NHLA Blog

The NHLA websites have continued to get significant numbers of visits. I hope to bring aboard the CHILIS and URBANS sites in the next 6-12 months.

As of March 9:

• The NHLA website had been visited 3,725 times in the past 30 days.
• Our blog has 47 email subscribers, 11 Bloglines subscribers, 25 Google Reader subscribers, 5 NetVibes subscribers

Top 10 webpages (excluding the home page) based on the number of hits within the last 4 weeks, (see bar graph below as well.) Congratulations to the READS-TO-GO folks for having the #1 page.

Posted by Steve B. at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ALA Midwinter was held in Philadelphia from Saturday, January 12, through Wednesday, January 16.  As the New Hampshire Chapter Councilor, I attended several meetings and forums over the five days. 

There was a presidential candidate's forum as well as an executive board candidate's forum.  All ALA members vote for the president, but only councilors vote for the executive board.  Two of the three candidates for whom I voted were elected.

There were two information session that I attended: one for the council, executive board, and membership; the other for the ALA-APA (Allied Professionals Association).  Both of those sessions include the reading of reports from the president, treasurer, and various committee heads.  Additionally, there are three council sessions where action is taken.  Members are allowed to attend those sessions, but only councilors may speak and vote.

Of the actions discussed, the most memorable were providing accessible workstations at conferences (which passed) and a graduated dues study (which was referred to committee.)  At each conference, there are a number of political and social issues discussed.  In Philly, there was discussion on the crisis in Kenya and the confiscation of Iraqi documents. 

Also, I attended two council forums and one chapter councilors forum at which actions are debated and strategies devised for the full discussion at council sessions.

I managed to spend about ten minutes at the mammoth vendors' hall, but not being much of a shopper, it was too overwhelming for me.  My meeting schedule did not permit me to attend any of the conference programs.

ALA Annual will be in Anaheim at the end of June.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob Sargent

Posted by Steve B. at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have confirmed a location for the November 2008 Annual Business Meeting. We will be meeting at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua just off Exit 8 of the F.E. Everett Turnpike. For one of the three sessions, I have asked Bobbi Slossar (and perhaps some others from the new NHLA Information Technology Section) to discuss and illustrate open source content management systems (CMS). In particular, she will highlight the IT Section’s implementation of either Drupal, Joomla or WordPress. I am also trying to get in touch with Pamela Soren Smith at The Howe Library in Hanover to see if she would like to present her library’s experience implementing a different CMS.

Another possible topic I am considering for one of the three main sessions is a debate and discussion on the general topic of whether or not annual professional development requirements should exist for librarians. Should librarians need to earn a certain number of continuing education credits in order to maintain a certain status or licensure? How could such a system be designed and who should be involved? Should allowances be made for librarians from smaller libraries and/or those with potentially smaller professional development budgets? Do other states have continuing education requirements and systems?

As for a third session topic, I am still looking for more good ideas, so please feel free to forward me your ideas and suggestions. One idea that was suggested recently that I think sounds good is a panel discussion on literacy programs at libraries. How to start a program, what resources to use, what community organizations to partner with, etc.

Please feel free to submit comments to this blog entry or contact me directly. 

- Steve Butzel 

Posted by Steve B. at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am actively looking for a new chair for the Continuing Education Committee, and have a few leads.  I am also looking for an Intellectual Freedom chair and a NHAIS liaison and would love some ideas. To learn more about these positions, visit http://www.nhlibrarians.org/jobdescriptions.html.

Posted by Steve B. at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This time of year is a time of transition as the existing NHLA year comes to an end and a new one begins following the November annual meeting. The outgoing NHLA Executive Board will be meeting with the incoming board in December to hand over responsibilities and any wisdom they have to offer. That meeting takes place on December 18th, and we will post draft minutes from that meeting soon thereafter.

In the meantime, the planning of a new "Information Technology" section within NHLA is well underway as incoming NHLA Vice President Steve Butzel is networking with all sorts of interested and exciting librarians and developing a plan. If you are interested in participating in this process, please email Steve.

And finally, arrangements for the NHLA Spring Conference INNOVATE IN '08: Library Basics and Beyond which takes place on May 21 and 22 in Concord at the Grappone Conference Center are being finalized as we speak. Be sure to register early for this stellar event!

Posted by Steve B. at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Folks,

Steve Butzel gave us a wonderful clear and concise tutorial on posting an entry to the NHLA blog yesterday at the Executive Board meeting in Concord. Here’s my contribution:

As By-Laws Chair, one of my responsibilities is to ensure that each section has submitted a copy of its By-laws to the Executive Board each year – NHLA BY-LAWS, Article 6 -  Sections, Paragraph C -  Duties of the Sections. #2  “Present a current copy of the Section By-laws to the Executive Board each year.”

I’m attempting to earn my keep. Please send a current copy of your By-laws to me at credden@hampton.lib.nh.us. And Thank You,  Ann Hoey, for sending CHILIS By-laws first thing this morning!

Posted by Catherine R. at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You can view the February issue of the New England Library Association newsletter by going to
http://www.nelibraries.org/200702

Posted by Judy H. at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday's executive board meeting and blog tutorial. Here are the two instructional documents I handed out during the tutorial.

• Composing an entry
• Uploading a file to be inserted into an entry

Posted by nhlablog at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by nhlablog at 08:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by nhlablog at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)