Silent Auction Donations

Dear friends-

Once again, the St. Kate's Student Group is hosting a silent auction at the MN SLA Holiday Party, in order to raise funds for our annual conference scholarship. Below is our call for donations. Please consider donating something. No matter what, we hope to see you at the party!


On Thursday, December 3, 2009, the St. Kate’s Special Library Association Student Group will host a Silent Auction fundraiser at the Holiday Party event sponsored by MALL and SLA at Open Book in Minneapolis to raise funds for a scholarship. This scholarship will help send a St. Kate’s MLIS student to the SLA Annual Conference being held in New Orleans in June 2010.

We would love your help with donations!
· Gift certificates – Gas Stations, Restaurants, coffee/tea shops, movie theaters, video stores, book retailers, pet stores, craft stores, Home Depot, Best Buy – any place you frequent
· Gift baskets – wine/liquor, bath items, BBQ tools
· Tickets to sporting or cultural events – MN Wild, MN Twins, Guthrie
· Memberships – museums, cultural
· Hand-crafted items - jewelry, purses, scarves, quilt
· Photography or Artwork
· An invitation to dinner or a home-cooked meal
· An hour of housecleaning service or some babysitting

Anything YOU’D like to bid on!

Do you have a friend or relative with a creative flare, or deep pockets who would like to contribute something?

Donations may be dropped off at St. Kate’s in a box in the MLIS office near the reception desk. If you would like to schedule a pickup or have questions, please contact Carol Lynn O'Gara by either telephone at 612-986-3143 or e-mail at carollynnogara-at-yahoo.com

Please submit donations by Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

Don’t forget, your donations are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated by the St. Kate’s SLA student group and the MLIS students at St. Kate’s.

Thank you!!

Long overdue tour recap!

Apologies for the late tour recap - especially since it was a wonderful evening!

On October 15, after several of us shared a happy hour snack downtown, about 15 librarians and library students gathered at Hennepin County Library's Central Library in Minneapolis for a tour of the special collections there.

We started with Marcelyn Sletten in the Milestones Collection, part of the childrens' library. The collection includes award winners, local authors, and other noteworthy books and related objects. Marcelyn described her experiences with children in this room, including several funny and touching stories about children who responded to the items in the room (such as an international collection of Cinderella stories). After Marcelyn talked, we took some time to explore the collection ourselves. Everyone spotted something that provoked a memory of his or her own childhood, or of time spent with children, and the room was filled with excited exclamations.

Once we were able to tear ourselves away from the fun in the Milestones collection, we went upstairs with Special Collections librarian Heather Lawton to see the rest of the special collections. Many attendees were especially impressed by seeing the vault (and the security on it), where especially valuable or fragile items are stored, including a huge Audobon book. That book was one of many we saw with incredibly impressive illustrations. In the Athenaeum room, we also saw old Minneapolis high school yearbooks (including those of local celebrities Prince and Josh Hartnett - frequently requested by library visitors!).

It was a wonderful tour, and the librarians were extremely generous with sharing stories and information about the collections. Call one up if you want to see these fun and unusual items!

Many thanks to Heather, Marcelyn, and all those who attended.
-Liz

Tour: Central Library Special Collections

Join the St. Catherine University SLA Student Group for a tour of special collections at the Hennepin County Central Library in downtown Minneapolis. Librarian Marcelyn Sletten will take us through the Milestones Collection in the Children's Library, and then librarian Heather Lawton will show us the collections in the Athenaeum. These unique collections are carefully preserved by the public library for research purposes. Both of these areas are closed to the public, so don't miss this opportunity!

Special Collections Tour at Hennepin County Central Library
October 15, 2009
6pm to about 7:15 (students who have Thursday night class would be able to make the 2nd half of class)
Please arrive no later than 6:20, since past that the group will be in an inaccessible area.
Meet at the Milestones Collection in the Children's Library (main floor). There will be a place to drop coats and bags.

The Central Library is located at 300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. Information on parking can be found at http://www.hclib.org/News.cfm?ID=3188, or consider using public transit.

See http://www.hclib.org/pub/search/specialcollections/ for more information on the Athenaeum, and http://www.hclib.org/extranet/MplsCentral/ChildrensLibraryAtaGlance.html for more information about the Milestones Collection.

We can also go out for food and drinks afterward if the group is interested. Thanks to Heather and Marcelyn for having us, and we hope to see many of you there!

Quatrefoil Library Tour

We are excited to announce that our next library tour will be at the Quatrefoil Library. St. Kate's MLIS students Lacey Mamak and Karen Hogan will be our hosts as we learn about this volunteer run library (great opportunities to gain library experience!) and the unique issues it must confront.

"The mission of Quatrefoil Library is to collect, maintain, document and circulate gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer materials in a safe and accessible space, in order to promote understanding, an appreciation of diversity and history, and the value of communities"

What: Tour of the Quatrefoil Library
When: Wednesday, April 1, 6-7pm
Where: Quatrefoil Library, 1619 Dayton Ave., Ste. 105, St. Paul, MN 55104-6206

There is plenty of street parking in that neighborhood. We've scheduled the tour early in the evening in the hopes that students with Wednesday classes can arrange to miss part of class to attend (thanks in advance to our generous and wise St. Kate's professors and instructors).

Apply for the 2009 Grieg Aspnes Memorial Award

Library and Information Science students, either full-time or part-time, are invited to apply for an award of up to $2,000.00 and complimentary membership in the Special Libraries Association and the Minnesota Chapter of SLA. Only one such award will be granted annually and is limited to students who will graduate in December 2009 or later.

The criteria are:

1. Interest in special librarianship, as shown by course selection or past experience;

2. Leadership abilities, demonstrated in either academic or extracurricular activities;

3. Overall academic achievements.

Students who are interested in applying should submit a letter addressing the criteria listed above, a resume, and a copy of their transcript of courses in library and information science to:

Mary Wagner, Director of Graduate Studies in Library and Information Science

The College of St. Catherine

P.O. Box 4125

St. Paul, MN 55105

The deadline for application is May 15th, 2009.

The Award will be formally presented at the September 2009 meeting of the Minnesota Chapter.

The Grieg Aspnes Memorial Award is in honor of Grieg Aspnes, a talented librarian at Cargill, a past president of the Special Libraries Association, and an active leader in its Minnesota Chapter, Information Technology and Advertising Divisions, and Education Committee. Grieg was also a strong advocate of the information profession and was a guest lecturer in the library schools at St. Catherine’s and the University of Minnesota. This award, made only to the College of St. Catherine, is funded by the Minnesota Chapter of the Special Libraries Association and the Cargill Information Center for the purpose of encouraging the recipient to pursue a career in special librarianship. The College of St. Catherine expresses its appreciation to the Aspnes family, the Minnesota Chapter of SLA and Cargill for providing this grant award.

Spring Happy Hour

Please join student group members and local SLA members for a happy hour during the St. Kate's MLIS spring break. We're hoping a magical combination of food, smart people, and spring breezes will make the perfect networking opportunity.

What: SLA Student Group happy hour
When: Wednesday, March 25, 5pm-7pm
Where: Rock Bottom Brewery, downtown Minneapolis, 800 LaSalle Plaza

We will try to leave the name of our group with the staff at the door so that people can find us, or hopefully you can recognize us. We will also buy the group some appetizers - Rock Bottom's actual Happy Hour ends at 6pm, so get there early enough to order before 6!

We hope to see you there!

Mentors in for Spring 2009

Having a mentor is the new black! Don't be left behind in the professional fashion world!

2009 Call for Mentees

Discover what they don't teach in library school!
There is a lot to learn in while working on your MLS, some of which isn't necessarily covered in textbooks or class discussions.

Pop QUIZ:
Q: Where can you get a real life take on what it means to be a professional librarian in the current environment?
A: Be a mentee - you can connect with an experienced professional who can be your resource for
Sharing professional experiences and insights
Discussing career paths and options
Discovering commonalities in professional interests

Take the first step --
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=RFmjMR3PW3P1FxEvnHxRyQ_3d_3d

Or, feel free to email (replace -at- with @ in email addresses) Margaret Ostrander margaret.ostrander-at-thomsonreuters..com, margaretostrander-at-hotmail.com, or Jennifer Witt ricdhc3-at-aol.com for more information

The Mentoring Program is a part the Minnesota Special Libraries Association (MNSLA) http://units.sla.org/chapter/cmn/index.html