RASSmatazz

Newsletter of the Reference and Adult Services Section of the New York Library Association

Winter 2005

President’s Message

Sarah Maximiek

People become RASS members in various ways—some sign up on their own, some might be talked into it by a friend or colleague, and some meet a convincing RASS member at the Conference. I fall into a little of two categories—I signed up for RASS on my own, but was talked into becoming a Board member by a colleague. That was in 2000. If anyone had told me then I would be a section President in a few years, I would have laughed. After all, I was right out of graduate school—how could I possibly have what it takes to be in a leadership role of a statewide organization?

Well, here I am. And I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for what I have learned through my membership with NYLA and RASS. This organization has helped me stay on top of important developments in an ever-changing professional and legislative landscape. Through RASS, I have met librarians from all over the state and from all types of libraries. Not only has the professional support that I have gained from these people proved to be invaluable, but I have found a network of colleagues that provides personal support as well.

RASS may not be a large section—we currently have 400+ members—but we have great potential. We provide continuing education programs through the annual conference, awards and grants that support our members’ professional development, and great publications such as our Adult Programming Handbook. There are always opportunities to get involved (and perhaps even beef up your resume) by writing for our newsletter or helping the Board with its activities.

This past year was a busy one for RASS. We created the Outstanding Public Service Award, which was proudly given to Tracey Simon at the annual conference. Our membership meeting morphed into a combination program/meeting—consisting of RASS-Berries, Bagels and Roundtables and the membership meeting, and was a big success. Our new publication, the Adult Programming Handbook, has proven to be a big hit.

Thanks to Lucia Chen and Patti McCall, our Conference Program team, we also planned a very successful 2004 conference lineup. Once again, ReferenceUSA provided support for our ever-popular Best of Reference program, and Andrew Turner returned to present another great Continuing Education seminar, this time on Assessing for Improvement. Katharine Weber, our Noted Author, provided an entertaining and insightful talk on her writing. Tim Bair, our Web Liaison, has posted information and handouts relating to the conference programs on our website. This year, we hope to start planning for another publication, and Patti McCall will be creating another strong lineup for the 2005 conference, complete with an all new physical activity special event (formally known as the Fun Run).

None of these accomplishments would be possible without a dedicated and hard working Board. This year, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Board members—Hong Yao, our Treasurer, who stepped in a little earlier then expected; Miriam Tuliao, who joins Forest Turner as our Noted Author chair; Ned Richards, our Special Events chair; Nomi Naeem as our Assistant Conference Programmer; and Janet Hogan as our Board Member-at-Large.

On behalf of RASS, I would also like to extend a big thank you to the people who have moved off the Board—Jennifer Ransom, our former Past-President; Jane Fisher, Treasurer; and Elly Dawson, Membership Chair. Their contributions, humor and presence will be missed! And, of course, none of the past year would have been possible without our greatly talented and energetic Past-President, Kim Taney.

There are many ways that you can help RASS make this a great year. Contributions to our newsletter are always welcome, and assistance at the Conference is always needed. Both are easy and fun ways to become more involved! If you are interested in working on any of the items mentioned or have suggestions for other areas of improvement, please contact me at 607-777-3941 or at sarah@binghamton.edu.

I am asking all RASS members, including the RASS Board, to share with others what you find valuable about NYLA and its member librarians, and encourage your colleagues to join NYLA.

Sincerely,

Sarah Maximiek,

RASS President

NYLA Annual Conference, Rochester, 2004

The Best of Reference always draws a crowd to hear about the reference works selected as best by the Branch Libraries of New York Public. This year the program was allotted a large enough room that everyone got a seat! In a wickedly funny presentation, the NYPL Librarian Players as Superheroes gave us the facts about some of the books and web sites determined to be the best for reference. As their handout said, "Ka-Pow! Smack! Bam! and Zap!"

We heard brief remarks by Bill Loges of ReferenceUSA, the firm that sponsors the program by bringing the presenters to the NYLA conference. The players were Carol M. Anshien, Jay Barksdale, David Hoffman, Tara Kay Johnson, and Suzette Spencer, all from The New York Public Library Branches. Renee Gail Kotler, NYPL, presided over the program, which was facilitated by Hong Yao, NYPL.

"Fun-fabulous-informative-humorous-enjoyable-entertaining" are the words used by The Best of Reference attendees to describe their program experience. Thank you, Reference USA, for your support and keep up the good work, NYPL!

RASS-Berries, Bagels and Roundtables/Membership Meeting

An energetic group of about 35 showed up at 8 a.m. Friday morning for the RASS membership meeting, RASS-berries, Bagels and Roundtables. RASS members, often with much enthusiasm and laughing, participated in roundtable discussions covering everything from community planning to advocacy, and planning for results. Thanks to everyone’s active involvement, the roundtables were a success!

At the meeting, we were delighted to recognize our award winners for the past year: Tracey Simon was the recipient of the first ever RASS Outstanding Public Service Award, and Sharon Wightman and Peg Pelletier both won CE grants.

The results of the election for 2004-2005 were announced. The RASS Board would like to welcome Lucia Chen as our VP/President-Elect, and Hong Yao, as our Treasurer.

One of our colleagues remarked, "I realize that the conference doesn't really come alive for me until the RASS roundtable discussion."

At the conclusion of the meeting, incoming President Sarah Maximiek received the gavel from Kim Taney.

Noted Author Luncheon

RASS was honored to have the novelist Katharine Weber accept an invitation to speak at the annual Noted Author Luncheon at this year’s conference in Rochester. Ms. Weber, who resides in New Haven, CT, is the author of three novels: Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear (1995); The Music Lesson (1998); and The Little Women (2003).

After a delicious meal of grilled chicken and artichokes, Ms. Weber addressed an audience of 120. Her topic was the role of autobiography in fiction and the moral questions about appropriation for novelists.

A portion of the plot of The Music Lesson is a projection of what might have actually happened to the paintings stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. In the novel, Ms. Weber hypothesizes that a splinter group of the IRA was responsible for the theft, and that the paintings (which included two Rembrandts and Vermeer's The Concert) were lost in the attempt to transport them to Ireland by boat. Weber described how she was interviewed by a Boston journalist after the publication of her novel, who asked her to name her sources on the uncovering of the Gardner plot. When Ms. Weber replied that she had made it up, the journalist said he understood if she chose not to name her sources at this time but, by the way, the FBI happened to agree with her theory. Ms. Weber also shared some amusing stories about her neighbors in Ireland (where she has a summer home), who were offended by certain parts of the book that they felt were insulting to their husbands, their cow, or to the women of Ireland.

This all brings about the larger question of whether the autobiographical assumptions the reader may make while reading a work of fiction are detrimental to the understanding or enjoyment of a novel. It was an enlightening and entertaining speech. It was followed by a book sale and signing. Overall, this year’s luncheon was a tremendous success, and RASS looks forward to many more great author appearances at future conferences.

More information on Katharine Weber can be found on her website:

"A relief to not have another power point presentation!" "Excellent! I have ideas to take to work with me." "Outstanding ideas I plan to implement." These are some of the remarks made by librarians who came to Marketing Reference, presented by librarians representing public, academic and corporate libraries (Carol Anne Germain, Barbara Beverley, Donna Ciampa).

What is a blog? What role can blogs play in today’s libraries? How do you create a web log? These are some of the questions Barbara Moore, President of Net Results, helped answer during her presentation Blogs for Libraries: a.k.a. Weblogs. "Fun, fun, now I understand!" One audience member said: "Barbara Moore is a substitute for caffeine in the morning. Very informative!" Other RASS programs included Using Outcome-Based

Evaluation: The Data Dance, Nuts and Bolts of Library Instruction, and Health Literacy, all of which were also well-received.

Stay tuned for exciting 2005 RASS programs!

The Reference and Adult Services section recognized three award winners at the 2004 Annual Conference held in Rochester.

RASS Continuing Education grants were awarded to Peg Pelletier from the Newark Public Library in Newark and Sharon Wightman from the ITT Technical Institute in Liverpool

Sharon attended the Conflict with Colleagues pre-conference workshop at the annual conference. Peg applied the award toward her conference attendance.

The RASS Outstanding Public Service Award was presented for the first time ever at the 2004 Annual Conference. There were several very deserving nominations for this award, which was created to recognize a frontline worker in reference or adult services who has done a particularly outstanding job. The first RASS Outstanding Public Service Award was awarded to Tracey Simon from the Lynbrook Public Library. The award covered full conference registration plus an amount to go toward conference expenses. Tracey told us that winning this award made it possible for her to attend the 2004 Annual Conference!

As one of our RASS award winners said:

"My first experience with NYLA was very educational and fulfilling, and I thank all RASS members for giving me that opportunity by awarding me a scholarship. I attended a number of programs, round tables, and other events that were very valuable for me, and which I hope in turn to share with my library and my community. All in all, NYLA was a powerful and positive experience. Thank you for giving me the chance to network, explore, and expand my resources."

What more could we ask for? It was fun to meet with all our award winners at RASS-Berries, Bagels and Round Tables, and we’re looking forward to more wonderful experiences on 2005!

Conference Testimonial

I attended my first NYLA Conference this year and the two of the best meetings I attended were sponsored by RASS. I attended the member meeting and I liked the idea of table-hopping and getting an idea of the committees. I sat with the technology people and found it interesting talking about various things happening in other libraries. I had blogs explained to me. I also sat with the Collection Development people and found that just as rewarding.

Someone at the technology table suggested I attend the workshop on blogging. I did and I found this to be very intriguing. The presenter was well-informed and the feedback from the audience was very satisfying.

Diana Lekus

Job Information Librarian at the Central Library of the Queens Borough Public Library

From the Legislation Corner: Of Vision, Voices and Votes

On November 29th, Renee Gail Kotler, RASS Legislative Chair, attended a New Century Libraries Leadership Meeting at the iconic Humanities Library of The New York Public Library (otherwise known as the Library with the Lions), hosted by The New York Public Library and organized by METRO. Her report follows:

The line-up of speakers was impressive: Sandra Galef, Assemblywoman, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Libraries and Technology; Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Department of Education; Paul LeClerc, President of The New York Public Library; Richard Mills, Commissioner of Education; Abby Milstein, Co-chair, Regents Commission on Library Services and Trustee of The New York Public Library; Adelaide Sanford, Vice Chancellor, New York State Board of Regents; Rocco Staino, President, NYLA; Lucille Thomas, President of the Board of Trustees, Brooklyn Public Library; and Janet Welch, State Librarian. Abby Milstein spoke eloquently about the vision for library service to New Yorkers as expressed in the New Century Libraries recommendations. The voices of the individual speakers were interesting and distinctive, most particularly that of Adelaide Sanford, who was spellbinding in her passionate understanding of the role of libraries in the lives of individuals and the community. Collectively, their words created a rich chorus of "voices" in support of libraries and the work we do. We have the vision and the voices. Where are the votes?

Last year both houses of the State Legislature delivered the votes when they overrode the Governor’s budget cut to libraries. This year, we lost on the override vote by one vote in the Assembly. The NYLA Legislative Committee had a scheduled meeting in Albany on December 7th, one of the days the legislators had returned to the Capitol to address unfinished business. We had this one last chance to press for a re-vote on the Governor’s override. So, in the spirit of "carpe diem," Michael Borges shepherded us into the Capitol where we literally lobbied, standing in the lobby outside the Chamber doors, approaching any recognized Assemblyman and pressing our cause. It was fun but futile. We saw Sandy Galef, our strong voice in the Assembly, who said she only had 90-91 votes of the 100 needed to override the Governor’s 5% cut. We returned to NYLA headquarters disappointed, but determined to shape our strategy for the next fiscal year.

What more can we do? Be informed. What exactly does State money pay for in your library? How much money do you get? Read NYLINE and ALAWON notices. Maintain your efforts. Speak to your state electeds. Tell your stories. Organize your advocates and patrons to write letters. Go to NYLA’s website and use LobbyNet to send faxes to your state elected officials. And join us in Albany on March 15, 2005 for NYLA Lobby Day.

Join the RASS Board!

Would you like to be more involved in NYLA and RASS? The opportunity exists for a RASS member to fill a vacancy on this year’s RASS board as Booth and Raffle Chair for the 2005 NYLA conference. If you are interested in this opportunity or for more information, please contact RASS president Sarah Maximiek at maximiek@BINGHAMTON.EDU.

The Reference and Adult Services Section (RASS) of the New York Library Association has copies available of The Adult Programmer’s Handbook. The handbook sells for $10 (plus applicable sales tax and $2.21 for shipping and handling). Order forms are available at NYLA’s web site: www.nyla.org. Click on Gift & Book Shop and then NYLA Publications Order Form.

Adult programming is an integral part of library services. Programs impart information to adults by sharing the resources of presenters, facilitators, professionals and other experts. Programs truly make the library a center for lifelong learning. The Adult Programmer’s Handbook covers the entire programming process, from developing a policy to obtaining program ideas to publicity and evaluation. It includes sample ideas, forms, checklists and more.

Librarians from all over New York State contributed their expertise to the handbook. Co-editors Rachel Baum and Renee Kotler put together an easy-to-use publication, packed with practical information for libraries of all sizes.

For further information regarding The Adult Programmer’s Handbook, please contact Jennifer Lenio, RASS Director of Publications, at (585) 784-5345 or jlenio@libraryweb.org.

RASSmatazz is the newsletter of the Reference and Adult Services Section of the New York Library Association. It is published three times a year and is distributed electronically to members that have given NYLA their e-mail addresses. Members are invited to contribute articles on reference and adult services issues for publication. Material may be sent to RASS Publications Director Jennifer Lenio at jlenio@libraryweb.org. The next submission date is June 1^st.