Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Year in Review 2019

Dear friends,
I have been quite lax in updating my blog, so here goes nothing! We have a lot to catch up on. 2019 was jam packed - Here's a (hopefully) easily skimmable list of some of the notable, or just fun, things I've been fortunate to be involved with in the past 12 months:

  • Wrote a book chapter with Grand View University colleagues (forthcoming...whenever the date next gets pushed back. Hopefully 2020?)
  • Made great progress with the Curriculum Group in revamping the Library 160 curriculum to make it more accessible and student-friendly, both in terms of content and technology. (This is ongoing as we start our 2nd full round through the text.)
  • Got really excited when my Grand View colleague became my Iowa State colleague, helping make strides to improve accessibility across campus! Their work is going to impact so many students, faculty, and staff!
  • Worked with some fantastic colleagues from the Iowa Library Association Executive Board on the Iowa Libraries Transform task force to develop tutorials and customizable templates for Iowa librarians to use in their advocacy and community outreach efforts.
  • Continue to serve on Iowa State University's Project Search Steering Committee. I had the honor of working with colleagues who are so people-focused, ensuring the Project Search interns get valuable work and social skills guidance throughout their time in the program (and beyond). Hearing the students and their internship supervisors speak about their experiences at PS Graduation was a highlight of my spring!
  • Wrapped up my service on the Iowa Library Association Executive Board. We are so fortunate to have amazing folks serving throughout the state and I'm grateful to have had this role to connect me with librarians across Iowa, including but not limited to those who served on the Exec Board with me. Iowa has a vibrant librarian culture, full of caring helpers! 
  • Celebrated receiving the 2018 Downs Intellectual Freedom Award with the ILA Executive Board.
  • Part of my service on the ILA Exec Board was to continue on as Chair of the Committee for Diversity & Inclusion (CD&I). What an amazing crew of folks I worked with this past year! We accomplished so much! We became a full standing committee, continued to send out regular updates with DEI resources, facilitated an unconference session at the fall conference, hosted two cohorts of the 21-Day Racial Equity and Habit Building Challenge, established a membership award to fully fund membership funds for someone with identities that have been traditionally underrepresented, and crafted, proposed, and had the ILA Exec Board approve the Iowa Library Association Statement on Social Justice, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. I'm so honored to have been a part of these efforts and am excited to see it continue on. 
  • Was elected vice-chair in 2018 and assumed leadership in as Chair of ISU Library's Librarian Assembly in 2019. I also continued on Librarian Council, a group of folks who meet regularly with the Dean of the Library to discuss a wide range of topics.
  • Began serving as a Managing Editor and work on the social media committee for the International Journal of Information, Diversity, and Inclusion. 
  • I am always excited and honored to be invited into classes on campus to work with students and faculty. This year I was able to visit more classes in Education (an area near and dear to my heart) and I love working with our international students in their International First-Year Experience Seminar! 

  • Took part in an early pilot for new Travel & Hospitality procedures ahead of a shift on campus to Workday for managing HR and finances, which was fully implemented in August. 
  • Speaking of travel, I was fortunate to have been able to attend several great professional development opportunities. I attended ILA Advocacy Day in Des Moines, the White Privilege Conference in Cedar Rapids, the Illinois Information Literacy Summit in Palos Hills, IL, the CALL Conference in La Crosse, WI, ILA ACRL in Cedar Rapids, the Joint ILA/NLA/NSLA Conference in La Vista, NE, the School Library Journal Day of Dialog in St. Paul, MN, ILA Planning Day in Johnston, and regular meetings of the ILA Exec Board in Grinnell! It's amazing that all of that was packed into a single year (one of my New Year's resolutions may be to go to fewer things this year)! It's amazing just how much travel money you can save when using Airbnb!



  • Served as facilitator for AAUW Start Smart Salary Negotiation workshops across campus. I love that Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) and the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity, along with other campus partners, led the efforts to purchase a multi-year license to continue these workshops!
  • Appreciated the experiences I had growing up and celebrated 100 years of orchestra in my hometown schools!
  • I've been fortunate to continue having regular meetings with my library mentor. It has been so helpful to have this time set aside for professional reflection and connection!
  • Survived the polar vortex...
  • Supported and advocated for Iowa's teacher librarians against harmful proposed language changes in state government. 

  • Was a cheerleader on Twitter for our students AND our faculty.
  • Enjoyed being part of the Central Iowa Symphony community.
  • Began coordinating pup volunteers for Barks@Parks (comfort animal event each semester) as part of my service on the ISU Library Events Committee.


  • And I did some fun reading, some hard reading, and some professional reading throughout the year.
  • Helped with both spring and fall Commencement - Congrats Cyclone Grads!


  • Made my dog part of my bad "dad jokes" in my Library 160 instruction.
  • Wished our Dean well on her new adventures.
  • Explored updates to the front spaces of our library.
  • Took advantage of several training opportunities on campus including CPR, Mental Health First Aid, and Suicide Prevention, in addition to library professional development and meetings. 
  • Began taking American Sign Language classes this fall, taking advantage of ISU's tuition reimbursement benefit. I'm excited to learn more about Deaf culture and American Sign Language grammar, vocabulary, and storytelling!
  • Welcomed many new students to the ISU family during summer new student orientation and library tours.
  • Collaborated with folks in SCUA to provide 4-H workshops in June focusing on preserving your heritage and family artifacts. 
  • Served on the Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture working group for ALA.
  • And loved on my pup, all year long. 




How was your 2019?

Posted by Cara at 5:30 PM
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