SLA: St. Louis SLATE Newsletter

Message from the President

Welcome to 2009.

I am honored to be serving as your chapter president during SLA’s Centennial year. Before I get into that topic, I would like to thank Geri Heberlie for her hard work as President-Elect and as President.  She is an excellent role model, and I hope to continue her work in leading our very energetic chapter.

Patrick Hendershot, Erin Lanham, and I attended the SLA Leadership Summit in January.  Of course, the big news from SLA is the celebration this year of SLA's 100th anniversary.  All chapters are busy planning local events to commemorate this special milestone. You will be hearing more from Patrick, as details develop.  In the meantime, here are a few fun facts:

1910-1919
Directory of Special Libraries (listing 100 libraries and 24 fields) is published.
The "Putting Knowledge to Work" Association slogan is coined by John A. Lapp.
SLA elects its first female president, Maude A. Carabin Mann.

1920-1929
Columbia University opens the School of Library Service.

1930-1939
The faculty of the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago establishes

Message from the Past-President

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is hard to believe that 2008 has come to an end and we are already through the first month of 2009. Looking back on 2008, I must report that the chapter had a wonderful year.  A few of our 2008 chapter accomplishments include:

• A redesign of the SLATE (our chapter newsletter).

• A new format and look for our chapter website.

Leadership Summit Summary

By Betsy Williams

This year’s SLA Leadership Summit was held in Savannah, Georgia.  Our keynote speaker was Steve McGarvey, who talked about how to communicate to persuade and influence people.  Learning how to do this could certainly help in any type of communication — between parent and child, boss and employee, partners, and more.  When we want to persuade someone to do something, that person is probably thinking, “What’s in it for me?”  If we don’t readily know the answer, we can use positive language and questions to help us.  For example, if I were to ask a vendor to sponsor a program, I would want to phrase my question like this:  “If you were to sponsor a program for SLA, what benefit would you like to see?”  This type of question forces the person to imagine that they are indeed going to sponsor a program. 

Several announcements were made that continued the “membership has its benefits” theme from last year’s Leadership Summit:

Winter Warm-Up

On January 23, the chapter kicked off the year at Sasha's on Shaw.  Over good wine and appetizers, Betsy Williams, Patrick Hendershot, and Erin Lanham shared news and photos from the SLA Leadership Summit.  With the selection of St. Louis as the 2010 Leadership Summit site, this year is bound to be busy and exciting.  If you have ever thought of becoming more involved with SLA but were waiting for a really good reason, wait no longer.

More Library Related News of 2008

By Cynthia Hudson

Many have undoubtedly seen Library Journal's "Top Ten Academic Library Stories of 2008."  The list included such important stories as the Google book settlement, the Harvard open access mandate, and the re-opening of the EPA libraries.  Though LJ was able to focus and whittle down their list to a top ten, there were some additional library headlines omitted that were just as important.

December Holiday Happening

By Marcia Stoklosa

It has been 10 years since I moved to St. Louis and Anheuser-Busch was the only venue I knew for our annual Holiday Happening.  It was such a treat to see what Ann Lauenstein and the staff at A-B would have to entice and entertain us.  The food and ambience got better every year.  I wondered if the new location at Eden Seminary could possibly live up to the high standards set by Ann at A-B.  I’m happy to say that Betsy Williams and the staff at Schroer Commons proved a worthy successor.

Elizabeth Owens Award

Congratulations, Marianne!

 

On December 9, 2008 at the Chapter’s annual Holiday Happening, the Elizabeth Owens Award was presented to Marianne Cavanaugh.  Marianne is the Head Librarian at the Richardson Library of the St. Louis Art Museum.  The award represents distinguished service to the chapter and the library profession.  Marianne has supported and improved the chapter by serving on many committees and holding several offices.  She has been the chair for the Programming, Strategic Planning and Professional Development committees and has served as the President, President-Elect and editor of the SLATE newsletter.  Thanks to

Membership Anniversaries of 2008

Happy Anniversary to these chapter members:

25 years
Bridget Kowalczyk

15 years
Sally Crowley

10 years
Erin Lanham
Barb McKenzie
Rosie Weiss

Karen Goddard
Awards Chair
SLA St. Louis Metro Area Chapter

Software Review: Delicious Library

By Paula Martin

Product:  Delicious Library 2
Price:  $39.95
Download: Delicious Monster Website

Delicious Library is media cataloging software for the Mac.  It allows the user to create a media catalog including books, movies, video games, toys, board games, and anything with an ISBN.  Recent software upgrades also allow for cataloging of tools, clothing, electronics, and even jewelry.  While this isn't as full-featured as software specifically designed for a library catalog, it provides an easy-to-use interface and attractive display for home collections.

Ann Lauenstein Retires

 

“How far would the number of recycled beer cans stretch?”

 

“I need to learn some Chinese FAST!”

“What is the beer market like in South Africa?”

“Is seaweed considered a natural product?”

These are just a few of the reference questions Ann Lauenstein answered during her 32 years as Corporate Librarian at Anheuser-Busch.  Knowing that things would drastically change after the InBev purchase, Lauenstein accepted early retirement from Anheuser-Busch on December 1, 2008.  Her former coworker, Mary Butler, is now a solo librarian.  There are no plans to fill the position that Lauenstein vacated.

What Are We Reading?

Many of us became librarians because of our lifelong love of books and reading.  The St. Louis SLA Chapter has a wide variety of reading interests spanning diverse subjects in fiction and non-fiction.