt covered in orientation or easily found on the college or library website. Beth is a super administrator and a graduate of UAs SLIS program who was always willing to help any of us whenever we asked. Every program should have someone like Beth that students can reach out to when necessary. Although I missed the face to face interaction that comes with on-campus classes my classmates and I made use of current technology for projects, keep in touch, answer questions or to help each other. Facebook, texting, conference calls via Wimba, BlackBoard, and Google Chat were just some of the ways we connected. Ironically, these are the same methods that modern librarians use to help or reach their patrons. I came to like, then rely upon, the recordings of the live classes. Class archives were especially good if I wanted to hear again a certain point or wanted to check the chat transcript for someones comments when reviewing my notes. In contrast, the two classes that I took in Gadsden gave me and the others ample opportunity to get to know people in our regional cohort and develop strong friendships. Because anyone in the regional program could take Gadsden classes we all were able to build cross-cohort friendships and build future professional connections. What do I wish Id known before beginning? If you arent already working in a library in some capacity, you should volunteer as much as possible (or take internships) - it makes what you learn in class more relevant. Be open to various opportunities/types of experience and training that SLIS sends your way. Advisors are really important! Use your advisor - connect early and touch base regularly. Advisors can help you plot a course of study, determine potential career paths, and discover solutions to different projects. More importantly, if you dont mesh well with your assigned advisor, ask a teacher you respect if they would be willing be your advisor of record! A really good advisor is a mini-mentor. They can serve as an early career resource (such as what types of places to volunteer or intern), give honest feedback on your skill sets, and point out areas of study or focus that you might have overlooked. Start early making contacts with librarians in areas that interest you. Network, network, network. Volunteer. Make friends with working librarians and give more than you take. Take time to have some fun. Graduate school is hard work for 99.5% of us and we all know that a lack of life-work balance eventually backfires. A weekly hour or two break with a friend for a jog or coffee or laughs makes for good study fuel. You brain needs a break every now and then. Some of your papers or projects might make a good poster or presentation for a conference. Take note when your professor(s) point this out, then get yourself to a conference! I failed to do this for travel reasons and it is the only thing I truly regret not doing during my SLIS experience. The time will go much faster than you expect. People that you make friends with during school may become lifelong friends, contacts, references, or mentors. Take advantage of this deep pool of resources. Again, be generous whenever possible. Participate in academic groups if you can. I served one year on the Student Advisory Committee and really enjoyed it. In summary, my distance education professors were great, my advisor was amazing and the classes were demanding. Critics of distance education surely didnt go to UA! Thanks to an exemplary advisor, fabulous SLIS staff, and some great classmates, this masters program will rank as one of my lifes best experiences. Ruth J. Rowell graduated from SLIS in December 2012. 3

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA STUDENT CHAPTER

ALA Student Voice

December 2012: Leah Allison Meredith Allison Jacquelyn Leigh Anderson Erica Calvert Gregory Carr Lourdes Castro Jennifer Collins Ashley Crace Yuri Craig Patricia Crow Keith Darrock Stephen Deloney Rebecca Doom Joseph Famighette Amy Ford Rorie Fredrich Greggory Gassman Karen Gwynn Angela Hackstadt Rhonna Hargett Elaine Henry Karlie Johnson Rachel Jones Rachel Key Christopher Kinney

Congratulations Graduates!
Summer 2012: Dana Blackburn Samantha Boardman Martha Brumfield John Connolly Leah Davies Judith Bruce Campbell Evans Elizabeth Carol Gladney Karin Harms Karen Horton Brandee Idleman Violet Jaffe Karen King Cynthia Lancaster David Leone Lianna Elizabeth Levkoff Geeta Malik Mallory Martin Dasha Maye Bill McCay Samantha McNeilly Jessica Montfort Erin Thomas Mumford Krysten A. Nevarez Michael Lamont Pearson Joanna Roberts Christen Robichaud Caitlin Rush Gretchen Schweers Ronald Schwertfeger Audrey Taylor Donna Thiessen Kristie Thomas Brittany Turner Jana Hyde Watts Amanda Westfall William Wilson Peijun Zheng Laura Krotzer Verna Madrid Carey Massey Melissa Maynard Timothy McGowan Courtney Mims, Jennifer Mustain Katy Olson Kaitlyn Parker Anna Register Sara Riddle Ruth Rowell Brandon Rowland Levi Smith Melinda Smith Kelley Tarpley Matthew Van Ess Karmecia Williams Gina Wilson Melanie Wood Matthew Wooten Lara Wrightson MFA Graduates: Graduates: Mukti Cerio Stephanie Jacobs

December 2012 Graduates