I Love My Job

Walking to work this morning (so awesome, right? I get to walk to work!), I see a car backing out of a driveway. I stop to wait but she waves me on instead. As I get past the car, I hear someone talking to me.

"You're my librarian. I won't hit my librarian."

I assume she must go to Chatham (and also that she won't hit anyone... not just her librarian), and we start chatting. Then she says she's in the Masters of Counseling Psychology program, and I realize she didn't just recognize me as a librarian at Chatham. She meant that I am her librarian. I make a point of telling all the students in my liaison areas that I am their librarian.

And it sticks.

This woman referred to herself as a "very part-time" student. Yet she remembered me.

Such an easy thing to do, but it makes quite an impact.

No Clear Standard for Liaison Duties

ALA Presentation: The Plowman and the Rancher Should be Friends: A Comparison and Discussion of Liaison Duties in Public and Academic Libraries
Speakers: Elisabeth Leonard, Peter Larsen, Ridie Wilson Ghezzi, Donna M. Colamatteo, Bruce Reid (moderator)

I attended my first ALA conference and am going to attempt to blog at least some of it. This was the first session I attended (well, after Greg Mortenson's presentation but that's slightly less job-related).

The speakers surveyed both public and academic libraries to determine if there is a standard for what liaison librarian duties should include. They discovered that there is no clear standard. However, some common liaison responsibilities include:

• Attending panels, conferences, meetings, etc., in that liaison area
• 79% of respondents provide subject-specific library instruction

Dartmouth College's effort to increase/improve their liaison program was mentioned. They provided a liaison training workshop in the summer for librarians. An outside person was brought in to conduct the training. They discussed:

• What all the liaisons were currently doing
• What challenges and strategies existed
• How to establish trust as a new liaison
• How liaison activities are perceived by the faculty
  
• How do liaison librarians feel about their duties
  

They also conducted focus groups with faculty through which they found there is no single right way for liaison librarians to do their work. However, faculty overall were very interested in assistance from liaison librarians. Faculty opinions on liaison work were deemed invaluable.