RUSA News

RUSA Nominees for 2014 ALA Elections
ALA elections may not be until Spring of 2014, but RUSA already have a full slate.

President-Elect

  • Liane Luckman Taylor
  • Anne Beaubien

Director-at-Large

  • Danise Hoover
  • Stephanie Atkins
  • William McHugh
  • Janalyn L. Moss

For more information about ALA elections, please see ALA Election Information.

Confessions of a reference librarian: IAmRUSA launches interview series
Ever wonder exactly what kind of work members of RUSA do, or maybe which courses they would recommend for students looking for a career in reference or user services?

Each week IAmRUSA will feature a different interviewee for participants to ask questions about their professional careers, their passions and anything else involving librarianship. Hosted by ALA Connect, anyone interested may join the IAmRUSA community; participants do not need to be RUSA members.

If you are interested in participating as an interviewee, contact Kirk MacLeod or Sarah Hammill for more information.

Accepting Nominations for 2014 RUSA Achievement Awards
http://rusa.ala.org/blog/2013/09/03/2014_achievement_awards_nomination_period/

RUSA and RUSA sections are now accepting nominations for the following grants and awards. Please be aware of deadlines as some of them may have passed by the publication of RUSA Update.

Andrew Carnegie medal finalist named MacArthur Genius
Fiction writer, Karen Russell was named as one of 24 MacArthur “genius” fellows. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awards this annual grant to “encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations.”
Russell was a finalist for the 2012 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction for her first novel, Swamplandia!.

Call for RUSA Volunteers
March 1, 2014 is the planned closing date to volunteer for our RUSA, BRASS, CODES, History, MARS, RSS, and STARS committees. There’s no reason to put it off, though—volunteer today! Keep in mind that attendance at ALA Midwinter may not be required for some committees and sections. Feel free to contact the committee chair, section chair, or me if you have any questions about attendance. Links to RUSA division-level and section committees can be found here. Access the volunteer form using the same URL provided above. The menu to select section-level committees is located at the bottom of RUSA Committee Volunteer Form (requires sign-in).

Read the latest issue of RUSQ!
Reference and User Services Quarterly, Volume 53, Issue 1 is available and can be found on the RUSQsite.

You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers at President Kathleen Kern’s Office Hours
You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers at President Kathleen Kern’s Office Hours

Already a RUSA member but not sure where you fit in? Want to get involved? Just curious? Have a question about working with your committee and getting things down? We’ve got all the answers and more. President’s Office hours are also a good place to bring your ideas and enthusiasm.

RUSA President Kathleen Kern will hold virtual office hours via Adobe Connect every Tuesday from 2:00-3:00 p.m. CST.

Meet RUSA Board members:
From flight attendant to librarian: Q&A with Louise Feldmann, RUSA Director-at-Large

RUSA Membership Social and Trivia Contest at Midwinter!
Saturday, January 25, 5:30-7:00 PM, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel-Liberty Ballroom B

Kick off the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in style with the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Membership Social—an opportunity to eat, drink, network, win door prizes, and learn more about RUSA. The social open to all current RUSA members, friends of RUSA and those meeting attendees interested in learning more about the association and networking with peers. All attendees will have the opportunity to play trivia to win fantastic door prizes!

RUSA Book and Media Awards Ceremony and Reception at Midwinter!
Sunday, January 26, 5:00-6:30 PM, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel-Liberty Ballroom A

We’ll unveil the winners of the The Reading List, Notable Books and Listen List selections—lists that are used by readers advisory librarians nationwide—as well as the winners of the Dartmouth Medal for reference, the Sophie Brody Medal for Jewish literature, the Zora Neale Hurston Award for achievement in promoting African-American literature and the Louis Shores Award for book reviewing. All ALA Midwinter Meeting participants are invited to this celebration on-site in Philadelphia. Can’t attend? Track the announcements on Twitter with the hashtag #literarytastes.

Midwinter RUSA Board Meeting I, Town Hall Chat
Saturday, January 24, 1:30-3:30 PM
Midwinter RUSA Board Meeting II, Town Hall chat room, Monday, January 27, 2:00-4:00 PM, Pennsylvania Convention Center-118 A

Not able to attend Midwinter? You can still participate in RUSA planning. At the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, join the RUSA Board either in person or online to participate in the annual Town Hall meeting on Saturday, January 25, at the beginning of the RUSA board meeting which begins 1:30-3:30pm. Visit these ALA Connect chat rooms on January 25 to participate online (you may be asked to login or register to comment):

Chat Room 1:http://connect.ala.org/node/214095
Chat Room 2:http://connect.ala.org/node/214096
Chat Room 3:http://connect.ala.org/node/214097

Here are some questions to think about:

  • What keeps you involved in RUSA?
  • What encourages you to attend RUSA meetings?
  • What additional topics would you like to see in RUSA professional development activities?
  • What affinity areas would you like to see in RUSA (such as interest groups on particular topics that cross section levels)?