LIBRARY STAFF ORIENTATION
by Susan Palmatier, Supervisor
Library Development Services
N.H. State Library
North Country Office, Lancaster
The time will soon be here for another library staff orientation at the State Library. The one held in October 2005 was the 10th in seven years. What began in 1999 as an annual introduction to N.H. State Library services for new public library directors, has become a twice-a-year guided tour for the old and new staff of every type of library.
If you haven't had a chance to visit the native-granite edifice at 20 Park Street, please sign up the next time the orientation is held: once in the fall and once in the spring. With luck - schedules don't always cooperate - you'll meet people like...
- Van McLeod, Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Resources;
- Michael York, State Librarian;
- Janet Eklund, Administrator of Library Operations (she keeps the building and the staff running smoothly);
- Ann Hoey, Youth Services Coordinator (she works with both public and school libraries);
- Tom Ladd, Library Education Coordinator (he's responsible for all the modular courses);
- Diana Degen, Electronic and Government Information Resources Supervisor (she negotiates all those lovely databases you and your patrons have access to);
- Donna Gilbreth, Reference and Information Services Supervisor, reference librarians Jane Lyman and Charles Shipman, and the rest of the RIS staff;
- Alice Nye, Special Services Supervisor, librarian Nancy Cristiano, and staff of the Family Resource Connection;
- Zelda Moore, genealogy librarian, and Ed Holden, genealogist;
- John Barrett, Library Services to Persons with Disabilities Supervisor (Talking Books);
- Diane Callahan and Sarah Wiegard, librarians in Technical Services (they ensure the State Library's collection is well and properly cataloged, classified, and presented in a usable format on the web);
- Charles LeBlanc, N.H. Automated Information System Supervisor, and David Harris, NHAIS troubleshooter; and
- Mary Russell, Director of the N.H. Center for the Book, as well as NHAIS librarian
You probably won't meet any of the van drivers because they'll be on the road with their blue trucks and colorful bins. You also will meet few of the support staff, because they'll be behind the scenes in Reference, Technical Services, NHAIS, and Administration. As much as we'd love to have you see every inch of the State Library, the 1895 building is just too pinched for space for us to shepherd you all through the back rooms.
You also won't see the author, since she doesn't travel as far as Concord any longer. However, if you're ever in Lancaster, the center of the North Country, please drop into the State Library's North Country Office in the G-B American building at 244 Main Street (next to McDonald's and across from Connecticut River Bank) and say hello to her. The NCO welcomes visitors.
Do try to attend an orientation to learn about all of the services in State Library offers, and encourage your colleagues to join you. That's a literal suggestion: Parking in Concord is tighter than paint on a wall at the best of times, so carpooling is ideal. Preference in attendance is given to new public library directors, then public library staff, then non-public library staff, and finally trustees and Friends. If we can't fit you into your first choice of orientation, we'll reserve a space for you in the next one. We may even begin to hold more than two a year. See you in Concord! |
