MLA Scholarship Report #2

From Shannon Haveri, Children's Services, Two Harbors Public Library:

As a recipient of the Continuing Education Scholarship I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your support of ALS libraries and their staff.

Through the support of NCLC, several members of our library's staff were able to attend the 2011 Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference. Because it was held nearby in Duluth, it was a great opportunity for the director and all the library assistants to attend at least one day with a minimum of scheduling changes or conflicts.

I attended MLA on Friday, October 14. The session I originally planned to attend Summer Reading Programs: Rethink, Retool, Refresh
was moved to Wednesday. Another staff member went to that one for me and took handouts and notes, which I can use when planning next year's program. My second choice was one of the featured presentations: Trend Tracking: A Tool to Help Your Library Better Serve the Needs of Your Community. It sounded interesting and relevant. Unfortunately, it was cancelled at the last minute due to illness. Instead I attended Transition...then What: Faculty Perception of IL Skills of Undergraduates. I felt it would be useful to know what information literacy skills students have when entering college, and which they are lacking. There is a huge gap between what students are expected to know and what they actually do. Learning vital information literacy skills in high school or early college would make research and learning much more effective during the college years. The five most important information literacy skills for undergraduates are: 1) Determine nature and extent of information needed, 2) Assess needed information effectively and efficiently, 3) Evaluate information and its sources critically, 4) Use information effectively to accomplish a purpose, and 5) Information accessible and usable. I also attended the luncheon with keynote speaker William Kent Krueger. Krueger's mysteries are extremely popular in our library. It was fun to listen to him talk about how books and libraries influenced his life. He also spoke of the internet, and how our fast-paced society might lose the ability to contemplate. Being able to read, think, and imagine has been the driving force to mankind's advancements. If we lose the ability to slow down and ponder, what does that mean for us as a society?

MLA is a great way to grow and learn -- it's a chance to expand my knowledge, get new skills and ideas, and meet other library professionals. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.