Librarians Who Make a Difference (Joan Reyes) Marcia Tuttle 06 Aug 1997 13:54 UTC
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 04 Aug 1997 11:03:48 -0400 From: Joan Reyes <jxr@psulias.psu.edu> Subject: Librarians Who Make a Difference ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE The American Library Association's (ALA) Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Professional Enhancement Committee is looking for stories similar to the following: Melba Jesudason is a public service librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College Library which serves undergraduates. Since 1981 she has made it her personal goal to help the university recruit and retain minority students. Her initial activities related to her library instruction responsibilities in College Library. In the 1980s she developed instructional outreach programs for international and English as a Second Language (ESL) students, and student athletes. She then began working with younger people through pre-college programs offered during summer sessions. In 1994 she received state funding for a pilot project on campus to admit local Southeast Asian high school students to the campus ESL program. In 1996 she was appointed to the UW-Madison Council on Pre-College Programs. In 1994, Melba Jesudason received the campus Student Personnel Association's Norman Bassett Award for outstanding achievement in student services, the first librarian to be recognized thus since its inception in 1981. The citation reads: "The fact that Melba has accepted the challenge of making library resources more accessible to ALL UW students as well as potential students has benefited the library, the University and most importantly, the students themselves. ... [She] has always concentrated her public service efforts on work with the neglected, slighted and overlooked in the society. ... Her work has made this campus a better place, and has improved the quality of life for her neighborhood, her city, her country and the wider world." The ALA/ACRL Professional Enhancement Committee is looking for more stories like this. We know they are out there. We want to find academic librarians who have made a visible positive difference on their campuses and/or in their communities through involvement and leadership. We see them as role models who can help the rest of us who have the potential to do the same thing. We want to know why and how they got involved in activities beyond the library, what impact they have made, what library skills and/or opportunities helped them succeed, and what they brought back to the library from the experience. Do you know academic librarians who have influenced campus decision-makers, development opportunities, legislation, business leaders, social agencies, etc.? Send us their names and information on how to contact them (e.g. email address, telephone/fax number, address). We want to share their stories. Perhaps you are one of these librarians. Send us your name so that we can learn more about you and have you as a role model for others. The ACRL Professional Enhancement Committee is charged with assisting ACRL in identifying methods for informing appropriate audiences about who academic librarians are and what they do. Human interest stories like the one above will help us inform decision-makers of the valuable and varied contributions academic librarians make every day. With the assistance of the stories and the role models identified through this process, we expect to develop programs and publications for academic librarians and those audiences who need to know us better. We also plan to work closely with ACRL and ALA staff and share the stories with them for use with the ADVOCACY NOW campaign. Joan Reyes, Pennsylvania State University Libraries, (E506 Pattee Library, University Park, PA 16802; Email: JXR@psulias.psu.edu; Phone: 814/863-4697; Fax: 814/863-7293) is the ACRL Professional Enhancement Committee member who is collecting the stories. Please contact her as soon as possible if you have one to share. If you are aware of local listservs which include academic librarians, feel free to send them this announcement. We appreciate your support and assistance. Joan Arlene Reyes Access Services Librarian The Pennsylvania State University Libraries Voice: (814) 863-4697 Fax: (814) 865-3665 E-mail: JXR@psulias.psu.edu