St. Catherine University: SLA

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 cultu...

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...

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 ...

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 prof...

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 Septemb...

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!

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 M...

MN SLA is pleased to announce the first in a series of free discussion groups to give you a chance to meet your peers informally and discuss the latest and most provocative issues impacting our profession. At the gatherings the facilitator will kick start the discussion by introducing the featured topic. Meetings will take place at coffee shops, affordable restaurants and member libraries. And in the spirit of a good book club, we're offering (light) suggested reading in advance to help guide discussion. The salon series is designed to take on a life of its own. Salon Facilitator Jen Hahs will plan downtown sites, but ANYONE is invited to take the issues at hand and organize one at a location and time convenient to them. If you'd like to plan one closer to your neck of the woods, contact jhahs@martinwilliams for a discussion guide. The first salon will tackle social networking technologies and making them work in your professional life. Social Networking Technologies: Friend or...

The St. Kate's SLA Student Group is pleased to announce that Erin Perry is the winner of this year's Student SLA Conference Scholarship! Erin will be graduating this May from the Dominican University/St. Kate's MLIS program. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from the Central College in Pella, Iowa. She is currently employed at Target Corporation where she is Supervisor of Vendor Supply Chain Technology in Vendor Operations. Her team is responsible for troubleshooting, analysis and assisting vendors with supply chain processes. Erin has served since Fall 2007 as one of the SLA Student Group co-presidents. As a member of the leadership board, she has been part of the group's direction and a 2007-2008 campaign to expand membership. She assisted with development and execution of new ideas for fundraising in support of the annual conference scholarship. In addition, she partnered to plan multiple social events and several library tours sponsored by the group. With this as ...

This year we are able to offer a $1,500 scholarship to a St. Kate's MLIS student to attend SLA's 2009 conference in Washington, D.C., June 14-17. The application process is quite easy: you must submit an essay of 1,500 words, be attending the conference for the first time, be in the MLIS program at St. Kate's, and be an SLA member (the membership fee is $35, and it's quite possible a member of the Minnesota SLA chapter would sponsor you). Better to make plans early (registration is cheaper earlier) before hotels and flights fill! Details about the conference can be found here . Go to http://units.sla.org/StudentGrps/ucsc/confschol.shtml for all the details, and let us know if you have questions. Apply now!