Library Instruction Round Table
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LIRT empowers librarians from all types of libraries to become better teachers through sharing best practices, leadership and professional development, and networking. S c h o o l P u b l i c S p e c i a l A c a d e m i c Library Instruction Round Table From the President NEWS Hello LIRT members — ISSN 2161-6426 I am writing this the night before the election and December 2020 there is so much uncertainty in the world, and this is on top of an active global pandemic. Stress Volume 43 abounds, and it is hard to focus on much else. But I have found grounding in people. No. 2 Though I have been teaching through Zoom, I am still feeling the wonderful satisfaction of helping students, particularly as they navigate uncertainties about how to do research from afar. Our last LIRT Steering Committee meeting was contents also a bright spot. We are an organization of caring, open colleagues who volunteer our time to 1 ... From the President help each other, enrich each other, and provide a home for people who care about instruction in 2 … From the Editor libraries of all kinds. 3 ... Member A-LIRT I hope that for you LIRT is also a place where you Mitch Fontenot find professional grounding. After our summer retreat we outlined three clear goals that we will 4 ... LIRT Spotlight be discussing more in the Steering Committee: Alexandra Rivera Jennifer Hunter, • Intentionally recruit members to diversify our 5 ... LIRT @ Midwinter 2021 LIRT President membership and bring new perspectives, ideas, Discussion Forum and interests to LIRT. • Create a task force to produce recommendations for increasing diversity/valuing 6 ... Article: Letters for diversity in LIRT. Legislators • Increase social media engagement to highlight the work that our committees produce and are engaged in as well as the individuals who make up our 8 ... LIRT @ Annual 2021 membership. Conference Program 9 ... Call for Nominations, If you are looking for some footing, I invite you to reach out about working on some of LIRT Awards these goals. Let us live our values and put our hands out to pull others along. Let us celebrate each other’s work. Let us thrive through strength in diversity. 11 ... Article: Enhancing Tutor I do not know what tomorrow or the next week holds, but I do know that I am proud to Technology Skills for work with colleagues across the nation who bring passion to our profession. I hope that Virtual Instruction we will see you at our LIRT member meeting and discussion forum at ALA Midwinter. Thank you for being part of what makes LIRT a vibrant organization. 13 ... Tech Talk Digital Transformation Jen Hunter 21 ... Get Involved with LIRT LIRT News 43.2 December 2020 http://www.ala.org/lirt/lirt-news-archives 1 From the Editor As 2020 winds down, I am not sad to see it go. This may be a year for the history books, but it has certainly been a struggle in so many ways. Looking back over the last few months, I want to remember some positive takeaways from the time, and I hope you can do the same. Here are a few of mine: I am much more comfortable teaching online synchronous class sessions than I was a year ago. I have seen a great deal of compassion this semester from faculty and students for one another, and that warms my heart. In some ways, I know more about some of my colleagues than I did before – since I’ve now “met” many of their pets and heard about their stay-at-home hobbies. I now know I am able to adapt to change – so much change! – and roll with the punches and keep going. In this issue of LIRT News several of our instruction colleagues have shared a bit of their wisdom: Nan Carmack provides suggestions for helping volunteer tutors brush up on the technology skills needed for virtual instruction. Sherri Brown, Jennie Archer describes her library’s partnership and process of educating LIRT News Editor patrons on her campus about civic engagement through letter writing. Billie Peterson-Lugo delves into what digital transformation is and how to tell where your library is on the journey to digital transformation in Tech Talk. Please enjoy this issue, and I hope the new year finds you and your family safe and healthy, Sherri LIRT News is published quarterly (September, Editor: December, March, June) by the Library Instruction Sherri Brown Round Table of the American Library Association. Librarian for English ISSN 2161-6426 University of Virginia Library http://www.ala.org/lirt/lirt-news-archives 102 Kerchof Hall All material in the LIRT News is subject to PO Box 400137 copyright by ALA. Material may be photocopied 141 Cabell Drive for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or Charlottesville, VA 22904 educational advancement. Phone: 434-243-2104 Email: [email protected] ©American Library Association Contributions to be considered for the March 2021 issue must be sent to the editor by February 1, 2021. Production editor: Rachel Mulvihill http://www.facebook.com/groups/ala.lirt/ University of Central Florida Libraries LIRT News 43.2 December 2020 http://www.ala.org/lirt/lirt http://www.ala.org/lirt/lirt-news-archives-news-archives 2 2 Member A-LIRT Mitch Fontenot Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian/Outreach Louisiana State University Library My name is Mitch Fontenot, and I am Humanities and Social Sciences Librarian/ Outreach at Louisiana State University Library for the past 16 years, the same amount of time I have been a proud member of LIRT! I am currently serving as co-chair of the LIRT membership committee with Carla James-Jackson, who was interviewed in the last issue of LIRT News. What brought you to LIRT? I love LIRT! I joined when I made a mid-career change 16 years ago to academic librarianship. I had been a law librarian for the prior 15 years, and it has been quite a ride! What do you like about LIRT and what would you like to see? LIRT’s membership is great with 1700 members with a heavy emphasis on schools and colleges. I would like to see more membership and programs at the public, state, special, etc. libraries levels. We have a great membership, so let’s start bringing greater diversity to the membership rolls and programs. I would also like to see future interviews with members of LIRT who are not school or college librarians to expand upon this perspective. What are you looking forward to? I am looking forward to having all of us back together live, hopefully in Chicago next June. Virtual hugs to all! LIRT News 43.2 December 2020 http://www.ala.org/lirt/lirt http://www.ala.org/lirt/lirt-news-archives-news-archives 3 3 LIRT Spotlight Alexandra Rivera ALA Executive Board Liaison to LIRT Alexandra Rivera (Alex) is the Student Success and Community Engagement Librarian at the University of Michigan Library. As the ALA Executive Board Liaison to LIRT, we thought our members would like to know a bit more about Ms. Rivera. Here is what she shared with us: I joined ALA in 2000 and am in my first year on the Executive Board (EB) and my third term on ALA Council as a councilor at-large. I have worked in both academic and public libraries. In my current position, I provide instruction to primarily undergraduate students, direct a peer education program, and collaborate closely with K-12 schools, campus engagement initiatives, and community groups. I came to ALA as a Spectrum Scholar while I was a library staff member. I am a longtime member of ACRL, including chairing the University Libraries Section. I am also a longtime member of REFORMA (the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking) and currently serve as the Vice-President of the Joint Council of Librarians of Color, Inc. – ALA’s most recent National Association of Librarians of Color. The values that drive my work are grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion. I am delighted to be your EB representative and look forward to learning more about LIRT and how I can best support it. There are many different ways I can engage with you. I am available as a resource to you and your members for your questions and concerns and as an open and reciprocal conduit between your unit and the EB. Here are the official Board Liaison responsibilities (from the ALA Executive Board Manual): * Facilitate communication with ALA membership units and external organizations; * Provide pertinent information to unit leaders on new initiatives and emerging issues; * Help identify member issues and concerns; * Provide a single Board "contact point" for membership units and external organizations; and * Make the Board members more accessible, available, and visible to their constituents. "A Board liaison can be helpful to a group by listening to its concerns and, where appropriate, by suggesting strategies or approaches to achieve objectives. The liaison should also be able to assist in interpreting current or emerging areas of concern, and may direct member leaders to the Executive Director or other staff that can help resolve problems. The liaison must use judgment in accepting tasks and assignments as a member of the group, keeping in mind both time constraints and possible conflicts of interest in later Board decisions." I look forward to being your liaison for the 2020-2021 ALA governance year and working with you and your unit during these interesting times. Find out more about Alex at https://lib.umich.edu/users/alexriv.