Who would have thunk?

I have a very professional label for my non-librarian self! Paralibrarian. I love it! It has such a nice ring to it...maybe I won't get my MLS after all.

Last week I attended the MLA conference. I had never been before, and my lovely name badge said so right on it! FIRST TIME ATTENDEE. Well, it did get a lot of people to ask if I needed help a lot. I won't miss the label next time, though.

My experience started with a breakfast especially for the MLA Paralibrarian Section. I even got to vote for the officers as a new MLA member. I didn't have the guts to second any motions, but I'm thinking I might get courageous next time!

After breakfast they presented the awards for OUTSTANDING PARALIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR. There were 18 nominees from all over the state. Laurie Christie from Morse Institute Library in Natick was the winner. Laurie's Director wrote an outstanding letter about her which ended with the great statement, "Laurie makes everything perfect." She got up and thanked her "guinea pigs" and told us that they do whatever she asks. What a great honor for her. Congrats Laurie!

Then they gave out the award for PARALIBRARIAN ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR. There were 4 nominees. Marjorie "Marny" Oaks from the Reuben Hoar Library in Littleton was the winner. It was said the she won because she "does" for her library and it's staff members and she created an environment of excellence. She got up and thanked her staff members who were there and said, "nobody can advocate for people who don't want to be advocated for." I had the pleasure of having lunch with Marny, and what a wonderfully humble woman she is.

Lynne Riley, from WPI, is on the Executive Board for the paralibrarian section. I spoke with her briefly about the P.A.R.A. (PAralibrarian Recognition of Achievement) program. She convinced me to start right then and there. It's a nice achievement to add to a resume or to get so you can simply say you did. We all need that sometimes. I'm not going to go through the whole process in this blog (I think it's getting a bit long already) but there is a website you can go to and print out the program guidelines. I truly encourage you to do it if you are a paralibrarian and you are looking to take your career in libraries a bit further. I've already started, so I'm on my way!

...and, as I always try to do, I leave you with a quote...
Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.- The Book of Common Prayer