E-NEWS

The first official events planned for the 1999-2001 biennium were the Executive Board Retreat and first quarterly business meeting originally scheduled for Thursday and Friday, 27-28 January 2000, in Salisbury at the Rowan Public Library. All were cancelled due to the snow and ice storms that descended upon North Carolina the two weeks before the events were scheduled.

I hope to reschedule the retreat, Creating the Future: Giving Life to the NCLA Vision in the New Millennium, for the spring at Rowan Public Library. The retreat will be a working session facilitated by Lou Wetherbee, a library consultant from Dallas, Texas, who has worked with large diverse organizations like NCLA, including the American Library Association and the State Library of North Carolina. The retreat is designed for chairs only of Sections, Round Tables.

The quarterly Executive Board meeting will be rescheduled later, probably in March, when hopefully most of the bad weather will be behind us.

New NCLA Headquarters

Maureen Costello, NCLA Administrative Assistant, has completed the long-awaited move from the basement of the State Library Building to new space in the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Her mailing address will not change. It will continue to be: Maureen Costello, NCLA, 4646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4646. NCLA now has a FAX number (919-839-6253) in addition to the regular line (919-839-6252). Congratulations on a smooth transition, Maureen!

Commission on School Librarians

The second meeting of the commission scheduled for 29 January, at the Rowan Public Library in Salisbury, was also cancelled due to the bad weather. Karen Gavigan, NCASL Chair, and I will work together to find a date that is good for the commission members and Lou Wetherbee, library consultant from Dallas, Texas, who is facilitating the work of the commission.

Floyd Relief Continues

At our 53rd Biennial Conference, two collections were taken for the benefit of the victims of Hurricane Floyd in eastern North Carolina, which together netted approximately $2,000. On 11 October 1999, a check was presented to Secretary of Cultural Resources, Betty Ray McCain, and from her office to Governor James B. Hunt, to establish the Floyd Relief Fund for Eastern North Carolina. I mentioned in my letter to Governor Hunt on your behalf that this would be a continuing fund since the problems of rebuilding lives and libraries will not be over soon.

Since October gifts have continued to come into the NCLA office. Please continue to send your contributions to NCLA and note "Floyd Relief Fund" in the lower left-hand corner of your check. Send your checks to Maureen Costello, NCLA, 4646 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4646.

Volunteers Needed

I still have two committee chair slots to fill for the Executive Board: Endowment Committee and Special Projects Committee. If you are interested in chairing either of these committees, please give me a call (704-637-4449) or email me at pajones@catawba.edu.

NCLA Gets National Publicity

See the ALA Chapter Report column in the January 2000 issue of American Libraries on page 12. Under the subheading "Examples for the future," NCLA got some excellent press from Chapter Report Editor, Christine Watkins. Watkins had been in contact with Gerald Holmes (UNCG), Scholarships Committee Chair, and me to supply information on what was happening with the North Carolina Chapter of ALA. The photograph of North Carolina's ALA Spectrum Scholars, taken at the luncheon meeting of the Round Table on Ethnic Minority Concerns at the NCLA Biennial Conference, illustrates the American Libraries report.
--Plummer Alston "Al" Jones, Jr., NCLA President
 
 

March 28-April 1, 2000 The Public Library Association Conference will be held in Charlotte this year, March 28 - April 1, 2000 at the Charlotte Convention Center!

This will give you access to conference programs, speakers, registration, local accommodations, and a lot more!

It's not too late to register; having PLA in our backyard may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Check it out!
--John Zika, Chair, Public Library Section, NCLA

July 21, 2000 Conference on Multicultural Literature for Children & Young Adults, D. Hiden Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina at Asheville, July 21, 2000

Please join us for this first annual day-conference that encourages and celebrates diversity in books for young people. This is a free conference. Lunch will be provided for approximately $5-7. Continuing education credit will be available.

Call for Presentations

Teachers, librarians, media specialists, and other educators are encouraged to submit abstracts of presentations that address teaching children and young adults about different cultures through books. Presentations on using multimedia or the web to enhance classroom instruction are welcomed as well.

In order to present a diverse program that mirrors the cultural makeup of our own state and region, we welcome presentations on African American, Native American, Hispanic, Southern Appalachian, Jewish, and Asian American cultures, as well as other cultures that contribute to our diverse community of students, workers, and citizens. Possible topics might include:

• Encouraging reluctant minority readers
• Holocaust materials for young people
• Confronting Native American stereotypes in fiction
• Books about famous black North Carolinians
• Etc.

Abstracts should be no more than 150 words in length. Presentations should be approximately 25 minutes in length. Submit abstracts by e-mail to multconf@unca.edu or mail them to Bryan Sinclair, Ramsey Library, UNCA, One University Heights, Asheville, NC 28804-8504 no later than March 31, 2000. Please no e-mail attachments.

Jerry Thrasher, Director of the Cumberland County Library, has been named National Librarian of the Year by Library Journal (January 2000 issue)!! Jerry is featured on the cover.
--Plummer Alston "Al" Jones, Jr., President, NCLA

Cumberland County Friends of the Library are the recipients of $400,000, part of a $3.5 million estate left by Elizabeth McKenzie Devane Shirley.
--Susan Parrish, Cumberland County Library

NCSU Libraries Wins Award For Excellence

The North Carolina State University Libraries is the winner of the first "Excellence in Academic Libraries Award" in the university library category. Sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), this award recognizes "academic librarians and staff who work together as a team to develop academic libraries that are outstanding in furthering the educational missions of their institutions. According to ACRL President Larry L. Hardesty, "This means, of course, that in the first year of the award, in the university division the NCSU Libraries is the best of the best." Susan Nutter, Vice Provost and Director of Libraries, noted, "I am very proud of my library staff colleagues; they have truly earned this honor for us. It reflects the adoption of a fundamentally new culture and set of values within our organization. As a result, the staff has worked extremely hard to create innovative library services that place the needs of the user first. I also deeply appreciate the environment of support--from faculty, students, and university administration--on this campus for the Libraries."

Hardesty will present the award formally at a ceremony on the NC State campus, to be held on March 21, 2000. Other winners were Wellesley College for the college division, and the College of DuPage in the community college category.
--Jinnie Y. Davis, NCSU Libraries
 
 

Spring Workshop: Census 2000 Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask

Ken Wright of the U.S. Census Bureau will be the speaker for the Documents Section's Spring Workshop. The workshop will be held on May 19, 2000, at McKimmon Conference Center on the campus of North Carolina State University, Raleigh. Mr. Wright will discuss the 2000 census, including changes in geographies, data collection, and analysis. Methods of dissemination will be discussed and demonstrated. An overview of other information available from the Census web site will also be presented.
--Frank Molinek, Davidson College, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Documents Section
 

Karen Gavigan and Karen Perry attended ALA Midwinter in San Antonio. They represented NCASL at Affiliate Assembly.

The American Association of School Librarians renewed NCASL's affiliation on January 16 during Midwinter.

The NCASL board met in Charlotte on February 3. The board approved another NCASL Hurricane Floyd grant. The $500 grant will be awarded to Trenton Elementary School, Trenton, NC. This makes the third grant that NCASL has awarded to school media centers destroyed by Hurricane Floyd.

Karen Gavigan announced that the NCASL Conference will be held September 13-15 in Winston-Salem, NC. So far, speakers include Nancy Polette, Doug Johnson, Judy Freeman, Michael Cart, and Jim Weiss.

Additional discussions at the NCASL board meeting focused on NC Wise Owl, Information Power, The Very Best Place to Start campaign, the School Library Commission, and the Resolution regarding media centers in Charter Schools
--Karen Gavigan, President, North Carolina Association of School Librarians

The Public Library Section board met at the Greensboro Public Library during November, and will hold its next meeting at the Main Library of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County during the PLA Conference. The Section will be spearheading the staffing of the NCLA booth which will be located near the main registration area (a Great Location!) at PLA. If you are interested in volunteering to staff this booth (two-hour shifts), please email John Zika at jzika@plcmc.lib.nc.us, or call 704/895-0616.
--John Zika, Chair, Public Library Section
 
 

Please join your organization for the year 2000. If you did not receive a renewal by mail, or are joining for the first time, you can log on to the NCLA website for information, or you can contact Maureen Costello at the NCLA Office.
--Peggy Quinn, Chair, Membership Committee

The North Carolina Library Association Memorial Scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship.

The Query - Long Scholarship for work with children or young adults is a $1,000 scholarship.

The McLendon Student Loan Fund provides a $300.00 loan at 1% interest.

Either scholarship or a student loan may be awarded for original or continued study in library science:

1. To a student entering library school for the first time;
2. To a student currently enrolled in a library school program;
3. To a practicing librarian who wishes to continue his or her studies.

To be eligible for either scholarship or a student loan, the applicant:

1. Must currently be a legal resident of North Carolina with a minimum residency of two years.
2. Must hold an undergraduate degree.
3. Must have been accepted by a library school. (Persons whose library school applications are pending may apply for the scholarships.)

Major factors to be considered in making the awards are:

1. Academic excellence
2. Leadership qualities
3. Evidence of commitment to a career in librarianship in North Carolina
4. Financial need

Submit applications and references for scholarships and loans by May 15, 2000 to:

--Gerald Holmes, Chair, Scholarships Committee

At the NCLA Conference, three Spectrum Initiative Scholars were recognized at our luncheon:

• Tamika Barnes, Head Librarian, NCSU Engineering Library
• Jamal Cromity, NCCUSLIS Student and Information Specialist
• Kristi Dunn, NCCUSLIS Student and Classroom Teacher

They discussed what attracted them to the library profession, as well as, their participation in the Spectrum Initiative Program.

Hilda V. Peacock, a Maryland based storyteller also read from her first book, Happy Umbrellas. Peacock is a native of Johnston County, North Carolina, the setting of Happy Umbrellas.

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