It’s your chapter. How are you going to put it to work for you?

Thanks to the officers, the Committee Chairs, Committee members, and Chapter members and friends who made 2000-2001 a successful Chapter year by so generously volunteering their time and expertise in many ways. It is because of you that the Rio Grande Chapter has rightfully earned the nickname "The Mighty Rio Grande" among leaders on the national level.

A special thanks to Heather Hlava, President-Elect and Program Chair, who not only produced many outstanding and varied programs this year, but who also was always willing to help and who brought a fresh, new perspective with her innovative ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed working with her and wish her a great year as Chapter President in 2001-2002.

A big thanks to the 45^th Gala Anniversary Celebration Committee, Linda Morgan Davis, Marie Harper, Lou Pray and Heather Hlava, who did a stellar job at putting together a successful day. A good time was had by all, and the Silent Auction raised over $1,000.00 for our Chapter. My appreciation to Donna Scheeder, SLA President, who attended our Celebration and delivered a personalized message which included many references to our Chapter’s history.

Two new initiatives this year which deserve recognition are the Archives Project and the Awards Committee. Thanks to Judith Bernstein and Donna Cromer who did a great deal of work on the archives, and to those members who contributed their time and expertise to that worthwhile effort. The Awards Committee, Judy Neff, Chair, Margaret Morris, and Sarah Morley, worked very hard to establish a Chapter award and guidelines. We hope to present our first Rio Grande Chapter award in 2002.

On the national scene, congratulations to Margie Hlava on her election as Director and to Judith Bernstein on being honored with a Hall of Fame Award.

Thank you to Betsy Kraus and Frankie Ewing who have just completed their terms as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. Congratulations to our newly elected officers, Gloria Zamora, President-Elect and Program Chair, Theresa Connaughton, Secretary, and Judy Neff, Treasurer. Good luck to you all in making 2001-2002 a great year for the Rio Grande Chapter!

Sincerely,

Pam H. MacKellar

Over 50 members and friends of the Rio Grande Chapter met on a beautiful spring Saturday to celebrate the Chapter's 45^th Anniversary. Gathering on May 19^th at the incomparable Bishops Lodge in Santa Fe, guests were treated to a wonderful event.

Several Founding Members mingled with familiar faces, as well as potential new and student members. Energetic networking and lively bidding in the Silent Auction were focal points of the occasion.

Almost 50 items were donated for the Auction, masterfully coordinated by Linda Davis and Lou Pray. These treasures ranged from books to gift certificates, food baskets to artwork, quilts to silk screens, and jewelry to wine collections. Announcements of the final winning bidders filled the room with cheers and squeals of delight. All had a wonderful time.

Continuing with the riches of the day, guests were then treated to a delicious luncheon, with SLA President Donna Scheeder as guest speaker.

Donna had certainly done her homework. She found copies of the original paperwork from the SLA Board meeting where our application to form the Rio Grande Chapter was approved. Apparently there was some concern expressed that those "people in Texas" would be upset to lose half their membership! The new Rio Grande Chapter leaders, looking at the half full glass, concentrated on the benefits of planning annual meetings for one state rather than two, and never looked back.

Donna then described the key achievements and activities of her Presidential year, where a major theme has been CHANGE including: a new Executive Director for the Association; the fruition of more than two years of work by Presidential Task Forces; and a number of other initiatives that are transforming SLA. She really conveyed a sense of the excitement and change that characterize the Association at this time.

This was a truly memorable occasion for the Chapter to reflect on the accomplishments of the past, and to realize that thanks to the commitment and caliber of the members the best is yet to come. This clearly applies to the entire SLA organization, because of the strong RGC threads into which are woven.

Our 45th Anniversary Silent Auction was a major success. We raised $1,009.50 as a result of members and friends bidding high and often! We could not have been as successful without the generous support of vendors, members and friends. Many, many thanks to the following supporters:

http://lib-www.lanl.gov/sla/silentauction.htm

Lou Pray

President Pam MacKellar opened the meeting at 11:33 a.m..

She expressed her thanks to all who helped this year.

Special thanks to Heather Hlava for her programs and hard work. Thanks to the 45th Gala Committee for their hard work, Maria Harper for the banquet arrangements, Lou Prey for the silent auction. Thanks to the Archives Project headed by Judith Bernstein and Donna Cromer for their work organizing the materials and planning the work day and lunch. Thanks to the awards Committee, Margaret Morris, Sarah Morely, and Judy Neff for their work.

Treasures Report: Frankie Ewing, see her report

Committee Reports: see reports

Archives -Judith Bernstein; Awards -Judy Nefff; Bulletin -Heather O'Daniel

Employment -Mary Ellen McMurtrie; Government Relations -Heather Gallegos-Rex

Membership -Donna Cromer; Programs -Heather Hlava

Public Relations/Advertising/45th Anniversary - Linda Morgan Davis

Webmaster - Frances Knudson

Nominating Committee work was presented by Judith Bernstein. The slate of officers were presented :

President Elect Gloria Zamore

Treasure Judy Neff

Secretary Theresa Connaughton

Majorie Hlava moved, Lois Godfrey seconded that the nominations be closed, and slate officers be accepted by acclamation. Motion passed. President MacKellar welcomed new officers.

All attendees introduced themselves.

President MacKellar thanked the vendors for their contributions to the silent auction and also the members who donated gifts to the auction, too. Also thanks to Frankie Ewing and Betsy Kraus for their work as officers to SLA/RGC as they go off the Board.

Meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Betsy Kraus

Secretary

Cash and Bank Accounts Pooled Fund Account $5,279.44

Archives - Judith Bernstein

After a very good start in the Spring of 2000, Judith Bernstein and Donna Cromer met 8 times this year to examine and sort materials stored in the archives. During this time, a list of subject headings was developed based on the SLA guidelines for Chapter Archivists, a great deal of material that was national rather than Rio Grande was discarded, and we succeeded in obtaining a complete run of all our Bulletins. The work was greatly enhanced by the work day on March 8 at which ten members of SLA came together at Zimmerman Library, UNM, where the archives are housed, to further sort and arrange material. A catered lunch was served and much was accomplished.

There is still more to do and Donna and Judith plan to continue sorting materials this Fall and to have another work party. We believe this will put our archives in sufficient order so that it can be maintained with a minimum of effort.

We continue to request photos, reports, letters, and officer resumes among other materials so that our archives will be useful for historical research. If you have material that should be in the archives, let us know. Thanks to everyone for the splendid cooperation we have received.

Awards - Judy Neff

The Committee was tasked to established guidelines for the selection of candidates for Chapter Awards. Awards and selection processes were reviewed for several organizations. Procedures for submitting applications and selecting a winner were drafted. The guidelines, nomination form, and selection criteria were submitted to the board for approval. After approval was granted, a call went out for nominations. The nomination form and guidelines were posted on the Chapter's homepage. No nomination packets were received, therefore, no candidate was chosen to receive an award for this past Chapter year. Committee members were Sarah Morley, Margaret Morris and Chair Judy Neff. The Chapter homepage has a current nomination form with all the information needed to submit a worthy candidate's name for next year.

The deadline is February 1, 2002, but time slips by quickly. Submit your nomination any time prior to the deadline date.

Bulletin – Heather O’Daniel

Great appreciation is extended to two members providing integral support to the successful timely production of the quarterly Bulletin.

Frances Knudson not only posts the electronic format to the Chapter web site, but this year she organized a work group to physically compile and mail each issue. Her awareness of the needs of others and her offer to provide time and resources exemplifies the values that strengthen our small but mighty group.

Linda Morgan Davis is diligent in working with advertisers delightfully generating revenues that this year exceeded the cost of production. She has also provided many informational "leads" to members personal and professional events to promote continual sharing that keeps our Chapter so well connected.

And thanks to all the members that contributed quality interesting content.

Bulletin Advertising – Linda Morgan Davis

Several new advertisers were welcomed in 2000 to the Rio Grande Chapter BULLETIN. Although these were small ads or of a short duration for placement, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, W.T. Cox Subscriptions and Bausch Subscriptions were all generous supports of the BULLETIN.

Total revenue for the 2000/2001 operating year was $445.00. This was unfortunately, $255.00 less than projected revenue of $700.00.

Employment – Mary Ellen McMurtrie

The Employment committee, until this year, received job notices and passed them on to the members of the Rio Grande Chapter listserv. This year notices have been sent directly to the listserv which works just fine. I have received two phone calls from a librarians planning to move to the New Mexico and put them in touch with various members of the chapter and Donna Cromer who help them join the listserv. With the increased use of the listserv for job postings the Employment Committee needs to look at other ways to serve the membership of the Rio Grande Chapter. There have been discussions with chapter leadership but no definite plans have been made.

Government Relations - Heather Gallegos-Rex

This year Government Relations Committee activities consisted of relaying public policy issues of note to the membership through E-mail.

Friends of the RGC - As of May 2001, we have 24 Friends. In May 2000, we had 23 Friends, so we lost 4 and gained 5.

Nominating Committee - Judith Bernstein

The nominating Committee consisted of Frances Knudson, Sandra Spurloch, and Judith Bernstein (Chair). Several meetings were held from January through March and the committee was able to put forward an excellent slate of officers for the coming year.

Gloria Zamora - Vice President, President Elect Theresa Connaughton - Secretary Judy Neff - Treasurer

A special flyer was sent out in April to inform members of the nominations. Elections were held at the May 19, 2001 meeting at Bishops Lodge in Santa Fe. No nominations from the floor were forthcoming and the slate was accepted by acclamation.

Professional Development - Donna Berg

This past year many articles were developed on professionalism for the local chapter bulletin.

Program Chair - Heather Hlava

September 26, 2000
"What’s an Information Professional To Do?" – dinner at La Posada de Albuquerque, followed by guest speaker Martha Ellison, Technical Manager of the Market Client Service Teams of 3M Library and Information Services. Evaluations were good. Attendance = 16
Expenses = $321.84
Income = $310.00

October 26, 2000
"Internet Taxonomies and Meta Data" – all day workshop presented by Marjorie Hlava and Heather Hlava at the Albuquerque Petroleum Club. Over half of the attendees were not current SLA members. Attendance = 29 Expenses = $849.82 Income = $1552.00

November 17, 2000
Tour of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Array Operations Center in Socorro, NM, following lunch at the Black Dog restaurant. Attendance = 20 Expenses = $392.98 Income = $200.00

December 7, 2000
Leveraging State Library Resources – tour of the New Mexico State Library in Santa Fe, organized by Heather Gallegos-Rex. Approximately half of the attendees are SLA members, the remainder were from other local library groups. Attendance = about 30 Expenses = $130.97 Income = none

December 16, 2000 Annual Holiday Social – potluck brunch at the home of Sandy Spurlock. Guest speaker Paul Hlava gave a short presentation on "The Materials Known as Gemstones." Several boxes full of donated items were collected at Sandy’s house and then taken to the Women’s Community Association shelter. Attendance = about 15 Expenses = none Income = none

February 23, 2001
A History of the Book Arts – presented by Roy Morgan, Ed.D. and self described paper making "dilettante." A brief history of the book arts, paper making, and book binding was followed by a hands-on book making exercise. Attendance = 14 Expenses = none Income = none

March 22, 2001
Dialogue – It has to have "U"! – a half day workshop on this dynamic form of communication, presented by Christine Glidden, held at the Albuquerque Petroleum Club and followed by a networking lunch. One guest attended, and one student from the Emporia State Program attended. Attendance = 14 Expenses = $1026.22 Income = $450.00

April 5, 2001
International Special Librarians Day was celebrated with a casual potluck dinner at Heather Hlava’s house in Albuquerque. Attendance = 7 people, 2 dogs Expenses = $15.71 Income = none

May 19, 2001
Gala 45^th Anniversary Celebration, Annual Business Meeting, visit from SLA President Donna Scheeder, and Silent Auction fundraiser, held at Bishop’s Lodge in Santa Fe, NM. Attendance= 52 Expenses = TBD Income = TBD

Public Relations (PR) - Linda Morgan Davis

A report of the election of new officers for 2000/2001 was sent to the Albuquerque Journal for inclusion in the Sunday Around Town, Liz Otero Vallejos,column. It was never acknowledged.

In conjunction with International Special Librarians Day, a fax was sent to the Albuquerque Journal City Editor, Mr. Moore, suggesting special librarians are a group worth investigating, mentioning their librarian, Judy Pence, and a substantial message concerning the SLA Annual PR award for best publication about librarians and librarianship. The 2000 award winner will

be a newspaper in Arlington Texas and it was suggested that NM should not be outdone by TX.

Faxes were also sent to 5 administrators at various member's institutions reminding the administrators that their corporate librarian was celebrating a special day on April 5. These included Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, UNM Health Sciences Center Library, Lovelace Health Systems, Albuquerque Publishing, and UNM Centennial Library.

LANL Library Receives Quality Award Again!

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., June 4, 2001 -- In the wake of being named the Federal Library of the Year in 1999 by the Federal Library and Information Center Committee, the Research Library of the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory recently received a second award-the prestigious New Mexico Roadrunner Quality Award from the board of Quality New Mexico.

The Research Library began its quality improvement efforts in 1995 with customer-focused, process-driven business solutions that improved customer satisfaction and introduced product innovations to better serve the Laboratory community. By actively soliciting feedback from library patrons and then implementing changes based on that feedback, the Library was able to improve processes and increase or improve services offered to its patrons.

Quality New Mexico's board of directors announced the 2000 New Mexico Quality Awards in January. This year, 18 New Mexico organizations were recognized as Roadrunner Award recipients. The Laboratory's Research Library was the only library to receive such recognition.

A nonprofit organization, Quality New Mexico educates New Mexicans about quality; encourages and rewards quality in business, education, government, and healthcare; and promotes the New Mexico economy. It administers the New Mexico Quality Awards Program in accordance with New Mexico Executive Order 95-16.

The New Mexico Quality Roadrunner Award recognizes organizations and businesses in New Mexico that have made significant progress on the road to excellence and have undergone an in-depth assessment and evaluation by a board of examiners for the New Mexico Quality Award.

For more information about the Research Library's quality improvement program, contact Lou Pray at 505-667-5906.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration

Please share your concerns and thoughts with me, and I will do my best to get them addressed.

Holly Shipp Buchanan, Linda Morgan Davis and Sarah Knox Morley have articles published in the Journal of Hospital Librarianship, Volume 1, Number 2, 2001.

Morley, Sarah Knox and Holly Shipp Buchanan. Clinical Medical Librarians: extending library resources to the clinical setting.

Davis, Linda Morgan, Connie Z. Garcia, Joyce Naseyowma, Sarah Knox Morley and Louis J. Lafrado. A medical library and American Indian Health Board partnership : development of a culturally relevant literature database for intimate partner violence.

When Lois Weinstein, chair of the Nominating Committee, called me last spring about running for this position, I was surprised; doesn’t the committee remember I haven’t worked in a special library for several years? She seemed unphased by my surprise. I told her I would call her in a week with my answer. My first thought as I hung up was ‘my answer will be no.’

The boss assured me I could have the time needed. Then we agreed that my client group, who are multi-type librarians, are well served by my affiliation with SLA. Now it was time to look closely at myself, my biases, at what I might be able to contribute, and why I’m a diehard SLA member. Here’s what I learned during the scrutiny.

• I remain a member because my job is to grow libraries through consulting, training, funding, advocacy, and advising on best practices. Who knows those practices better than SLA, the premier strategic learning organization for librarians in the world? I need this alliance.

• SLA is my touchstone because it keeps me in contact with the issues, trends, and concerns of our profession. I see tomorrow through SLA today.

Here was the big breakthrough realization: SLA is not just for people who work in a certain type of library. SLA is a mindset, it is a philosophy, it is a professional stance that has to do with customized client-driven service, value-added results, excellence, indispensability, and strategic partnerships. That’s why I’ll always be a special librarian. And for as long as I’m an informational professional, I’ll always be here.

You should know my biases: I’m biased toward inclusion. I believe it enriches and organization to have many diverse opinions and the abundance of creativity that comes from the so-called "beginner’s mind." I’m biased toward consensus and early buy-in. I believe it is the management style that works most effectively for people, especially over rough spots in a changing organization.

There are several areas of opportunity facing SLA right now in which I might be able to contribute if asked.

• I would like to work on membership composition and at showing the relevance of SLA international to colleagues who may not be clear about who we are and what we do.

• I would like to help show the value of libraries to their organizations, to their community of users, and to society at large. I did a value study once, when I worked in a special library, and I was astonished at the return on investment. I would like to assist information professionals to show their bottom line economic and cultural worth.

• I would like to help spread the word about issues of government affairs and intellectual property that affect us now and have the potential, if we are not strongly vigilant, to change the entire practice of our profession. I believe my position in state government can be helpful when it comes time for SLA to lead efforts to rally the states around issues such as UCITA.

I’m grateful to SLA for all it does for me and for my career and I’m ready to work on returning the favor. So, in summary, I obviously did call Lois a week later and told her I would be pleased to run for the office of director. What I’ll tell you today is that I’m more than pleased; I’m honored to be with you and the present leadership in this best of all professional organizations. And thanks for asking.

SLA announces the return of it's wildly popular Virtual Seminar Series.

We have a very exciting line-up of learning experiences for you this year. The seminars which use web-based visuals and audio conferencing are a great way to learn without leaving the workplace. Better yet, you can also invite your colleagues to learn with you for one low tuition! Just take a closer look below:

This link leads to an email list of SLA/RGC members.

RGC Home SLA Home Copyright © SLA. All rights reserved.   Disclaimer Email suggestions and announcements to: Frances Knudson. (fknudson@lanl.gov)   Author: Frances Knudson   Last update: June 2001   URL: http://www.sla.org/chapter/crio/bulletin/2001/rgcb0601.htm