JOHN B. COLEMAN LIBRARIANS IN THE NEWS...

Spring 2008

	Lauren Kelley, Library Art Curator - Fourth Floor Gallery - Ms Kelley was featured in the Houston Chronicle April 29, 2008 article entitled "Heartbreak in the dollhouse". "Growing up in Spring, Lauren Kelley played with dolls — blonde-haired and blue-eyed Barbies, mostly, and a few that were brown-skinned and dark-haired like she was. Dollhouse life was glamorous and carefree, the kind of existence that Kelley assumed she'd enjoy someday." -more-

	Lauren Kelley, Library Art Curator - Fourth Floor Gallery - The New Museum and Altoids, the Curiously Strong Mints®, announced the first winners of The Altoids Award. Lauren Kelley, curator of the Prairie View A&M University Fourth Floor Art Gallery, will receive a $25,000 cash prize of a total $100,000 awarded to three other artists. -more-

	Kimberly M. Gay, Reference and Instruction Librarian will moderate a workshop at the Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference in Dallas Texas April 18, 2008. Kimberly M. Gay will preside over a panel discussion workshop on April 18, 2008 during the Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference for the TLA Black Caucus Roundtable on Collection Development for Patrons of Color. Presenters include: Lana Hayes, librarian, DeBakey High School, Houston ISD; Judith Hiott, coordinator of materials selection, Houston Public Library; and Eileen Liu, president, Tsai Fong Books, Inc. They will discuss data needed to provide the best library collection for patrons of color. The TLA Black Caucus Roundtable’s purpose is to promote a partnership between librarians of African American descent and librarians serving the African American community that will enable them to work together and exchange information and ideas about providing services to the African American community.

	Yubao Li, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Kimberly Gay, Reference and Instruction Librarian and Karl Henson, Electronic Services Libraian will be attending the Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference in Dallas Texas April 18, 2008. - More -

	Kimberly M. Gay, Reference and Instruction Librarian appointed chair of the Texas Library Association’s Genealogy Roundtable 2008-2009. Kimberly Gay has been appointed to a one -year term with the Texas Library Association’s Genealogy Roundtable for 2008-2009. The Genealogy Interest Group of the Texas Library Association is an organization devoted to the endeavors of promoting and representing the activities of Texas librarians in the field of genealogy.

	Dr. Rosie Albritton, Director of Library Services, Helen Yeh, Assistant Library Director and Jimmizine Taylor, Former Special Collections Librarian was recently honored by Prairie View A&M University, celebrating the accomplishments, heritage and history of women with a series of lectures and activities throughout Women’s History Month, March 6-31. This year’s theme, “Women’s Vision-Expanding the View,” recognizes the contributions of women across the world and Prairie View A&M women that have achieved a high measure of success and who have greatly contributed to the Prairie View A&M community and mankind. -More-

	Kimberly M. Gay, Reference and Instruction Librarian - visiting seminar lecturer at the University of Houston’s African American Studies Department on April 10, 2008. Ms. Gay was chosen to be a visiting seminar lecturer at University of Houston’s African American Studies Department. She is conducting a seminar lecture on Africana Genealogy on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 10 a.m. in the Agnes Arnold Hall Suite 628. The topic of her lecture is Minority Genealogical Research: Keeping the Cultures through Engagement, Enlightenment and Empowerment. This lecture will identify major challenges in genealogical research for people of underrepresented heritages, including African Americans, American Indians (Native Americans), and brainstorm best practices for research methodologies.

	Elizabeth Jean Brumfield, Distance Services Librarian, Steve Shaw, Head of Reference and Information Services and Karl Henson, Electronic Services Librarian jointly presented “Using Library E-Resources to Enhance Student Learning” during the 2008 Teaching with Technology Conference which was held on February 12 -13 at the Texas A&M University Memorial Student Center.

	Yubao Li, Reference and Instruction Librarian, attended the American Library Association winter conference in Philadelphia from January 11 to January 14, 2008. Mr. Li is a member of the ALA Library Instruction Roundtable Research Committee (2007 to 2009). While attending the conference, he participated in the Committee meeting to plan the 2008 activities of the committee. He attended LIRT sessions and discussion forums: Teaching and Learning with Technology Committee Discussion Forum, Information Literacy Best Practices, Teaching Disabled Students, Assessment: We Know We Should Do It and attended other discussion groups and seminars. He was invited to attend APALA (Asian Pacific American Librarian Association) meetings and he became a member.

	Kimberly M. Gay HBCU Information Literacy Institute recipient Kimberly M. Gay, Reference and Instruction Librarian was chosen to take part in the HBCU (Mellon Grant) Information Literacy Institute. The ILLI will convene in Charlotte, North Carolina from February 10 to 15, 2008 on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University and the James B. Duke Memorial Library. The participants will have an opportunity to learn about the Information Literacy Instruction programs provided at four other academic libraries, including the JCSU model for Information Literacy programs. Most importantly, participants will spend some time during the institute designing an Information Literacy Instructional Program for their own students. Consultations will be available during the institute addressing principles, components, and the use of information technology in developing an Instructional Literacy program. This Institute also will provide opportunities for libraries that do not have an information literacy instruction program to develop both a program and an implementation plan for their university and library. For further information about the HBCU (Mellon Grant) Information Literacy Institute visit this web site >> http://archives.jcsu.edu/illi/

	Marion Williams, library Development Coordinator has been spotlighted by the Zeta Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sonority on their web site. Ms Williams "... goes out of her way to make sure others are comfortable ... humble spirit and kind heart..." Zeta Gamma Omega is "honored to have in its presence women of character and style." To view the entire spotlight – Click Here

	Prairie View A&M University Representative Selected To Attend National Conservation Forum “Preserving America’s Diverse Heritage” to focus on at-risk museum, library collections January 8, 2008, Washington, DC—Dr. Rosie L. Albritton, Prairie View A&M University’s Director of Library Services, at the John B. Coleman Library, Prairie View, Texas, has been selected to attend a national forum, January 31- February 1, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia on “Preserving America’s Diverse Heritage.” She is one of 30 representatives of small and medium-sized collecting institutions nationwide invited to participate based on their leadership in the profession and in their communities. - more -

Maintained by Karl Henson; Last revised 5/1/2008 keh