New Hires
Ann M. Watson has recently joined the library staff at Ohio University Lancaster. Ann is serving as the Library Director of the Hannah V. McCauley Library. Just an FYI – Hannah McCauley was a very early advocate for academic libraries in Ohio and was the second recipient of ALAO’s Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award, accepting the award in 1985.

Cherie Bronkar, Head of User Services Librarian joined the Muskingum College Library staff in June 2008. She completed the A. Library Paraprofessional/IT program at Belmont Technical College and is a graduate of Franklin University where she earned a B.A. in Information Technology. Cherie holds an MLS from Texas Woman’s University. Cherie has over 20 years of library experience. She lives in Zanesville, OH with her husband and young daughter.

Tom Adamich, Head of Metadata Services Librarian, joined the Muskingum College Library staff in September 2008. He holds an A.A. degree from St. Petersburg College and a B.A. from the University of Akron. Tom completed an MLS at Kent State University and has extensive library experience, especially in the areas of cataloging and government documents.

Retirements
Edythe J. Feazel, Associate Professor, and Director of the Library at Mount Vernon Nazarene University is retiring Dec. 31st after 10.5 years as Library Director at MVNU and 28 years in librarianship

Deputy State Librarian Roger Verny is retiring after fifteen years with the State Library of Ohio. Roger oversaw many projects at the State Library of Ohio, including managing LSTA funds for new and innovative programming throughout Ohio’s library community including the creation of a 24/7 virtual reference service and the automation of 1,556 school libraries.

After ten years of service, Board Member Lucille Hastings’s term concludes at the end of 2008. Ms. Hastings’s tenure includes service as President of the State Library Board from 2003 to 2005 and Vice-President from 2001 to 2003 and 2005 to 2006.

In addition to saying goodbye to Roger and Lucille, the board recognized Cheri Wilks . Cheri is retiring after 24 years of service at the State Library of Ohio. She has held several positions in the library’s Research Services and Library Programs and Development departments including Reference Librarian and Library Consultant.

Renovations
Ohio University Lancaster, Hannah V. McCauley Library. The library is currently undergoing a major renovation which began November 17, 2008. The renovation of the two floor library has a completion date of August 6, 2009. The library staff is planning on having the library reassembled by the time classes resume next September 8, 2009.  The renovated library will include four group study rooms, a testing center lab to be used for distance education classes, a public computer lab which the local business community may reserve for workshops and seminars and a learning resources center which will support students in their math and writing.

Exhibits and Presentations

The Ohio State University at Marion/Marion Technical College Library hosted a staff arts and crafts exhibit for the OSU Staff Appreciation Week from August 18 through September 16. The Marion Campus Staff Arts and Crafts Exhibit garnered 28 entries and 4 winners were chosen via “People’s Choice” voting process. Each winner received a certificate, a ribbon and a gift card. The library helped develop the contest, advertised it and displayed the entries in the library and offered a virtual exhibit via the library webpage.

Laura Kinner, Lucy Duhon and Alice Crosetto, The University of Toledo, presented a paper titled, “A Far, Far Better Place: Adapting to Change in Technical Services,” at The Best of Times…the Worst of Times: the 28th Annual Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, South Carolina, November 5-8, 2008.

Laura Kinner, The University of Toledo, presented a paper titled, “A Tale of Two Libraries: The Merging of the Integrated Library Systems,” at The Best of Times…the Worst of Times: the 28th Annual Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, South Carolina, November 5-8, 2008.

Alice Crosetto, The University of Toledo, Sue Polanka, Wright State University, and Michelle Harper, NetLibrary, presented a lively lunch panel titled, “Tossing Traditional Collection Development Practices for Patron Initiated Purchasing: A Debate,” at The Best of Times…the Worst of Times: the 28th Annual Charleston Conference, Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, Charleston, South Carolina, November 5-8, 2008.

Alice Crosetto and Mark Horan, The University of Toledo, presented the 2007 Arab American Book Awards to the award-winning authors in both the fiction and nonfiction categories at the Second Annual Arab American Book Award Ceremony, Saturday, November 1, 2008, Dearborn, Michigan. Additional information about this award can be located at www.arabamericanmuseum.org

Wright State University’s Student Technology Assistance Center of the University Libraries hosted a course facilitated by Will Davis and Beth Anderson to Upward Bound students. Upward Bound is a pre-college preparation program targeting students from area high schools who are from first-generation college or low-income families. The library course, “Creating with Multimedia” allowed students to take advantage of the latest multimedia resources while creating and editing their own digital videos and websites.

Students attended class daily in the library for 6 weeks and were given hands-on experience using iMovie, Garageband and Dreamweaver. Upon completion of the course all students had created their own personal websites and digital stories. Students also gained experience in scriptwriting, storyboarding, scanning, media storage and critical thinking concerning the technological tools and the media they created. Success of the class was evidenced by participants’ test score improvements and by their enthusiasm for future classes.