ASSOCIATES (vol. 6, no. 2, November 1999) - associates.ucr.edu
Reported by
Sandy BrooksThe Connecticut Library Association Library Technical Assistants section held its first full-day paraprofessional conference on Friday, October 29, 1999. The theme was "You, Your Job & Your Future", and this initial effort was a great success! Over 100 library assistants from across the state made their way to the very attractive new site of the Housatonic Community-Technical College in Bridgeport to network, learn new skills, and grow professionally.
Michael Golrick, CLA President, and Bruce Harvey, Director of the Housatonic Community-Technical College Library, made opening remarks. Michael indicated his strong support for the section and the conference, and in fact he stayed throughout the day to attend sessions. As most of the attendees were not CLA members, he extolled the value of membership in both CLA and the LTA section as part of a professional development plan. Bruce graciously welcomed everyone to the school, and especially encouraged all to take a moment to view the fine artwork on display throughout the building.
The conference was divided into three session "blocks", with several workshop choices in each time slot. The first session offered Basic Reference techniques with an enthusiastic Clara Ogbaa, co-ordinator of Bibliographic Instruction and Reference Librarian at Southern CT State University. Another session was titled "The Passionate Paraprofessional: Making Personal Meaning Out of Your Professional Growth". Pat Ciccone, a career counselor at Manchester Community-Technical College, gave thought-provoking and insightful guidance in developing the right pathway to success and satisfaction in your own career development. The third workshop held concurrently was Basic Book Repair. Mary Bogan from the Northeast Document Conservation Center reviewed the basics of a preservation program and showed some simple book repair techniques to a rapt audience.
The second session boasted a popular workshop on the Internet given by Donna Enman, a member of the Global Information Support team for the Information Network at United Technologies Research Center. (Donna was a founding member of the LTA section, and its first Chairwoman.) Bridget Quinn-Carey of the Connecticut Library Network gave an overview of Inter-Library Loan and how it is changing with the implementation of the CLN. An Introduction to the State Library Service Centers was given by Linda Williams, Children's Services Librarian at the Willimantic Library Service Center. Also offered in the second session was a repeat of Basic Book Repair. (The LTA section extends thanks to the CT State Library for financially sponsoring the Book Repair sessions at this conference.)
A light lunch was served to all conference attendees in the school cafeteria. This was chance to meet peers from all types of libraries, and also to fill out a "straw vote" ballot for a suggested name change to the LTA section. (The first choice turned out to be C.L.A.S.S. for "Connecticut Library Association Support Staff"; the second choice was to keep the name the same, "LTA section". An official vote will be taken at the CLA annual conference in April.) After lunch everyone reassembled for a motivating keynote address by Dee Payne, a Supervising Library Assistant in New Jersey, and president of the national organization SSIRT, the Support Staff Interests Roundtable of ALA. Dee had many words of wisdom about how to have a career as opposed to a job, and about the value (both professional and personal) of getting involved in professional organizations.
The final session offered a choice of a Technical Services Roundtable, a Public Services Roundtable, or a Children's Programming workshop with Linda Williams. The section extends special thanks to Joan Guthier of Bristol Public Library and Sharon Slattery of Cora Belden Library in Rocky Hill for very ably facilitating the Roundtable discussions. A final wrap-up meeting took place to give attendees a chance to give feedback on the conference and make suggestions for future, hopefully annual, conferences. Evaluation forms about the conference were also collected to aid the committee in future planning.
It was the vision of the LTA section co-chairs that made this conference a reality. The section warmly thanks co-chairs Pam Perll and Diana Paris, both of the Manchester Community-Technical College Library, for all their hard work and dedication to the section over the years. They have challenged the group to grow and try new projects despite a shortage of volunteers to help out. The other members of the conference committee were Kris Golden of the Willimantic Library Service Center, Gail Avino of Hall Memorial Library in Ellington, and Sandy Brooks of Eastern CT Libraries in Willimantic. Overall, the day was fun and successful and a very worthwhile first effort!
