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CONTENTS
Library Support Staff Day Recognition
LIBRARY SUPPORT STAFF DAY RECOGNITION
California joins other states, including New York and The District of Columbia, in recognizing the important role library paraprofessionals play in today's libraries.
The Northern California Chapter of COLT (NCCC) requested of Governor Pete Wilson that April 23, 1998 be declared Library Support Staff Day in California. In the request, NCCC President Kathy LeLievre noted that official recognition would acknowledge "Library Technical Assistants, Library Assistants and Library Technicians" who work in the many diverse libraries in our state." She further noted that it would be a great honor for Library Support Staff, no matter what title they use, to be recognized for their dedication to the many libraries of our state. While Governor Wilson's office responded with a statement that for a proclamation to be made the request needed to come from a weightier source, the Governor did send a personal letter of greeting to Library Support Staff throughout the state. The cities of Oakland and Sacramento have issued formal proclamations.
Letters and Proclamations:
The Northern California Chapter of COLT developed a listing of a variety of library employment opportunities in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Originally the list included current job listings as well as resources. The list is now maintained by the COLT webmaster and provides only links to job hunting resources. It no longer lists individually available positions.
The Job Line is located at http://colt.ucr.edu/ncccjob.html
TAKING CARE OF ME
The Spring 2000 NCCC Workshop, Taking Care of Me, was held on May 24, 2000, at the Albany Library in Albany, California, with participants who came from Solano County Libraries, Marin County, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Alameda County and the San Francisco/Oakland Bay area. While attendance was not as high as hoped or anticipated, the consensus among NCCC board members attending as well as the other participants was that we had truly presented a "quality" workshop.
That everything does begin with ourselves: our health, our state of mind and body, and how we somehow achieve the inner peace and positive self-image to prepare and then sustain us in all of our relationships with others, was the basic idea in the total planning and utilization of the workshop theme.
Although one of our speakers was unable to attend due to personal circumstances, our other two speakers gave excellent presentations (as anticipated) and were well received as noted at the workshop itself and the evaluation forms received at that time.
The participant group discussion which we engaged in during the later part of the afternoon proved to be a very spirited and insightful exchange on the content of the presentations given by Steward Levine, founder of ResolutionWorks and author of Getting to Resolution, and Dr. Mary Mendoza-Newman, post-doctoral fellow at the University of San Francisco Counseling Center at the time of the workshop and now a Counselor at the Counseling Center at UC Berkeley.
We concluded the workshop with a tour of the Albany Library.
Christopher Gannon / Workshop Chairperson
COMMUNICATION SKILLS THAT WORK IN THE LIBRARY
On Friday, May 21, 1999 the Northern California Chapter of the Council on Library/Media Technicians (COLT) presented
a workshop entitled Communication Skills That Work In The Library. As Special Services Coordinator for Berkeley Public
Library for nine years, Janet Turman created and managed a Library Training and Staff Development Program, designing
workshops dealing with managing difficult situations, disability awareness, ABA and others. In this workshop, she focused
on both internal and external customer service and communication skills for all library staff, resolving customer concerns,
dealing with anger, "hot buttons", and body language. She discussed telephone skills and provided sample scripts for future
use.
HTML WORKSHOP
HTML Workshop is a Rousing Success, Says NCCC Vice-President.
Our first workshop of this year was held on Friday, May 8, 1998 at the Sacramento County Office of Education. The workshop aimed to teach its participants the basics of HTML code and to give them a hands-on chance to create their own webpage. Doug Beckstein, a Personal Computer Support Trainer for SCOC, did an excellent job as the speaker for our HTML workshop. The event sold out all 24 available seats. As the workshop chairperson, I felt the workshop was a success, and I would like to share a few of the anonymous comments I received from the participants:
I was pleased with the evaluations and will use the many helpful suggestions collected after the workshop to help plan for future NCCC workshops. I would also like to thank everyone who helped me organize this event and I look forward to working with you again. ...
-Dena Ledford
SKILLS FOR SUPORT STAFF
On Friday December 11, 1998 the annual meeting and workshop of the Northern California Chapter of COLT was held at
the Fremont Main Library (Alameda Co.) Sessions were held on the topics of Team Building, Internet Filters, Behavioral
Interviewing and Graphic Design.
"COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN THE WORKPLACE
The December 5th Northern California Chapter of COLT workshop held at the Oakland Public Library main branch was divided into two main parts: an annual business meeting and a forum on communication issues for library support staff. Highlights of the meeting included reports from committee chairs, the acknowledgment of outgoing officers, and the installation of new officers. The panel discussion dealing with communication issues was moderated by Sandra Baldorama of Oakland Public Library and featured Beverly Butler from McGeorge School of Law, Paula Wilkinson from Alameda Public, and Melissa Trujillo from California State University, Sacramento.
Sandra provided opening remarks before opening the topic to discussion from members and the floor. Each of the panel members gave an example of a communication issue that she had encountered in the workplace -- providing some fresh ideas for avoiding communication pitfalls. Specific questions and solutions were fielded by audience participants, creating a lively and informative dialogue.
Planning and development are already underway for a spring workshop. Dena Ledford and Kathy LeLievre can be contacted with suggestions and ideas to help make that upcoming event as successful as the NCCC workshops held in the past.
LIBRARY SERVICE TO TEENS
On December 11, 1997 the Northern California Chapter of COLT (NCCC) held a workshop at the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) regarding Library Services to Teens.
The morning began with a welcome from Toni Bernardi, SFPL's Coordinator of Children/Young Adult Services. Toni welcomed everyone to the San Francisco Public Library and invited us to explore the new Main Library after our workshop. Kathy LeLievre, our incoming president of the Northern California Chapter of COLT also welcomed everyone to San Francisco and to the workshop. She told us a little about herself and requested that we all become "active" members of NCCC.
As per our agenda Pat Lichter, Acting Children's Coordinator at Oakland Public, gave a presentation regarding funding (i.e., local, private, grants) and what to do after you find it! She mentioned the importance of convincing management of the need for funds via statistics as well as trying to involve the staff and the community in fund raising.
Sue Harlow, the Teen Services Specialist at SFPL, gave a presentation on programming for teens. She stressed the importance of outreach plus how to keep the teens coming once you get them to the library. The importance of having an organized program was one of the many tips she gave us. Don't forget that providing food helps to bring in the teens as much as an interesting topic.
Before our break we were entertained by a skit starring Don Waters, Library Assistant from Oakland Public and Iantha Cooper, Librarian from Oakland High School. Don was "D," a normal everyday young adult who had never been to the library while Iantha was the Librarian more than willing to help him find what he needed. In the beginning "D" was completely lost and unhappy in the library. Thanks to the librarian, he not only found what he wanted but decided to tell all his friends about the library and the librarian that can find anything! I wish we had videotaped the skit. It was great!!!!!
After our short break Iantha Cooper came back as herself and gave us a presentation on serving teens in high school libraries. She mentioned the importance of understanding their language and meeting the needs of the teens. She gave us quite a few tips, including the need for a relaxed atmosphere and providing programs for the teens.
In the afternoon Jamie Turner, Adult Services Librarian at Oakland Public and Maria Ortiz, Librarian form Oakland Public,
gave a presentation on Collection Development and Materials Selection for Teens. They both stressed the importance of
working as a team with all staff in the selection of materials. They mentioned tips such as reading the material you plan to
order and collecting reading lists from teachers.
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