Accommodations and interaction with 3M Representative, Judy Nelson:
I would like to thank Judy Nelson for being such a wonderful contact. She answered all of my questions and concerns in a timely and courteous manner, put up with my forgetfulness and replied in full, and was an absolute gem to communicate with. I was disappointed to learn that she was retiring, but glad to hear she was pursuing personal interests.

The accommodations were great, and I believe that having the ability to stay in one of the conference hotels enabled me to attend more of the conference than I would have otherwise. A good portion of my meetings were held in the conference hotel in which I was staying, and several of these meetings took place at night when the buses were no longer running. Having the ability to come downstairs from my room and return with the same ease enabled me to take advantage of more of what ALA offers conference participants.

3M/NMRT Social:
The 3M/NMRT Social was a blast! I did wonder, however, who picked the music. Thankfully some disco came on and we were ready to boogie. The food was also incredible and I appreciate all of the efforts and work that went in to providing this social event. Especially nice was the ability to meet more new librarians in one place. Because ALA is so large and people have varying interests, it is often difficult to meet people and have an opportunity to talk with them. The 3M/NMRT Social is a perfect venue for meeting new librarians and establishing good relationships for the future. I also met up with several alums from my MS program—some of whom I’d never met before—to reconnect and reminisce.

Mentoring:
I was assigned a mentor but our paths didn't, and couldn't, cross until the evening of the social. Luckily I had attended other ALA conferences and didn't need a mentor per se. I hope that despite our inability to get together earlier in the conference, my mentor and I can forge a good working relationship in the future. I look forward to being a mentor next year to a lucky recipient of this wonderful award. I am not certain, at this moment, what is expected of a mentor, besides meeting with the mentee for moral support and possibly a tour of the exhibits area. Having been to ALA’s before, I was unsure what I would need from a mentor. I suppose each mentoring relationship is different and defined by the two parties involved, but I would suggest some guidelines for both participants. I would suggest a more formal meeting time and place for the mentor and mentee simply to facilitate communication and introduction. I would suggest two main areas of support or instruction related to getting the most out of the ALA conferences. The first area is how, when, and why to speak with vendors. As a student, vendors always seemed unapproachable and scary. I never knew what to say, what to ask, who to talk to, or how to talk to them. Having a new position and having a budget—as well as decision-making responsibilities related to my subject area—I remained unclear who to talk to, what to say, and what to ask about. Navigating the exhibits area is a critical part of ALA; it can also be one of the most entertaining aspects of the conference—getting to see all the new products and features.

Another area where I think mentoring would be helpful is in helping people decide how to pick programs and committee meetings. While most committee meetings are open to anyone, it can be terrifying to walk into a room where people are talking amongst themselves and seem to know one another. Being an outsider trying to break in is an overwhelming experience. Thus having a mentor to tag along with or at least provide encouragement to you would be a nice thing.

Other conference opportunities:
Due to this professional development grant, I was able to take advantage of many opportunities at the ALA conference. First, my current employer, the University of Connecticut, was thrilled to learn that my conference expenses were covered. I know that due to this grant, I will be able to attend more conferences (both ALA and other associations) in the future. I do believe that having won this award helped me secure my current position, not because of the monetary portion, but because of the recognition of potential. In my opinion, this award does more to extol the promise of new librarians and future leaders by recognizing folks who are actively engaged in the field.

Additionally, going to the ALA Annual conference afforded me the opportunity to attend various programs and committee meetings that I had previously been unable to attend. These opportunities gave me some perspective on where I wanted to focus my energies within ALA in the future, what areas would best serve my career and my organization, and provided me with information on new ventures that UConn is discussing. I attended several programs of committees that I’m on for the 2004-2006 years. Honestly there is no better way to learn what the committee is responsible for doing, nor have new ideas on how to improve a program, then to be able to attend said program and reflect on the experience.

The LAMA FRFDS Fund Fare is one committee I’m on this coming year. The responsibility for the committee is to host this program for librarians who are involved with or interested in fund raising for their library. Having never been to a fundraising program before, I was excited to hear about methods people have used to enhance fundraising. Despite the fact that I am not directly involved in fundraising for my institution, I am interested in learning what I can do as a Reference Librarian to help forge relationships that may one day lead to donations and direct support of library programs. I truly believe that fundraising is everyone’s responsibility. Thus, hearing what others have done—simple acts of kindness that blossomed into donations—inspired me to remain aware of not-so-obvious opportunities. Additionally, seeing the current program and listening to comments made at the break-out tables helped me think of things to do next year.

While at ALA I had opportunities to discuss with vendors products that my institution is considering, and established several useful contacts for future partnerships and research opportunities. One area we are considering heavily is ebooks, especially for reference materials. I attended a presentation by eBooks Library on their new products. This presentation not only introduced me to their offerings and the people who make up the company, but afforded me the opportunity to speak with several alums of my MS program who are now in decision-making positions at other institutions. These informal meetings allowed me to solidify some networking relationships that may evolve into joint programs in the future. If nothing else, these meetings provided me in-roads for my future career plans. Seeing all of the exhibits and talking with vendors has, in the past, been challenging and terrifying. As a student, speaking with vendors seemed like wasting their time, since I had no budget or decision-making responsibilities. It also seemed unnecessary for the same reasons. This year, although still terrifying, I made use of the opportunity and spoke with several vendors, simply asking what new things they were offering and asking them to show me a demo. Some were more accommodating than others—which has colored my view of who I’d like to do business with in the future. The glitz and glamour of some of the larger vendors is great for getting attention, but I found I preferred to speak with the smaller vendors who had a simple booth and a great smile.

This grant allowed me to complete a project in partnership with my former institution, University of Tennessee Libraries, and to discuss additional future collaborations in a variety of areas. A colleague from UT and I participated in the ALA Diversity Fair, where we introduced the Culture Corner, which is a designated area within the UT Library that showcases portions of the UT collections that deal with issues of diversity, ethnicity, race, and the like. Without this designated area which was created only 1 year ago, these rich materials remain lost in the stacks. Participating in the Diversity Fair gave the two of us an opportunity to meet new people and discuss the efforts at the UT Libraries to recruit and retain librarians of color, as well as introduce underlying issues of acceptance and diversity to the university campus population.

Another colleague and I attended an ACRL meeting on library and community partnerships. While at the conference we discussed a potential partnership between our institutions to investigate a new opportunity for recruiting, training, and retaining librarians of color. After hearing the panel discussion on library and community partnerships, we brainstormed on the research and practical aspects of our potential project. We were able to develop a framework within which we would locate similar activities and discuss methods of creating our program. Again, without being able to attend this ALA conference, this partnership would not have occurred, nor would we be as inspired and informed about other programs that will serve as a foundation for ours.

The most prominent and immediate result of my experience at ALA is a renewed enthusiasm for investigating better and more productive methods of recruiting minority librarians, serving the needs and interests of the diverse student body at UConn, and creating a more welcoming environment for the library staff. I am currently working on a new survey instrument, adapted from a previous survey conducted at the University of Tennessee Libraries, that will investigate attitudes towards diversity initiatives, identify problem areas that exist within the organization, and measure the relationship between job satisfaction and openness to diversity. The goal is to provide input to the library administration on these issues, suggest ways to improve staff morale, and recruit and retain minority librarians in an effort to better reflect the student body on campus. This research opportunity was initiated by a chance meeting at ALA.

I would like to thank 3M for supporting me and other new librarians with such a generous grant. Without this grant I believe the opportunities and partnerships I forged while at ALA would not have taken place. I hope that future award winners gain as much as I have by receiving the 3M/NMRT Professional Development Grant.