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Last summer, ZSR Library staff started up a Journal Reading group and today was the final gathering of the fall semester. The idea was modeled along the lines of a book club, but with professional journal articles instead of books. Each month, a preselected article (chosen by a staff member) is read and then discussed and analyzed by all who attend the session. The group is open to all ZSR Library staff (librarian, exempt and non-exempt), and we hope to extend the invitation to the other WFU Libraries.

Each month, one of the group picks out the article for the next meeting. Everyone who attends that session reads the article and then spends an hour discussing the information and ideas presented in the article. Subjects covered during the first several months include:

• The Information Age and the Printing Press
• Academic Librarianship and the Digital Revolution
• Librarians and the Faculty in Discussion
• Why Professor Johnny Can’t Read: Understanding the Next Generation’s Texts
• Critical Thinking and Library Anxiety
• Library digitization Projects, Issues and Guidelines

There is a loyal group of “regulars” who make it a priority to attend each month to discuss issues important to our profession. As we head toward the new world of library faculty status, we know it is important to be conversant in the important issues of today’s academic library and higher education. This forum provides an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and become acquainted with trends and areas outside one’s area of expertise.

We would love to have a higher level of participation, beyond the core of 5-8 staff who now attend. This semeter, the session was scheduled on Thursdays at 11:00 to have it held at a time where there were no class conflicts. We would love to receive feedback from others on staff about when might be a time that more staff would be able to regularly attend. We would also love feedback from those who don’t attend on how we can adapt the program so that more of the staff might find it a “must do” in their monthly schedule. Send your comments to Susan, Erik or Giz and we will work to adjust the program to make it more vital to a larger number of our staff. We know all of us have intriguing interests in our profession that would be documented in the literature, and believe that sharing and discussing these ideas would benefit us all.