VIRGINIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PARAPROFESSIONAL FORUM (VLAPF) May 18 - May 20, 2008

VIRGINIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PARAPROFESSIONAL FORUM (VLAPF)

The 2008 VLA Conference was my second attendance. The two day conference (May 18 – May 20, 2008) was remarkably filled with wealth of information and ideas sharing by the participants. There was ample opportunity to interact and network with colleagues from different library systems. We shared ideas and discussed some of the challenges we face on our jobs.
This year’s conference theme was “Many Faces of the Libraries: Fearless Evolving to Meet Users Needs”. In her remarks to the participants, the key-note speaker, Dr. Sandra Treadway discussed how the roles of libraries have evolved in recent time and the challenges library staff faces daily, including changes from different realities, new ways to serve patrons, new ways of doing things, new ways of dealing with different problems and understanding changes in customer’s expectations.
She went further to discuss the internal issues concerning Circulation staff from her research and consultation with support staff. The following are the highlights of her findings:
- In the past 5 years, Circulation staff have taken much more responsibilities than their job description and not appreciated
- More skillful and more able to help customers, using the database.
- Pay differential that exist is huge between Information and Circulation staff
- No good career ladder for the Paraprofessionals
- No avenue to move or pursue another career
- They don’t feel they get the respect they deserve within the organization
- Training opportunities are limited
She discussed the Library Support Staff Certification Program. In June, 2007, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded the American Library Association (ALA) a 3-year $407,000 grant to pursue development of a Library Support Certification Program (LSSCP).
The project addresses the Library Support Staff community’s need for a national certification program to help the profession standardize expectations for Library Support Staff; help support staff master critical job competencies; provide educators with guidance for training curricula; and help employers articulate job requirements.
During the project’s three year term the following tasks are planned:

Year 1 – Development of competencies to be used to certify LSS.

Year 2 – Development of policies and procedures to implement the LSSCP and development of methods to assess new learning and possibly prior learning gained from experience

Year 3 – Field test the program in 5 sites: a state association, a state library, a community college, a regional cooperative, and an ALA division.

I attended the following breakout sessions at the conference:

Room on the Shelf
The presenter was Andy Straka, Shamus – Award Winning Author. He has written and published 4 books to date. He discussed the chronology in the book business/book making business. The chronology of book making business falls under two major categories; book writing and book distribution.
Book writing
- Pen to paper (transcription to print/electric file)
- Word processing (print/electric file- used by most writers)
- Dictation/transcription (print/electric file)
Book distribution
- Author
- Agent
- Publisher
- Distributor
- Jobber – fill the racks with books
- Wholesaler
- Library
- Book store
- Trade paperback
Typically it takes up to18 months after a book is published to get the book to the public. The process of publishing has dramatically changed and distribution process is more critical now than before. Distribution channels are predominantly controlled by Agents. They interface with the publisher, get offer on the book, contract is signed and the book is distributed. During contract negotiation with the agent, the publisher determines the book format. The book format could be paperback, mass market paperback or hard back cover. Most hard cover books are sold to the libraries with the exception of the best sellers.
I also attended the Negotiation, Project Management, Good to Better Questions and Humor in the Workplace breakout sessions, and I found all of them very interesting and educating.

Submitted by Nurudeen Yusuff