Tag Archive for inalj florida

Bringing Humanity into Libraries

Bringing Humanity into Libraries by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor Libraries function as a common ground to nurture knowledge and foster community. The idea of the library being a brick and mortar storage house for books has shifted in the new digital age. What more can we do as a profession other than to provide answers…

Knowledge is power: an Ideal Library Community Center

Knowledge is power: an Ideal Library Community Center by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor   Libraries often expand programming to best serve the community. Libraries have to be receptive to the needs of patrons and adapt accordingly to maintain relevancy within the community. During difficult times, such as a recession, the unemployment rate goes up causing many…

Susan Sosin: Library Friend Extraordinaire

Celebrating Women’s History Month – Susan Sosin: Library Friend Extraordinaire by Tracy Wasserman, Senior Assistant, INALJ Florida Susan Sosin’s volunteer work for libraries and other community organizations is an important part of her life.  From an early age growing up in Highland Park, New Jersey, Susan learned the significance and impact of volunteering her time…

Mining Your State Library

Mining Your State Library by Tracy Wasserman, Senior Assistant, INALJ Florida State libraries are information resource providers for their state governments, serving the information needs of state agency employees and the state legislature.  That’s their first mission. Their other mission?  To collect and preserve the published history of their state.  The State of Florida, for…

5 Resources to Produce Great Library Displays

5 Resources to Produce Great Library Displays by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor   I love searching through Pinterest for ideas on little known holidays and events to really boost our circulation numbers. Displays in general are a great way to introduce new ideas to your patrons.   I think finding a way to creatively present an…

Working With Your Friends

by Tracy Wasserman, Senior Assistant, INALJ Florida Working With Your Friends Libraries have Friends.  Very valuable Friends – in the form of Friends groups, run by volunteers who spend many hours raising money to support library programming, and booking and coordinating events that draw people to their libraries.  They run library book clubs, contract and…

New Year of Professional Development: 7 Great Sites to Use

by Angela Piccola, Senior Editor New Year of Professional Development: 7 Great Sites to Use   Each year we have new opportunities to improve and grow as information professionals. Free resources to engage and further our knowledge skillsets are available in several different online formats. There are some set to the standard classroom and module…

My Favorite Fictional Heroic Librarians

by Tracy Wasserman, Senior Assistant, INALJ Florida My Favorite Fictional Heroic Librarians Who doesn’t love a great story featuring a heroic librarian? TV shows, books, and movies have portrayed many librarians as not only heroic, but intelligent, industrious and doggedly stubborn. Librarians are a diverse bunch, and the world should know it! One thing they all have…

Connecting with potential library users

by Emma Pinault, Senior Editor, INALJ Florida,  INALJ Idaho, INALJ Indiana, INALJ Iowa, INALJ Kansas, INALJ Georgia, INALJ Hawaii Connecting with potential library users A long-standing and frustrating question for libraries everywhere is how to draw in potential library users. Often, many of the people in a community who would benefit greatly from library services are…

Meet Michael Rodriguez: INALJ Assistant Editor, Librarian & Faculty

by Tracy Wasserman, Senior Assistant, INALJ Florida Meet Michael Rodriguez: INALJ Assistant Editor, Librarian & Faculty Meet Michael Rodriguez, INALJ Florida Assistant Editor and Faculty Library at Hodges University in Naples/ Fort Myers, Florida * Photo credit to Lynn Elliott, Florida Library Association, via Flickr Tracy: Tell us about your history in working in libraries. Michael:…

Say What, Again? Awesome Nature Sound Libraries

by Tracy Wasserman, Senior Assistant, INALJ Florida Say What, Again? Awesome Nature Sound Libraries In a previous post, I shared some truly wonderful oral history libraries of all kinds that capture the major events of humankind through the collective voices of those who lived through them. But what about the voices of our animal friends? Have you…

Consider the Public Library

by Emma Pinault, Senior Editor, INALJ Florida,  INALJ Idaho, INALJ Indiana, INALJ Iowa, INALJ Kansas, INALJ Georgia, INALJ Hawaii Consider the Public Library Many of us, in college and in library school, fell in love with the academic library. It might have been a little intimidating to an undergraduate freshman, at first, but a good university…

Say What? Fascinating Oral Histories

by Tracy Wasserman, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Say What? Fascinating Oral Histories Have you ever wondered what those who lived during a specific era or world-altering event in history had to say about that event, in their own words? Or what shared memories certain groups of people have in common? Wonder no more because digital libraries around the…

A Job for You as an Embedded Librarian

by Tracy Wasserman, Head Editor, INALJ Florida A Job for You as an Embedded Librarian The traditional librarian sits at a reference desk somewhere, waiting for someone to ask, text, or email a question. Nowadays however, librarians are increasingly providing “point-of-need” services in the form of embedded librarianship, being a part of the instant human connection that is…

Crowdsourcing in digital libraries

by Tracy Wasserman, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Crowdsourcing in digital libraries Libraries of all kinds hold countless items of significant historical value that most people never see. That is, never would see, until now, with the advent of digital libraries. Efforts to bring hidden treasures to light and make them readily accessible online have resulted in hundreds of…

A Year at INALJ

by Shelley Macon, former Head Editor, INALJ Florida A Year at INALJ A year ago I was scrolling through facebook and noticed a shout out for volunteers to be state editors of INALJ.  And truthfully, I noticed it, but I just kept right on scrolling and didn’t give it another thought.  Then I went on…

Story Time Resources

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Story Time Resources It is not easy to put together cute, clever, and effective story time programs week after week. Even the best of us run out of ideas or can use a little inspiration every now and then. Not to mention the fact that it can be…

The Slide

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida  The Slide A couple of weeks ago I was at one of my children’s extracurricular activities. And, as usual, the parents were congregated in one area chatting. Most of these parents are acquaintances, not what I would label “friends.” So, normally the conversation consists of talking about our…

Did You Know That? (The Library Edition)

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Did You Know That? (The Library Edition) I have had a terrible case of writers block this month. I had no idea what to write about. So, as any good librarian would do, I turned to research for help. I figured if I dug around the internet enough…

Back to School? Or Not Back to School?

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Back to School? Or Not Back to School? I don’t know about you, but it is back to school time in my house.  The last few weeks have been a flurry of shopping for school supplies, clothes, supplies, shoes, and supplies.  Did I mention supplies? The back to…

Rejected

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Rejected Two months ago I tentatively dipped my toe in the job market.  I applied for a job.

So, now it has been two months and I haven’t heard anything from the employer.  No call.  No email. Nothing.  Now I know I shouldn’t take it personally.  In fact, several…

Meet Aimee Graham – INALJ Florida Assistant Editor

This interview is over 1 year old and may no longer be up to date or reflect the interviewee/interviewees’ positions by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Meet Aimee Graham – INALJ Florida Assistant Editor Aimee Graham is the fabulous Assistant Editor of INALJ Florida. Her dedication and commitment have helped make the INALJ Florida…

Can I Put That On My Resume?

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Can I Put That On My Resume? It’s been a long time since I have had an actual “job.”   And by “job” I mean – a reoccurring time of work that is accompanied by a salary which is paid in money (as opposed to macaroni art and sticky-faced…

Tips For a Library Conference Newbie

by Shelley Macon, Head Editor, INALJ Florida Tips For a Library Conference Newbie Raise your hand if you have never been to a library conference…… Me either. To tell you the truth, the idea of going to a conference is a little scary and intimidating.  So, I did what any good librarian would do.  I…