Call for Essays - ALA Student-to-Staff Program

Hello, I’m excited to announce a great opportunity for ALA members who want to go to the ALA Annual Conference in June 2010. As the UK student chapter of ALA we are able to select one student to participate in the ALA Student-to-Staff Program. Here is some information about the program from ALA’s Don Wood:

“Students are expected to work 16 hours for four days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday). Usually this means working for one unit, such as the International Relations Office, the Public Information Office, the ALA Store, American Association of School Librarians, for the entire time, but could also mean working 8 hours for one unit and 8 hours for another.

In return, each student receives free Annual Conference registration, $50 per diem [4 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) x $50 = $200] and housing (each student has a roommate whenever possible) for 5 nights (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). The $200 and housing information are sent before conference to addresses provided by the students. Note: Transportation costs (taxis, flights, etc., are the student’s responsibility.

Roommates are matched by gender, primarily. If there are 21 females and 19 males, one female and one male will not be sharing their rooms with another student-to-staff member. Prior to conference, students must complete a short questionnaire to help us match them with appropriate ALA units (e.g., Public Library Association, Office for Library Advocacy, Conference Services). Based on their assignment, students may be expected to perform a range of duties from clerical, to sales, to use of computers, to setting up and staffing events, etc. We have seen many of the students become active in ALA as they move into successful careers. Students tell us that they benefit from the behind-the-scenes involvement in ALA. We certainly benefit from their help, fresh perspectives, and enthusiasm.”

In order to be eligible to participate in the program you must be an ALA member and a student in the SLIS program at the time of the conference, which is June 24-29 in Washington, D.C. If you would like to be considered please submit an essay to me (jlking40356@gmail.com) including the following:

1) Your involvement in ALA up to this point
2) Why you should be selected for the program

It doesn’t have to be more than a paragraph or two. The deadline to submit an essay is January 18, 2010. Once the essays are collected they will be read by myself, Dr. Miller, and maybe another officer in the student chapter. If you are not currently a member of ALA then join today for the annual rate of $33 and then submit an essay! We really want someone to represent UK at Annual this year, tell us why it should be you! I look forward to your essays. If you have any questions please contact me at jlking40356@gmail.com