RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) Division

Do you find yourself wishing that someone would have been there to teach you all that you now know? Would you like to walk alongside a new librarian as they enter the profession?

Here is your chance to participate in a great new project from the New Members Round Table of ALA (NMRT), to meet a new librarian ally, and to have someone to guide as they learn the ins and outs of librarianship. The NMRT Mentoring Committee's Career Mentoring Program focuses on long term mentoring. We will pair up "newbie librarians" with "seasoned vets" as part of a year-long mentoring program.

The NMRT Career Mentoring program will last from October 2014 to July 2015. Conference attendance is not required, but membership in ALA is required, and NMRT membership is encouraged.

For further information and to apply, please visit
http://www.ala.org/nmrt/oversightgroups/comm/mentor/mentoringcommittee

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions after visiting the site.

Sincerely,

The New Member Round Table Mentoring Committee
NMRT_Mentoring@yahoo.com

Know of a librarian worthy of a nod? Need some travel monies to help you get to Annual Conference in San Francisco? Have a research project in need of funding? RUSA has several monetary awards and grants looking for your nominations!

Achievement awards for individuals and groups:

• Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award, RUSA’s highest honor, recognizes an individual who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of reference librarianship. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning; $5,000* and a citation.
• NoveList’s Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Services Award recognizes a librarian who has made significant contributions to library adult services. Sponsored by Novelist; $1,250* and a citation.
• Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services is given to a library or library system for developing an imaginative and unique resource to meet patrons' reference needs. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning; $3,000* and a citation.
• John Sessions Memorial Award recognizes a library or library system that has made a significant effort to work with the labor community and by doing so has brought recognition to the history and contribution of the labor movement to the development of the United States. Sponsored by the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, the winner receives a plaque.
• Reference Service Press Award recognizes the most outstanding article published in Reference and User Services Quarterly (RUSQ), RUSA’s research journal, during the preceding two-volume year. Sponsored by Reference Service Press; $2,500* prize and a plaque.
• BRASS Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to business librarianship. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning; $3,000* and a citation.
• Louis Shores Award recognizes an individual reviewer, group, editor, review medium or organization for excellence in book reviewing and other media for libraries. The winner receives a citation.
• Zora Neale Hurston Award honors an individual ALA member who has demonstrated leadership in promoting African-American literature. Sponsored by HarperCollins; the winner receives $1,250* supporting travel to the ALA Annual Conference, a plaque, tickets to the ALTAFF Author Tea and a set of Hurston’s books in print with HarperCollins at the time of the award presentation.
• ABC-CLIO Online History Award recognizes an individual or group that has produced a 1) freely available online historical collection or, 2) an online tool assisting users in finding historical materials, or 3) an online teaching aid stimulating creative historical scholarship. Sponsored by ABC-CLIO; $2,500* and a citation.
• History Section Genealogical Publishing Company Award is presented to a librarian, library or publisher who is a RUSA member, and recognizes professional achievement in historical or genealogical reference, service or research librarianship. Sponsored by Genealogical Publishing Company; $1,500* and a citation.
• MARS “My Favorite Martian” Award is a citation presented annually in recognition of excellence in service to the MARS: Emerging Technologies in Reference Section of RUSA. The winner receives a citation.
• RSS Service Achievement Award is presented annually to a member of the Reference Services Section (RSS) of RUSA in recognition of exceptional contributions to the section. The winner receives a citation.
• Virginia Boucher/OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award is given to an individual for his or her outstanding professional achievement, leadership, and contributions to interlibrary loan and document delivery. Sponsored by OCLC; $2,000* and a citation.

Travel awards to the ALA Annual Conference:

• BRASS Gale Cengage Learning Student Travel Award presents funds to a student enrolled in an ALA accredited master's degree program to fund travel the ALA Annual Conference. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning; $1,250* and a citation. This award’s nomination deadline is Feb. 8, 2015.
• BRASS Business Expert Press Award for Academic Business Librarians is presented to a new librarian in the field of academic business librarianship in order to support attendance to the ALA Annual Conference. Sponsored by Business Expert Press; $1,250* and a citation.
• Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award offers funds to a public librarian who has performed outstanding business reference service and who requires financial assistance to attend the ALA Annual Conference. Sponsored byMorningstar, Inc.; $1,250* and a citation.
• STARS/Atlas Systems Mentoring Award offers ALA Annual Conference travel assistance funds to a library practitioner who is new to the field of interlibrary loan/document delivery or electronic reserves, and who has involvement in the areas of borrowing, lending, document delivery, electronic reserves, material delivery or resource sharing. Sponsored by Atlas Systems; $1,250* and a citation.

Research grants:

• RUSA History Section Gale Cengage History Research and Innovation Award is granted to an MLS degreed librarian from an ALA accredited school to facilitate and further research relating to history and history librarianship. Sponsored by Gale Cengage Learning; $2,500* and a citation.
• BRASS Emerald Research Grant, is presented to an individual or group seeking support to conduct research in business librarianship. Sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing; $5,000* and a citation.

*Monetary award amounts are subject to change without notice and are contingent upon donor funding supplied at the time the award is presented. Questions about these awards should be directed to the committee chairperson—access committee contact information by logging in at www.ala.org, then accessing the RUSA roster webpage—or to the RUSA headquarters staff. More information about these awards, including nominating instructions, can be found on RUSA’s awards webpage.  

Good luck!

Leighann Wood (lwood@ala.org)
Membership and Awards Coordinator, RUSA

(Kindly forgive cross-posting.)

The NMRT Resume Review Service needs volunteers to work as booth greeters Saturday, June 28, from 10 am until noon. If you can volunteer for any of that time, we need your help! The booth greeters’ most important duty is to keep things running on time. They sign the reviewees in, escort them to their reviewer’s table, and remind them when their 30 minute appointment is over.

To volunteer follow this link: https://sites.google.com/site/2014alanmrtrrrs/. Fill out the volunteer form and click “Submit.”

If you have questions, please contact the NMRT Resume Review Service Co-chairs: Cheryl Blevens (cheryl.blevens@indstate.edu) or Nicole Spoor (nicolespoor@gmail.com), using “2014 Conference RRS Booth Greeter” in the subject line of your email. Thank you!