I want to be in the Spotlight!

Good News! Making a Case to Your Funders

By John Pepper

Like a lot of libraries, Great River Regional Library (GRRL) has seen some lean years recently as funding levels have failed to keep pace with usage patterns. Fortunately, the administration has been able to persuade its Board of Trustees and funding agencies that library workers need to be compensated fairly. Those at the lower end of the pay scale have seen their wages increased, and a classification and compensation study has ensured staff are compensated fairly within the system and within their community. In the process, relationships have been established that give rise to optimism for future negotiations. MORE

DEMCO New Leaders Travel Grant

The DEMCO New Leaders Travel Grant is designed to enhance the professional development and improve the expertise of public librarians new to the field by making possible their attendance at major professional development activities. MORE

Understand Poverty Before Judging

Your Voice

By David Winkler-Schmit

Published in the Cincinnati Enquirer, September 7, 2005

David is a librarian and free-lance writer who lives in uptown New Orleans, who is staying with friends in the Cincinnati area, then moving on to visit relatives in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. He does not know what has become of his house in New Orleans. MORE

I want to write about Career Advancement!

Keeping Pace with Career Change

By Mari Marsh

There’s a good deal of talk out there about librarians feeling that library jobs will not exist in 10 years. New librarians feel that they are facing limited opportunities for entry-level jobs and wonder if there will be prospects for advancement once they are employed; seasoned librarians are concerned about burnout. Reference stats are going down and various Technical Services functions are being outsourced. MORE

I want to write about Certification!

Certification for Public Librarians will begin in 2006

At the Annual Conference, the ALA-APA Council approved the guidelines for all certification programs that will be administered by ALA-APA. The first program will be the Certified Public Library Administrator Program (CPLA). This long-awaited program will be launched in 2006, but the Certification Review Committee is alerting potential providers that they should look for a Request for Proposals and additional details in September on the ALA-APA Web site. MORE

Certification Manual on ALA-APA Web site

Has your division or committee been thinking about launching a certification program? If so, the steps for going from an idea to an actual program are found in the ALA-APA Certification Manual. The manual will also be helpful to librarians who want to participate in the Certified Public Library Administrator Program. MORE

I want to write about HR Law!

A New Revolution in Civil Service Personnel Practices

By Elyse Schear

Job dissatisfaction and high employee turnover among civil service personnel has policy-makers listening, and we are beginning to see revolutionary changes in the civil service system. MORE

I want to write about HR Practice!

Using Emotional Intelligence to Improve Working Relationships

By Paula M. Singer, PhD and Laura L. Francisco, PHR

Emotional Intelligence – a new buzzword in human resources - is the ability to recognize and understand your own and others’ emotions and make use of them in socially adaptable ways. Emotional intelligence, therefore, can be an effective measure of “street smarts” or “social radar.” We all see things differently, depending upon our mindset and individual perspective; but the ability to read social cues and respond to them in a way that demonstrates an understanding of others’ perspectives is what emotional intelligence is about. MORE

I want to write about Salaries & Pay Equity!

How to Get What You Are Worth

By Mary Pergander

Oh, happy day! You've interviewed for a good job, and they have called to offer you the position. Now, they are going to make you the perfect offer of your dreams, right? Hold on! MORE

Misery Loves Company – Meeting Planners Show Similar Salary Trends

Meetings and Conventions, a print journal for event planners, published a supplement in the August 2005 issue giving the results of its national annual salary survey. There were 564 corporate and 495 association planners who responded. It was no surprise that corporate salaries were higher than association salaries by approximately 10% ($62,200 and $56,100 respectively). What was surprising was the significant disparity between the salaries of men and women in this primarily female profession. MORE

I want to write about Statistics!

State Salary Surveys—2004

The ALA Office for Research and Statistics surveyed state libraries to determine which ones have salary surveys that include library workers in public, academic, school, or special libraries. MORE

I want to write about Work/Life!

Giving Thanks

Let’s face it – no one has to give. No one has to think about those outside of their own workspaces, households, and social circles. No one has to have sympathy for those who suffer. Yet you do. On a local, regional, or national level, many of you are aware of those beyond your reach, giving at your capacity. MORE

Sept. 15-16
ILLINOIS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION REACHING FORWARD FALL WORKSHOP: Empathy and Insight: Issues Surrounding Diversity, Wheeling, Rockford, Joliet, IL (teleconference)

Sept. 30-Oct. 2
LITA NATIONAL FORUM, San Jose, CA

Oct. 1-4
ARKANSAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Little Rock

Oct. 3-4
WEST VIRGINIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Shepherdstown

Oct. 5-7
OHIO LIBRARY COUNCIL, Columbus

Oct. 5-7
SOUTH DAKOTA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Pierre

Oct. 6-7
IDAHO LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Pocatello

Oct. 5-9
AASL NATIONAL CONFERENCE, Pittsburgh, PA

Oct. 11-13
ARIZONA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Mesa

Oct. 11-15
ILLINOIS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Peoria

Oct. 12-14
GEORGIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Columbus

Oct. 12-15
WYOMING LIBRARY ASSOCIATION / MOUNTAIN PLAINS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (joint conference), Jackson Hole, WY

Oct. 16-18 NEW ENGLAND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Worcester, MA

Oct. 16-21 Teen Read Week

Oct. 19-21
IOWA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Dubuque

Oct. 19-22
NEVADA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Reno

Oct. 20-21
VIRGINIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Williamsburg

Oct. 23-25
MAINE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Augusta

Oct. 25-28
MICHIGAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Grand Rapids

Oct. 25-28
MISSISSIPPI LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Vicksburg - CANCELLED DUE TO HURRICANE KATRINA

Oct. 25-28
WISCONSIN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Lacrosse

Oct. 26-28
MISSOURI LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Kansas City

Oct. 26-28
SOUTH CAROLINA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Columbia

Oct. 26-29
NEW YORK LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Buffalo

Nov. 4-7
CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Pasadena

Nov. 10-13
COLORADO ASSOCIATION OF LIBRARIES, Denver

Nov. 11-12
HAWAII LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, Island of Hawaii