Alden Librarian Awarded Inaugural Grant

Alden Librarian Carolyn “Cary” Morse has been honored as the inaugural community college recipient of the MALTA award: the Massachusetts Commonwealth Consortium of Libraries in Public Higher Education Institutions (MCCLPHEI) Academic Librarian Travel Award. This is a generous travel grant awarded to one Massachusetts community college librarian to support attending a national conference. Ms. Morse will participate in the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Washington, D.C., in June, and present a summary of the conference proceedings at a MCCLPHEI professional development workshop in 2019-2020. Her participation in the ALA conference is also supported by QCC Staff Development funds.

The ALA Conference offers librarians an unmatched professional development opportunity. At the conference, Ms. Morse will attend workshops, discussions and poster sessions about key issues such as information literacy instruction for first-generation college students and usability of library websites. Conference key-note speakers will include Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi.

Ms. Morse is particularly excited to participate in two ALA reference research workshops offered by a team of librarians from the University of Southern California. The team conducted focus group research to better understand their students’ habits, attitudes and needs in relation to research help. The Los Angeles team also studied chat reference with an emphasis on balancing student expectations with the mandates of the information literacy framework adopted by ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) in 2015.

Ms. Morse expects to return from ALA with new skills and knowledge, an expanded professional network and a rejuvenated commitment to serving the in-formation literacy needs of QCC students, faculty and staff.  She is eager to share her learning about new trends and innovations with colleagues both at QCC and at other sites across the Commonwealth.

This article was written by Librarian Michael Stevenson.