The Delaware Valley chapter of the ACRL now allocates up to $2000 annually to award travel grants to its members. Congratulations to our 2017-18 grant recipients!
Emma Antobam-Ntekudzi
Reference & Instruction Librarian
(CUNY) Bronx Community College
Joint Conference of Librarians of Color
Albuquerque, New Mexico | September 26-30, 2018
In her own words, how the conference will help Emma achieve her professional development goals:
The Joint Council of Librarians of Color (JCLC) is an important consortium made up of five library associations representing and supporting minority librarians: the American Indian Library Association (AILA), Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (REFORMA). They are a major proponent of innovation, learning, information access and equity. JCLC’s 2018 National Conference in September will be a coming together of librarians from all areas of librarianship and ethnicities. Attendees and participants from national and international institutions spend days sharing ideas and meaningful dialogue about the current state and future of libraries that serve diverse communities.
The conference will cover many “tracks” or themes that I believe will be beneficial to my home library. My focus is on the improvement of library instruction and library services. For instance, ACRL’s revised framework is still new and incorporating it into everyday teaching should be a priority for all Instruction librarians. Another concern is on growing a library’s collection to reflect the community. Some of this will be discussed in the Collections, Programs and Services track. As a first generation West African-Haitian American woman in a field once lacking in diversity, I am excited to learn more about how librarians of color are contributing to the field and continuing to shape the new definition of a 21st century librarian.
My library, located in the Bronx, serves a population primarily of Latino and African American students, first generation West Indian students, West African students and other international students. My colleagues and I understand the importance of the student body being able to see and interact with library faculty that reflect their diversity. Thus, the conference’s varying track/themes cover topics that align with my interests. The Advocacy, Outreach and Collaboration track will provide me with insight into what other libraries are doing to connect with and cater to their students and communities of color. Offering support for student success and inclusion is certainly a priority for my colleagues, chief librarian and our college’s teaching faculty. I also look forward to the Technology and Innovation track presenting new education tools for librarians to use with Instruction courses and to create a better user experience for students, staff and faculty.
From this year’s conference I expect to learn a great deal about varying trends and topics in librarianship. All of which affect my day-to-day work as an academic librarian. With a comprehensive program, the conference will prove to be a major learning experience for me. In my current role, I intend to build my knowledge base and return with ideas or action plans for my college library.
Carol Howe
Science Librarian – Haverford College
Special Libraries Association (SLA) Annual Conference
Baltimore, Maryland | June 10-13 2018
In her own words, how the conference will help Carol achieve her professional development goals:
I’m grateful for the opportunity to apply for an ACRL-DVC travel grant. I’ve been a librarian for over 13 years, but I’ve only been a science librarian—and a branch librarian—for less than three years. I’m humbled by the fact that I still have a lot to learn about supporting students and faculty in the sciences, and to that end, I will be attending the Special Libraries Association (SLA) conference for the first time in June. I will be starting off by attending a pre-conference workshop about chemistry research. The chemists are some of my most frequent customers, and I am thrilled to learn more about how to support them. What I like about SLA is that there are many such discipline-specific sessions to choose from. Aside from conference sessions, I am also looking forward to meeting other science librarians, and even branch librarians, at the conference. While they might not be presenters, I think we can learn a lot from each other informally. I think it will be beneficial to hear from special librarians outside the sciences as well to gain a different perspective. I am excited by the prospect that SLA will provide multi-faceted opportunities for professional development.
Tatiana Pashkova-Balkenhol
Undergraduate Research and Instruction Librarian
Millersville University
Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Biennial Conference
Arlington, Virginia | July 1-3, 2018
In her own words, how the conference will help Tatiana achieve her professional development goals:
The CUR Biennial is a well-known and nationally-recognized conference that brings together faculty, staff, and community partners across the country to discuss the value of undergraduate research. At Millersville, undergraduate research and creativity is showcased in an annual undergraduate conference, Made in Millersville, and a digital conference proceedings journal, Made in Millersville Journal . As Undergraduate Research and Instruction Librarian, I coordinate both the student conference and the journal together with my colleagues. Specifically, together with Dr. Kerrie Farkas, English faculty member, I lead a multidisciplinary team of interns– from Education, English, and Art and engage them in hands-on experience of the entire publishing process, from selecting manuscripts to working with student authors and uploading the final products. In our conference presentation, we will discuss lessons learned and challenges faced when we created the journal not only to publish student works from the conference but also to offer our team of interns with the publishing experience. We created the journal two years ago with only three publications, and this year, we received over 130 interested authors.
The Council on Undergraduate Research Biennial Conference will provide an opportunity for me, as Undergraduate Research and Instruction Librarian, to reflect on, articulate, and share our interdisciplinary experience and findings with faculty from other institutions. The conference will also provide an incredible opportunity for me to learn from nationally recognized keynote speakers on how to improve the journal and the internship we have created for Millersville students and to understand future directions for undergraduate research at higher education institutions. The Council has its own undergraduate journal publication, so I can also learn best practices to bring to Millersville. I volunteered to moderate sessions and be involved behind the scenes of the conference, so I will also be able to network and learn more about the inner workings of the conference. I plan to share what I have learned at the conference with my library colleagues, students, and Made in Millersville conference planning committee.
Karen Sheldon
Electronic and Instructional Services Librarian
Delaware Valley University
NASIG Conference: Transforming the Information Community
Atlanta, Georgia | June 8-11, 2018
In her own words, how the conference will help Karen achieve her professional development goals:
Like many, I am an accidental electronic resources librarian. Finding the NASIG Core Competencies for E-Resources Librarians was a light in the darkness. This is why it is so important for me to be able to attend the NASIG conference this June. The conference will be an opportunity to discuss face-to-face with vendors and other librarians the problems our library has experienced and learn about potential solutions. I’m working on tracking perpetual access for our e-journals, negotiating contracts with vendors, and using statistics to learn more about our electronic resources collection. All these goals would be directed supported by presentations at NASIG, benefiting myself and my institution greatly.