LSTA Funds at Work!

In my humble opinion, one of the best things about being a member of the CRD Committee is that we get to distribute LSTA Grants to PaLA chapters, divisions, roundtables, as well as other library organizations, to provide professional development programming. I am always impressed with the variety and types of programs that are offered. It is also nice to attend some of these programs to see LSTA Funds at work! This year, I was very fortunate to be able to attend several programs. Here are some interesting highlights from some programs that I attended and even some from those I haven’t but heard great things about!

• CRD offered a very well received workshop on Assessment featuring Megan Oakleaf, author of ACRL Value of Academic Libraries report
• The West Branch Chapter had a great technology workshop which highlighted e-readers, gadgets, and online tools.
• The Library Instruction Round Table had a workshop on learning styles and how to incorporate critical thinking into information literacy.
• TCLC had NPR librarian, Kee Malesky, as a keynote speaker.
• Trexler Library at Muhlenberg College had a program on copyright.
• The Southwest Chapter went with a ‘techie social worker’ theme, which included not only technology sessions, but also sessions on working effectively with different kinds of patrons, such as substance abusers.
• Kutztown University hosted a program on Digital Learning Materials featuring John Shank as the speaker.
• The South Central Workshop included sessions on Fundraising, Advocacy, Public Speaking, and Customer Service.
• The Lehigh Valley Chapter always has a jam-packed conference; this year’s topics included Reorganization of Libraries, Children’s Authors’ Panel, Google Apps, Student Engagement and Outreach, Library Instruction in Content Management Systems, Assessing Information Literacy, and more.
• Advocacy was also the hot topic at the Northeast Chapter Workshop.

There are also some great programs coming up thanks to the many PaLA members who plans these functions and have requested LSTA funding:

• In July, keep an eye out for a school and academic librarian information literacy workshop.
• In August, the PaLA Leadership Development Committee will be offering a workshop on ‘monkey management’ (that alone is very intriguing!)
• And we can’t forget about the upcoming PaLA Annual Conference, where Marshall Breeding will be the keynote speaker at the CRD Luncheon.

Wow! I think that PaLA members certainly get a great value for professional development programming. Much of this programming could not be done without not only PaLA membership but also the LSTA grants. If you have a program that would be of benefit to academic librarians, be sure to think about including LSTA grants!