By Mary Beth Lock

Inside ZSR

Mary Beth at ALA (virtually)

I attended ALA virtually, although I’d hoped to go in person, but the sudden and early appearance of my grandson upended those plans. So I’ve been availing myself of several of the sessions that were recorded and made available to all ALA registrants. I have found many very interesting and relevant sessions. ALA stepped up... more

Mary Beth’s (Virtual) ALA

I, like others have mentioned, think I more “experienced” than “attended” ALA Annual’s virtual conference. It was exhausting to try to be both “in community” with others remotely, while ignoring pressing needs of my work-a-day life when there were things equally accessible through my in box, and tempting to resolve through my keyboard.  Online conferences,... more

Mary Beth at NCLA, 2019 and other travels

My NCLA experience started off on a high note, attending the Diversity Delineated, Inclusion Integrated session with Molly Keener, Chris Burris, Monesha Staton-Fluker. Their very informative presentation on the history and development of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee (now Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee) was a trip down memory lane, as well as serving as... more

MBL at ALA in DC, 2019

I was appointed to the ACRL Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee as vice-chair this year and as such, I spent much of my ALA time focused on the work of the committee.  Since EDI has been given special focus in ACRL this year, there were many programs on the subject. In addition, ALA had several... more

Mary Beth at ALA Annual in NOLA

The kickoff for ALA was the aforementioned Michelle Obama opening session. The line to get into seeing her speech was exceedingly long, (so much so that we feared getting a seat in the 9000 seat auditorium) but what really surprised me was the relatively light security.  Her conversation, as was already mentioned, was her very personal... more

MBL@ALAMW18in Denver

ALA Midwinter 18 in Denver commenced just as a debilitating snowstorm was moving across the northern tier of states. While the storm didn’t impact our travel, (I was travelling with Susan and our path took us from GSO to Charlotte to Denver) it did have a significant impact to how I spent my time this... more

Mary Beth at NCLA

I attended a few really inspiring sessions at NCLA this year.  One, entitled “I Do”: The Engaged Employee offered by three librarians from Wake County Public Libraries provided tips to better engage your workers in the work of the library through methods that create a sense of community among the staff. They had a variety of tips... more

MBL’s at ALAMW in Atlanta

My conference experience revolved around two specific foci. I was recently elected as a member-at-large of SustainRT, the Sustainability Round Table of ALA.  My duties with this group include arranging programming for our sessions at ALA Annual, so I did a bit of networking to identify topics and speakers that might be of interest at... more

Mary Beth @ ALA16-Orlando

My ALA conference was focused on two primary objectives: begin work related to the Sustainability Round Table, (SustainRT, to which I was just elected Member-at-Large) and get as much information on diversity and inclusion through ALA’s diversity programming as I could squeeze into my schedule. The work of the SustainRT board started early as I... more

Social Justice and Disability Workshop

On Thursday, March 31, the Learning Assistance Center/Disability Services office sponsored a day long workshop entitled “Reframing Disability and Creating Inclusive Environments”. The meeting included interested parties from all across campus, from facilities, to athletics, to student services, and many representatives from the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Dr.... more