2014-2015: A Year in Review

2014-2015 was an exciting year for ALASC! Here's are some of the highlights:

Volunteering at the Alphabet Forest

St. Kate MLIS Volunteers
Photo Credit: Alphabet Forest

Before the school year began, ALASC members were out and about promoting literacy by helping out at the Alphabet Forest at the Minnesota State Fair.

Helping with the Highland Park Re-Opening

In October and November, several ALASC members got to take a look behind the scenes at the work going into renovating a library. It was exciting to help the Highland Park branch of Saint Paul Public Library get ready for their big re-opening.

A Day in the Life: Panel with Recent Graduates in Non-Traditional Libraries

Our wonderful panel members (from left to right):
Andrew Crow, Margit Wilson, Kathryn Zielski,
and Amelia Snetting

At the beginning of the year, several ALASC members mentioned being interested in talking with recent alumni who had found jobs while others mentioned interest in non-traditional library positions. As a result, we co-sponsored A Day in the Life: Panel with Recent Graduates in Non-Traditional Libraries with the Special Libraries Association student chapter.

After snow postponed the fall panel, we had a great discussion in March with Andrew Crow, Knowledge Consultant Librarian at Allina Health; Amelia Snetting, Content Librarian at ShopperWorks; Margit Wilson, Assistant Librarian at the Walker Art Center; and Kathryn Zielski, Community Engagement Librarian at Third Iron.

Native People in the Information Profession Panel

In April, we worked with our faculty advisor, Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen, to help sponsor a second panel on Native People in the Information Profession. We had a wonderful set of speakers: Debbie Reese, author of American Indians in Children’s Literature; Jody Gray, Diversity Outreach Librarian and the Department of American Indian Studies liaison at the University of Minnesota Libraries; and Edwin Schenk, a current MLIS student and Library Director at North Central University. We talked about issues and challenges with Native representation in children's literature and what steps librarians can take to help, the role of librarians in serving an American Indian Studies department as well as reaching out to Native students on campus, and Native people in the information profession.

Visit from Courtney Young, ALA President

Photo Credit: Katherine Warde

Our final and biggest event of the year was bringing the 2015-2016 ALA President, Courtney Young, to campus in April. We partnered with a lot of other groups to make this possible, including the American Library Association (ALA), the MLIS department, the Student Governance Organization (SGO), and the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA).

First, Courtney was our featured speaker at the MLIS Summit, where she spoke about advocacy, diversity, and leadership as well as answered many questions from the crowd.

After the MLIS Summit, we wanted a chance to talk with Ms. Young with just students, so we all went out for Ice Cream at Izzy's and chatted about everything from getting involved in ALA to our favorite books.

Thanks to everyone who helped make 2014-2015 a great year! We're looking forward to seeing you all again this fall.