Hello to all!
In a bid to be more open with our membership, this will be the first in a series of blog posts/email blasts to let you know what has been discussed in our board meetings, what’s being planned, and what ideas may need to be put on the backburner.
Firstly, our California liaison, Laurel Diskin has coordinated with the California chapter of the Music Library Association (MLACC), and MLStEP will be presenting a panel at the meeting featuring myself (Geo Flores, MLStEP Chair), Laurel Diskin (California Liaison), Alyssa Nance (Southeast Liaison), and Vivian Tompkins (New York State-Ontario Liaison), and potentially some other former members of MLStEP to discuss the value of MLStEP, especially as it pertains to assisting people in transitioning from library school students to professional music librarians. This meeting will be held Friday, October 1, 2021; here’s a handy link to the website: http://ccmla.wp.musiclibraryassoc.org/welcome2021/
Next, we’d like to thank our wonderful Web Technologies officer, Georgette Patricio, for making the Summer Social Video, as well as the Summer Social Task Force who made the whole thing happen in the first place: Bonnie Finn (Programming Officer), Emily Colucci (New England Liaison), Alyssa Nance (Southeast Liaison), and Laurel Diskin (California Liaison).
Presently, we are in the middle of our Membership Drive. This year, we’ve given more power to our individual chapter liaisons to reach out to their local communities to give our membership a more personal connection to the organization. We are also broadening our reach beyond ALA accredited schools to include NASM accredited schools, HBCUs and HSIs, in a bid to ensure that we are reaching out to as many potential students and emerging professionals as possible.
Finally, a lot of work this year has gone into organizing policies, roles/responsibilities, and infrastructure within the organization so that we are better positioned to serve our membership going forward. Expect more news of MLStEP and its activities in the months that follow. Thank you all!
– Geo Flores, MLStEP Chair