Please join the SLA Texas Community for its half-day annual meeting with a keynote on leading with empathy and compassion, a panel discussion with library leaders including current SLA President Tara Murray Grove, and a lively round of lightning talks. This event is free, and all are welcome!
MEETING AGENDA
1:00 - 1:05 pm: Sign in and Welcome
1:10 - 1:50 pm: Keynote “Leading with Empathy and Compassion” -- Zachary Chance Medlin, Texas A&M University
Moderator: Tina Budzise-Weaver
Join this interactive discussion to delve into what’s at the heart of being an empathetic and compassionate leader in Libraries. Together we will explore current topics, ideas, and share our recent experiences in order to learn from one another.
2:00 - 2:50 pm: Panel Discussion: Library Leadership
Moderator: Dianna Kim
Panel:
Tara Murray Grove, SLA President
Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng, Director of Texas Woman’s University, School of Library and Information Studies
Karen P. Horan, Library Director, McAllen Public Library
The last few years have been quite challenging globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tertiary institutions have had to scramble to transition to emergency remote teaching to deliver instructions in a virtual environment. Libraries and information centers were impacted greatly as service models also had to be altered immediately. Library Dean and Directors had to not only cater for the changing services but also the challenges imposed on their faculty and staff whose lives and work environment had been completely disrupted and upended. This required leadership with empathy and compassion. The panelists made up of library leaders will discuss how they led their institutions and organization through this changing phase of life at the workplace and at home.
3:00 - 4:00 pm: Presentations and Lightning Talks
Moderator: Valerie Florez
Hillary Veeder, Head, Architecture Library, Texas Tech University
For anyone who has ever worked in a branch library environment, a major benefit it affords is the close proximity to colleagues, patrons, and the physical collection. When the shift to a work from home environment occurred in the spring and summer of 2020, the implications for the known, traditional services as well as the self-understanding of day-to-day work expectations and tasks was altered. The importance of communication, planning – both internally within the Library and larger TTU Libraries, and coordination with the College to manage expectations for building access and occupation policies, all came into sharp focus and required thoughtful and empathetic management.
Adrian Shapiro, Digital Librarian, Texas Women's University, and Lead Convener, Cross Timbers Library Collaborative Virtual Conference
The Cross Timbers Library Collaborative Conference has been held for the past 9 years, inviting library professionals from the Cross Timbers region to share their expertise and experience. After planning the traditional in-person event for 2020 for several months, things changed abruptly! With the conference scheduled for August of 2020, there was just enough time for the CTLC planning committee to transition the conference from in-person to virtual when the pandemic began. This was a first for all involved and it did not come without challenges! But, the conference was ultimately a success, and with that experience, the 2021 conference was again held virtually and with great success. In this presentation, Adrian will discuss the methods and processes used to transition the in-person conference to virtual, how the planning committee worked to refine and improve the second virtual conference, and the importance of shared leadership.
Mea Warren, STEM Librarian Liaison Services University of Houston
In spring 2020, US universities were forced to transition to online learning and libraries were challenged to continue supporting their campuses in a completely online environment. The Liaison Services Department at the University of Houston first took a collaborative approach to this challenge, gathering ideas and suggestions into a best practices document for online outreach. Second, members investigated a variety of tools as they worked remotely, ultimately selecting tools to successfully support the university community via online outreach. This presentation based on the article “Staying Connected: Best Practices for Online Marketing and Outreach” describes a case study covering the process of creating best practices and investigating communications tools, which could be useful for academic libraries seeking new ways to do outreach in a constantly changing environment.
Speaker information including bio (3-4 sentences)
Tara Murray Grove is the Librarian for Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Penn State. She previously served as the Director of Information Services and Librarian for the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, the world’s largest library dedicated to stamp collecting and postal history, where she oversaw the renovation of new space for the library and developed the library’s first digital collections. She also previously served as the Information Core Director for Penn State’s Population Research Institute and has experience in public and corporate libraries. She has an MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in German Studies from Bard College. Tara was recognized as a Fellow of the Special Libraries Association in 2017 and is currently President of SLA.
Karen P. Horan holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, and earned her Master’s in Library Science at St. John's University in Queens, NY. She has been with the City of McAllen since 2006, and has been a Branch Manager and Assistant Director of Public Services. She became the Library Director of the international and national award-winning McAllen Public Library in 2012 and oversees operations of three dynamic locations. She has 3 grown children, 2 cats, and 1 foster kitten.
Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng is Professor and Director of Texas Woman’s University, School of Library and Information Studies. She teaches the foundations of information, organization of knowledge, marketing and advocacy, and community engagement. Dr. Jeng has numerous scholarly publications and presentations and is a recipient of four federally funded grant projects to the total of more than two million dollars. She served on the governing Council of the American Library Association, and was the President of Texas Library Association, 2017-2018. Dr. Jeng is a frequent speaker on topics including library advocacy, diversity, leadership development, and community-based librarianship, and is an active community volunteer with the United Way of Denton County.
Zachary Chance Medlin is the Learning and Student Engagement Librarian at Texas A&M University. His professional areas of interest include critical librarianship, outreach and engagement, and instruction. He earned his Master of Information from Rutgers University and Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas A&M University.
Adrian Shapiro is the Digital Projects Librarian at the Texas Woman’s University Libraries, where she manages the institutional repository, The Repository@TWU, and assists faculty and students in scholarly communication services. In 2020 and 2021, Adrian acted as Chair of the Cross Timbers Library Collaborative Conference, transitioning the event from in-person to virtual in response to the pandemic.
Hillary Veeder is an Associate Librarian and the Head of the Architecture Library, a branch of the Texas Tech University Libraries. She has been with the TTU Libraries since 2013 and previously held the position of Public Services Librarian. In her position she is responsible for the administration, development, and leadership of the Architecture Library, which includes the supervision of two faculty librarians and supervisory oversight of one-full time staff member and six to seven student assistants. She received her M.L.S. from Indiana University, Bloomington and B.A. in History of Art from IUB.
Mea Warren is the Assistant Department Head for Teaching and Learning at the University of Houston Libraries, where she was formerly the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Librarian. In her role she primarily manages relationships between the libraries and various units on campus, integrating information literacy concepts into areas like residential life, career services, and athletics. She is an SLA Rising Star and ALA Emerging Leader who received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her MLS from UNC Chapel Hill.