NJLA Reference & Adult Services Section Minutes (6/28/21)

NJLA Reference Section Meeting/June 28, 2021

NJLA Reference Section Meeting

June 28, 2021

Attendees:  

Theresa Agostinelli (host), Rich Wiest, Tierney Miller, Reggie Blanding, Kate Russo, Jennifer Konopacki, Karen Vaias, John Beekman, Doug Baldwin, Eric Schwarz, Chelsea Rizzolo, Tony Joachim, John Beekman, Maribeth Fisher, Stephen Brunskill, Nathalie Levine, Sherry Johnson, Lorraine Ruiz, and Teresa Carlton (taking minutes)

No previous minutes to approve.

Introductions were given.

Incoming Positions:

Incoming officers are President, Theresa Agostinelli; Vice President (President-Elect), Kate Russo; Secretary, Lisa Bruckman; Member at large, Reginald Blanding; Member at large, Chelsea Rizzolo; Member at large, Rich Wiest

Open Positions:

Member at Large, Library School Representative (Nathalie Levine will discuss the possibility of volunteering), volunteer to take care of the social media accounts (Chelsea Rizzolo volunteered during the meeting), volunteer to be NJLA Conference proposal coordinator.

What we do as Reference and Adult Services Librarians:

Here is a link to the many, many services members posted:  https://jamboard.google.com/d/1RH2I2Z_0hTS-u4lwHEmtWVXP9EedIXYAmAmoznmw5SE/viewer 

Jamboard is a new platform Theresa is trying for us to share ideas.

Some of the services members of this group provide include planning programs, reference interviews, outreach, technology:  fixing things ourselves & helping patrons to use, readers’ advisory, job searching, collection development, digital resources….(see Jamboard for ideas that were compiled - above link)

Discussion:

The biggest topic of discussion was what we should rename our group.  No one wanted to be pigeonholed into one thing and we wanted a name that is all-encompassing.  It is understood that services overlap - we may provide reference to a child or children’s services might help an adult.  The name is to refer to what our focus is on, what we do 99% of the time, and what population we most serve.  

Suggested names: 

Reference & User Services Section

Reference & Instruction Section

Reference & Education Section

Reference & Adult Services Section

Reference & Reader Services

AURAS - Adult Users, Reference, and Academic Services

It seemed as if the majority would like to go with “Reference & Adult Services Section”.  It was suggested that Theresa  let everyone in this section know that we will be voting on the name at the next meeting.

We discussed how different NJLA sections will overlap and it’s important that we collaborate with the other groups.  It was also noted that the idea of “reference” has also changed to more of a social outreach and connecting patrons to that right resource.  The History section tends to focus more on local history and genealogy.  

It was also noted that NJLA members can join as many sections as they want, especially if they are interested in another section or realize that their duties are in line with another section.

We can make our section what we want it to be.  Our organization exists for us - for library workers. It’s an organization that should be providing networking opportunities, providing opportunities for educational growth, providing a place for idea sharing and an organization that is helping to move our profession forward.

Other sections in NJLA:

Sections Administration & Management, Children’s Services, College & University, County Libraries, Diversity & Outreach, History & Preservation, Library Workers of Color, Readers Advisory, Reference, Small Libraries, Technical Services & Collection Development, Technology, Urban Libraries, & Young Adult Services.

Discussion - How can this section best serve your needs?

Some suggestions were field trips, online speakers, and on-site training.  Programs could be virtual and/or hybrid.  Theresa referred to the Jamboard again as a place people can post their ideas.

Theresa would like each month to have a volunteer lead the educational part of the meeting by choosing a topic, speaker or article to discuss.   In the chat it was suggested that a possible topic be “Promoting Libraries”.  A suggested speaker was Allen McGinley.

Kate Russo will volunteer for the July 19th meeting.

Upcoming Programs:

There will be no separate Adult Forum this year as there will be a conference in the fall called “Information Equity Conference” to be held on October 25th.  It will be a virtual all-day conference with Rosie Henderson as the keynote presenter.  There will be Lightning Talks and presentations such as Diverse Storytime, Meeting Needs of the people with disabilities, Language Barriers, and LGBTQ Community needs.  The Talking Book & Braille Center will be represented.  Volunteers are still needed:  scribes, moderator for a discussion on serving older adults & moderators for discussion on the digital divide.

Current situations in our libraries:

The last few minutes of the meeting was for sharing what is currently happening in each of our libraries:  who still has to wear masks, who is open, hours of operation, quarantining of staff, requirements to be vaccinated or disclose that you were vaccinated, continued use of plexiglass, etc.

Next Meeting Date:

The next virtual meeting date will be Monday, July 19, at 3:00 pm.