Map of Members

Map data ©2015 Google, Landsat, Data SIO, NOAA, NGA, GEBCO, LDEO-Columbia, NSF

Ever been curious about where your fellow SSD members call home? Every star on this map marks a city with at least one OLA SSD staffer. If you notice you’re in the middle of a big blank area, don’t worry! We haven’t forgotten you. The Executive Board has formed a new group dedicated to reaching out to regions where our membership is sparse, in hopes that with a more even distribution we’ll be able to do more for everyone. That means direct benefits for you.

New things on the horizon

Along with our outreach campaign, we’re creating new spaces and resources for current SSD members across all of Oregon. Some exciting things we’ve got in the works you’ll want to watch out for:

●     Casual regional meetups, much more often than once a year.

●     New opportunities to represent your library or your branch’s support staff on a statewide level.

●     A monthly/bimonthly newsletter exclusively for support staff.

●     ...and more!

If you have questions, comments, or ideas, you can email the new group at ola.ssd.outreach@gmail.com.

Keep your eyes on your inbox, the SSD Facebook, and this blog for more updates. We are excited to see where we can take SSD this year!

OLA SSD Elections

 

OLA SSD Board elections are happening soon! Currently there are four elected positions that are open. If you're interested in any of the positions, let us know! Being on the OLA SSD Board is truly a fantastic opportunity for professional development and to make your voice heard. 

-Interested in being Chair? Chair-Elect is one of the positions and a great way to start.

-Do you enjoy history? Maybe Archivist is the position for you.

-Good with money and budgeting? How about Treasurer?

-Got a flair for taking notes? Why not run for Recorder? 

Or maybe you want to take a more active role in OLA SSD but being a Board member isn't for you right now. Why not contact the newly formed Outreach Team to see how you can get involved? Stay tuned to hear more from them very soon!

September is for Libraries!

It's September which means two important annual events happen this month for libraries. The month of September is Library Card Sign Up Month and the last week of the month is Banned Books Week.

What are some events your library has done to encourage patrons to get library cards? Do you know about the Oregon Library Passport, which lets your patrons use libraries across the state?

Banned Books Week is an excellent time to create book displays and to educate patrons, and is something libraries of all types participate in. Do you know what books were challenged most in Oregon last year? What are some displays and events your library
has done?

We'd love to see ideas/displays/pictures here or you can share on our Facebook and Twitter .

Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association

ACRL-Oregon Invites Scholarship Applications for the 2015 ACRL-WA/OR Joint Fall Conference

Please note the quick turn-around time for this scholarship!

The ACRL Washington & Oregon Joint Fall Conference will be held at the Pack Forest Center for Sustainable Forestry in Eatonville, Washington on October 22-23, 2015. ACRL-OR will award up to two scholarships for library paraprofessionals/support staff; each completely covers registration and housing (dorm or cabin) and up to $50 in transportation costs.

Submission deadline is Wednesday, September 16, 2015.

The Criteria:

Applicants must be:

• Library paraprofessionals/support staff
• currently working in an Oregon library

The Application Process:

Complete the online application form (link below), which includes a written essay (250 words maximum), outlining your reasons for wanting to attend the conference and your interest in the conference theme of Forging Partnerships, Opening Doors.

Paraprofessional/Support Staff Scholarship Application Form

The Deadline for All Scholarship Applications:

All scholarship applications are due . Scholarship recipients will be announced by September 23, 2015.

Questions?

Uta Hussong-Christian, ACRL-Oregon President (2015-2016)
Oregon State University
Uta.hussong-christian@oregonstate.edu

Fall 2015 Continuing Education Scholarships Sponsored by the Southern Oregon Library Federation (SOLF)

Enter to win a $200 scholarship award to attend the library-related conference of your choice.

SCHOLARSHIP ENTRY FORMS DUE NO LATER THAN  WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7^TH, 12 NOON

Eligibility: Open to any support staff member (who does not have an MLS/MLIS degree). You do not have to be a member of the Southern Library Federation (SOLF) to enter but a SOLF member must nominate you or endorse your application.

Application and more information available here:

http://klamathlibrary.org/solf-2015-continuing-education-scholarships

For further information, contact:

Christy Davis

Library Director

Klamath County Library Service District

cdavis@klamathlibrary.org

541-882-8894 ext. #23

OLA SSD Presentations and Pictures

We know that you all are missing OLA SSD 2015, and sad that you have to wait almost a year for the next OLA SSD conference. We've got some good news though! You can remember your time at the 2015 conference in a number of ways:

Many of the presentations are now available on NW Central!

We also have some fun pictures from OLA SSD 2015 up on our Facebook . If you have any to share or any stories/comments to tell, please feel free to post them there as well. We had record attendance of 141 people!

It's our hope that everyone had a great time and brought lots of new and interesting ideas back to their library. Thanks to all who filled out the evaluations- the Board and 2016 conference committee are looking at your comments and they're appreciated!

It's not too late to get involved for the 2016 OLA SSD conference- if you'd like to help out, please see how you can do that here.

Great Ideas From Deschutes

Libraries are the place to go for new and exciting ideas and the Deschutes Public Library system is obviously no exception, judging by this article from The Atlantic.

Take a moment to read about their exciting library projects and innovations and then please share yours with us as well, either in the comments below or on our Facebook page. We know libraries all over Oregon (and beyond) are up to some amazing things to meet their patron's needs (often before the patrons even know what those needs are!) and we'd love to hear all about it!