The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) is hosting a leadership preconference at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, and RUSA is offering a limited number of discounted seats to RUSA leadership to participate in this preconference.

At “Servant Leadership in Your Library”, you’ll learn how servant leadership can change the dynamics of a library–large or small–by cultivating strong loyalty from both employees and library users. Servant leaders focus outwardly and work in partnership with their staff and communities. Through exercises, group discussion, real-world stories and personal reflection led by professional library trainer Linda Bruno, participants will develop their servant leader persona. Linda has presented workshops for ASCLA before and received rave reviews! Learn more about the preconference here, and visit Linda’s website to learn more about the fantastic work she does.

The content of this event will be valuable not only for your professional role at your library, but for your work with RUSA, too!

With the appropriate coupon code, you’ll pay just $139.50 for this event–ALA member registration is valued at $300!

This opportunity is limited to:

• Current and incoming chairs for RUSA-level committees
• Current and incoming chairs for section committees
• Current and incoming RUSA Board of Directors members
• Current and incoming section executive committee members

In exchange for this discount, RUSA would like those who attend this preconference to work with Gary White (past-president) and Kathleen Kern (vice-president) on formulating RUSA’s future leadership development program, and specifically determining what sort of content and activities should be provided to benefit the association and its members.

Interested in taking advantage of this fantastic opportunity? You must obtain the discount code by May 25, 2013 and register by June 1, 2013. There are a limited number of slots available, so don’t delay!

Contact your appropriate membership leader to receive the coupon code:

RUSA: Kathleen Kern, RUSA vice president/president-elect, katkern@illinois.edu

BRASS: Ann Fiegen, chair, afiegen@csusm.edu

CODES: Mary Parker, chair, m-park1@umn.edu

History: Sara Morris, chair, semorris@ku.edu

MARS: Debbie Bezanson, chair, bezanson@gwu.edu

RSS: Sarah Hammill, chair, hammills@fiu.edu

STARS: David Atkins, chair, datkins@utk.edu

Questions? Contact Susan Hornung, RUSA executive director, at shornung@ala.org.

Don’t forget! Submissions for programs and preconferences to be held at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, and midwinter institutes to be held at the 2014 Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia are due this Wednesday, May 15.

Preconferences and institutes are half or full-day events that require separate registration from the conference. We welcome proposals from the membership at large; section or committee sponsorship is preferred, but not required. Those proposing events that are subsequently approved by RUSA will be responsible for working with RUSA staff to implement the workshop. Preconference and institute proposals must come from RUSA members.

Proposals for regular conference programs—1-2hr events held during the conference that are included with conference registration—are open to RUSA sections only and are also due Wednesday, May 15. If you would like to be involved in the program planning process, please contact one of the section chairs for more information (their contact information is listed below).

Submit your proposals using the 2014 Program and Preconference Proposal Form (Online Form).

You can use the downloadable form to prepare your proposal: 2014 Program and Preconference Proposal Form (Downloadable).

Questions? Contact Joe Thompson, RUSA program planning committee chair at jthompson@washcolibrary.org.

Section chairs:

BRASS: Ann Fiegen, afiegen@csusm.edu

CODES: Mary Parker, m-park1@umn.edu

History: Sara Morris, semorris@ku.edu

MARS: Debbie Bezanson, bezanson@gwu.edu

RSS: Sarah Hammill, hammills@fiu.edu

STARS: David Atkins, datkins@utk.edu

Jennifer Boettcher, business librarian at Georgetown University, is this year’s recipient of  the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) BRASS Emerald Research Grant Award.

Administered by the Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), the grant gives $5,000 to support research in the field of business librarianship. The award is generously funded by Emerald Group Publishing, Ltd. Previous award winners’ research projects include a study of business librarians’ involvement in the evaluation and approval of new academic programs (i.e. courses, tracks, graduate degrees or certificates) in business, and an exploration of collaborations among academic libraries, public libraries and community organizations in jointly serving the business information needs of their local entrepreneurs.

With this financial research support, Boettcher will create a Web-based finding aid that will help both business librarians and patrons who do not regularly track business information sources use core business titles that have been discounted, sold or recreated into new formats, which Boettcher calls the “Zombie List”. The database will track these sources and provide a list of where to find similar information that these seminal works provided. Funds will support the work of a programmer who will construct and adjust the database accordingly. As the Zombie List grows, Boettcher will recruit volunteers to test and manage the website as it develops. If interested please contact Jennifer Boettcher (boettcher -at-georgetown.edu).

As a former chair of the BRASS section of RUSA, co-author of the book, “Industry Research Using the Economic Census” (Greenwood Press), a past winner of RUSA BRASS ’s Gale Cengage Learning Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship and former professor of Catholic University of America’s “Information Sources & Services: Business Information” class, Boettcher is well-versed in the field of business reference and is prepared for a project of this scale. In selecting Boettcher’s proposal for this year’s award, the committee highlighted the thorough and detailed methodology, scope, timetable and projected outcomes for the project.

The award will be presented at the RUSA Achievement Awards Ceremony and Reception, scheduled for 5-6:30pm on Sunday, June 30, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Prairie Room, as a part of RUSA’s events at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Add the reception to your schedule (ALA Connect login required). For more information, visit RUSA’s website or the Annual Conference website.

With decades of experience, Emerald Group Publishing, Ltd. chooses to facilitate the global production and dissemination of research focusing on issues with social importance.  In total, Emerald manages a portfolio of more than 280 journals, more than 2,000 books and book series volumes, as well as an extensive range of online products and services that provide meaningful impact in business, society, the environment, public policy and education.

Congratulations to our newly-elected RUSA officers, and thank you to all those members who stood for election!

RUSA

• President-Elect: Joseph Thompson
• Secretary: Erin Rushton
• Director-at-Large: Margaret W. Ellingson and Louise Mort Feldmann

Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS)

• Chair-Elect: Todd Hines
• Member-at-Large: Elizabeth Malafi

Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES)

• Chair-Elect: Deborah Abston
• Member-at-Large: Edward Kownslar & Kate Kosturski

History Section (HS)

• Chair-Elect: Jenny Presnell
• Member-at-Large: Nancy A. Bunker
• Secretary: Helene LaFrance

MARS: Emerging Technologies in Reference Section

• Chair-Elect: Stephanie J. Graves
• Member-at-Large: Amy Lynn Fry

Reference Services Section (RSS)

• Chair-Elect: Qiana Johnson
• Member-at-Large: Don Boozer

Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (STARS)

• Chair-Elect: Christina “Tina” Baich
• Member-at-Large: Megan Gaffney