June 15, 2019 (Vol. 26, No.12): ASSOCIATION NEWS

 

Cast Your Vote Before the Polls Close!

Children’s Services Division members! It’s not too late to vote for the 2019-2020 Children’s Services Division board! Open positions are incoming chair, and Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) representative.

The team of Stephanie Goodwin (Jackson County Library) and Bryce Kozla (Washington County Cooperative Library Services) will serve as incoming co-chairs if they get your votes! Three exceptional candidates are running for the position of CSLP representative: Domenica (Dena) Chaffin (Silver Falls Library District); Hilary Evart (Lake Oswego Public Library); and Nicole Newsom (Multnomah County Library).

Candidate profiles are on the ballot, or preview them on CSD’s website. Thank you to every candidate for their willingness to serve!

Cast your vote before the polls close on Wednesday, June 19.

June 15, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 12): People

New Member Profile: Rya Fennewald

Thank you for the opportunity to welcome myself to the OLA! I look forward to meeting many at the LIOLA Institute this June. I’m a graduate with a Bachelor’s of Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara. I absolutely loved going to school there; so much that I stuck around after graduation as a library assistant at their Davidson Library. A lot of cool things went on during my 5 years as a library assistant including a complete library renovation, a website redesign, and the implementation of an institutional repository program. I started library school at SJSU School of Information at this time and I was lucky that I had a lot of library goodness swirling around me to serve as inspiration for assignments and projects.

Eventually, I found myself in Oregon and started my first job as a part-time reference librarian at Central Oregon Community College which was a nice segue librarian job after graduation. My eye was on the prize of the public library though and as of September 2018, I achieved it! I now work as an Adult Services Community Librarian with Deschutes Public Library and my current sphere of responsibilities include running our Library Book Club, teaching adult computer classes, and doing outreach to young professionals, seniors, and health and wellness consumers.

Outside of work, I am married and my husband and I are parents to  Gunner, our hunting Pudelpointer. We live in Bend and it goes with saying we enjoy the outdoors; hitting the slopes in the winter and the Cascade lakes for paddling in the summer. Gunner even comes in the canoe with us! When we’re being responsible weekenders, we work around the house trying to make our little 1000 square foot home prettier. My favorite book is The Time Traveler’s Wife and the book I’m currently reading now is Little Fires Everywhere and enjoying it a lot! My co-worker, Liisa Sjoblom who is chairing OLA’s conference next year nominated me to do local arrangements for the Bend OLA Conference so I’m very much looking forward to working with OLA in that capacity in addition to LIOLA.

June 1st, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 11) PEOPLE.

New Member Profile: Allison Reibel

Hello OLA!

I began working in libraries in 2008 as a clerk with Seattle Public Library. I went on to earn my MLIS from the University of Washington, where I co-founded the Social Justice and Libraries conference and learned about information literacy instruction through projects with local community colleges and the Seattle critical librarianship community.

After working as a part-time reference librarian at Highline and Green River colleges, I decided to come back to public libraries and accepted a Public Services Librarian position with Multnomah County Library in April 2018. My professional interests are in technology ethics, critical librarianship, and training and instruction. Since moving to Portland, I have also begun volunteering as an editor for OLA Quarterly.

Besides the Pacific Northwest, I have also lived in Beijing, China where I taught English to young people and wrote for an English-language magazine. My hobbies include sleeping in, eating pizza, and reading and writing (currently reading Milkman by Anna Burns and Whose Global Village? by Ramesh Srinivasan).

May 15, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 10): PEOPLE

New Member Profile: Ryan McGinnis

My name is Ryan McGinnis, and I’ve been a library employee in La Grande for the last 20 years, and a fairly new-minted MLIS from San Jose State University!  I’m married, with 1 kid, two dogs, and a cat. I like to dream about restoring a classic car someday…I own/have owned a couple different cars, including my current project car, a ’73 450sl.

I’ve worked, in addition to the library field, in business, landscaping, as a DJ, and in private security.  I grew up in a military household, and have lived on the eastern and western coasts of the US, but my favorite, and longest term living has been in Oregon, and particularly Eastern Oregon!

Right now I’m the Libraries of Eastern Oregon Representative for ODLC, I’m on the ODLC Executive Committee as an Executive Committee Member-at-large, and I also serve, currently, on the User Council of the Sage Library System, a 77 member resource sharing consortium based in Eastern Oregon, as Council Chair!

My work in the La Grande Public library primarily revolves around technical (cataloging and acquisition) and IT services and, as a small library, daily front-line patron service time, along with all the other staff!  My current project is establishing the library’s 3d Printing service program, via creating and commencing our basic instructional course for creating projects for said printer, as well as creating documentation for policy and permissions for use of the printer!

One of my favorite recent reads was IQ by Joe Ide, and I just found out that a sequel exists, so I have some future reading to do as well!  I’m also interested, if I can find time around other library-related activities, in serving in some capacity with OLA’s public library and technical services divisions some day!

May 1, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 9): HAPPENINGS

Oregon Reference Summit

Registration is now open for the Oregon Reference Summit being held Friday, May 31, 2019 at The CH2M Hill Alumni Center at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.

This is a one-day conference with reference-focused content appropriate for all skill levels, library types, and experiences. It is an excellent opportunity to meet reference staff from around the state face-to-face and exchange ideas.

Registration is $50 and includes breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks. There is an opportunity to apply for a scholarship that covers the full cost of registration –learn more and apply.

To register and view program information, please visit our website.

Registration will close Friday May 17th at 5pm.

We hope to see you there!

May 1, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 9): ASSOCIATION NEWS

Pearl Award

Greg Williams, the former Library Network Manager of Libraries in Clackamas County (LINCC), was presented the Public Library Division’s Pearl Award at the OLA-WLA Conference in recognition of his efforts to transform the library system.

Greg brought perseverance, a solid vision, dedication, and inspiration to his role with LINCC. Greg guided a large group of independent and autonomous city libraries and library directors to be a cohesive, well-functioning, strategic leadership team.

He implemented a $2 million radio-frequency identification and automated material handling system project as well as a centrally managed wifi network for the consortium, resulting in significantly improved service provision to library patrons. His behind-the-scenes efforts also included supporting the Library District Advisory Committee, helping the group thrive through a reorganization.

Greg now serves at the Deputy Director of Business and Community Services for Clackamas County.

The Pearl is annually given to an Oregon library employee who has worked tirelessly from the inside and demonstrated excellence, like a pearl honed into a gem over time.

May 1, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 9): PEOPLE

New Member Profile: Pia Alliende

I am Pia Alliende, as an occasional blogger and instagrammer also known as la intervencionista. I have dedicated my entire life to education, especially to giving young people and educators the tools to become agents of their own learning, through critical thinking, creativity and a good dose of humor.

I am a school librarian, workshop leader and collaborator of the International Baccalaureate, observer, and interventionist. Lover of the bike, peace, justice, and life. I belong to a drama group (Jujuruju Teatro) and participate weekly in a creative writing workshop.

Currently, I am living in Spain but planning to return to Central Oregon this summer after being laid off by my district in 2009. Even though it was heartbreaking at the time, it gave me the opportunity to open my wings and show my family the world.

Originally from Chile, now I am a citizen of the universe, but determined to find a librarian job in Central Oregon again. I have an MLIS from Catholic University of America (DC) and a MA in history from SUNY at Stony Brook. I also have a teaching degree and MA in history from Chile, and a virtual teaching certificate from UC Irvine. I have written three books in Spanish about obscure histories of Chile (trains, a pharmaceutical company, and a religious tradition). I worked in education for more than twenty years, and as a librarian since 2006, when I got immersed also in the IB world. I have worked for eight years at a wholly IB PK-12 school in Seville, Spain.

In 2017, to have more flexibility (my dad was getting very sick in Chile and our kids had returned to the US for college), I decided to join my husband’s family business, GringoCool, of exporting to the US and offering on Amazon and own online store hand-painted ceramics, and extra virgin olive oil from Southern Spain. I help him with orders, blog articles, promotions, research, databases, visit to the factories, and social media.

I am a proud mother of two bilingual college students.Our daughter is graduating from VCU this May with a dual major in Political Science and Economics, and a minor in Arabic. Our son is in the Civil Engineering program at Montana Tech.

Currently, I am reading Las Maldiciones by Argentinian author Claudia Piñeiro, and listening on my phone to Caperucita en Manhattan by Spanish author Carmen Martín Gaité. I just finished listening to Raymond Carver´s story The Cathedral, and George by Alex Gino. I would love to collaborate in any OLA initiative, especially if they are international and/or Latinx related.

I am attending OLA-WLA Conference in April but our big move across the Atlantic will be hopefully this summer. Our two dachshund dogs, Clyde, a 12-year-old Oregonian, and Buck, our Andaluz,  will join us on this journey. They will miss the Spanish sun for sure, but we know they will love to chase deer in search of green leaves that enter in our premises at the Crooked River Ranch.

Play.Read.Swim.Bike.

April 15, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 7): HAPPENINGS

Oregon Reference Summit

Registration is now open for the Oregon Reference Summit being held Friday, May 31, 2019 at The CH2M Hill Alumni Center at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.

This is a one-day conference with reference-focused content appropriate for all skill levels, library types, and experiences. It is an excellent opportunity to meet reference staff from around the state face-to-face and exchange ideas.

Registration is $50 and includes breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks. There is an opportunity to apply for a scholarship that covers the full cost of registration –learn more and apply.

To register and view program information, please visit our website.

Registration will close Friday May 17th at 5pm.

We hope to see you there!

April 15, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 7): PEOPLE

New Member Profile: Kathryn McDonald

Hello!  My name is Kathryn McDonald, and this is my first year as a graduate student pursuing an online MS/LIS from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  My journey to this degree has been an interesting one. For my undergraduate work, I double-majored in Anthropology and Computer Science at Oregon State University.  I knew that they fit together, but I couldn’t articulate exactly how at the time, so I took a job on the computer science side of things as a data analyst.

When the news broke last summer about US agencies separating migrant children from their families at the border, I stumbled across a Wired article about academics from Columbia University who were building a map of every ICE facility in the country based on open data.  Their goal was to show that the scope of the separation crisis extended far past our southern border. The article called their work “Digital Humanities”, and I finally realized how to fit my degrees together. I was put in touch with the Oregon State University Rare Books and History of Science Librarian, who suggested that a Library and Information Science degree would put me in the best position to leverage my technical and academic knowledge in ways that benefit my community.

I live on the coast near Astoria, so I am familiar with the challenges rural communities face and would like to use the knowledge and skills I gain to benefit my community.  Recently, I have become rather involved with Astoria’s Q Center. They have been strategizing about ways to expand and become a community resource center, and my dream is to help them offer an array of LGBTQ books and articles.  I am also volunteering with the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (based in Portland) to help connect rural Q Centers to share resources. The coast has some fascinating LGBTQ history, and I would love to collect and share oral histories from elders to help young rural LGBTQ folks see themselves represented.

My favorite book is “Alamut” by Vladimir Bartol, which I learned about while playing the Assassin’s Creed video game series.  Quite apart from rotting your brain, when done well, video games can actually provide immersive history lessons. When I find spare time, I enjoy playing the baritone ukulele, conducting “mad science” experiments, and trying to grow herbs and vegetables in sandy soil.

I have a passion for bringing suppressed or marginalized histories and folklore to the public, and books are a wonderful way to do that.  I am hoping to meet everyone in OLA and find out how everything works and how librarians are serving their communities around the state. In addition, I was delighted to be accepted to serve on the ALA’s Over the Rainbow Book List Committee this year, so I am looking forward to reading lots of books.  I’m interested to learn about the relationship between ALA and OLA and how I can harness my experience to benefit both.

April 1, 2019 (Vol. 26, No. 7): ASSOCIATION NEWS

Congratulations to our Oregon author, Barbara Kerley, the recipient of the 2019 Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award

On March 23, 2019, Barbara Kerley received the Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award for her significant contribution to Oregon in the field of children’s literature at the Children’s Services Division workshop. The Evelyn Sibley Lampman Award is presented annually by the Children’s Services Division of the Oregon Library Association and is given in memory of Evelyn Sibley Lampman (1907-1980), noted Oregon teacher, journalist, and author of children’s books.

Barbara is already an award-winning author of children’s books, most notably in the world of nonfiction. Among her awards, Barbara has received two Sibert Honors, Oregon Spirit Book Award, Parents’ Choice Award, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and the list goes on! The shelves of our libraries hold many of the titles Barbara has contributed to the youth of our state. Barbara has been writing children’s books, both nonfiction and fiction, for decades.

Songs of Papa’s Island was Barbara’s first book, published in 1995. A fan of Kerley’s book wrote this in a review: “…a sweet book of short stories (or songs, as they are referred to in the book) from mother to child, that describe life when the mother and father lived on a tropical island in the middle of the ocean and prepared to have a baby. It’s based on Barbara Kerley’s real-life history of living on Guam and giving birth to her daughter there…The rich language, story songs, were fascinating and rich from beginning to end, I felt like I travelled to Guam with the books gentle guidance.”

Barbara’s most recent book, Tigers & Tea with Toppy, came out in 2018, and she is currently researching her next nonfiction title. Her books have been translated into multiple languages and she has been published by National Geographic and Harper Collins, among other publishing houses. With subjects ranging from A to Z – the American Museum of Natural History and the Central Park Zoo – Barbara fills children’s worlds with wonder, adventure, and fascination. Some of the many subjects she has explored include iguanodons, Teddy Roosevelt, world peace, and Mark Twain’s donkey. The perfect quote from Barbara regarding her work follows: “The best thing about writing children’s books is that I get to follow my curiosity–around the world and even into outer space.”

We congratulate and thank Barbara Kerley for her engaging books, tireless research, and delightful spirit. The Lampman Committee is sure that Evelyn Sibley Lampman would be as proud to honor her as we are.