Library Spotlight on the Sojourner Truth Library at SUNY New Paltz

The Sojourner Truth Library and SUNY New Paltz will host the State University of New York Librarians Association annual conference this June, for the first time in 20 years. Libraries without Borders: Taking it to the Streets, is the theme of the 2005 conference, which draws SUNY librarians from throughout New York State, as well as public librarians, school media specialists, and library school students.

Conference presentations and panels will address such areas of interest as: Information Literacy Skills, Technology Literacy, OPAC Browsing, Library Leadership, Course Reserves, the Invisible Web, Authentic Activities in Library Instruction, Distance Learning and Resource Sharing, Blogging, Digital images, Continuous assessment, and Open Access Journals.

This is an excellent opportunity to showcase our library, our campus, our town and the Hudson Valley. What would we like our visitors to know about STL? We want them to know that the library "…fosters learning and supports scholarship at SUNY New Paltz by providing an extensive array of information resources and services," in accordance with our mission statement. We encourage the effective use of library services and resources, by providing a variety of access points to information in a variety of formats. Teaching librarians collaborate with faculty to promote information literacy to students of every level.

Wireless access is now available to SUNY New Paltz students, faculty and staff on the main floor of the library. An after-hours study space, desired by many students, is being offered on an experimental basis. STL MetaLibrary, a federated searching tool, is now in its second year and will soon be replaced by a newer version with even stronger capabilities. Other important events and services this year have included:

• The new web-based OPAC, which went live here on April 1, 2005. Ya Wang, Systems Librarian and leader of this extraordinary endeavor, worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth transition from DYNIX. She and her team were optimistic that any errors might be construed as an April Fool's prank.
• Additions to subscription databases: Artstor, Oxford English Dictionary Online, New York Times Historical, Mergent Online
• Barbara Petruzzelli and her National Library Week Committee, celebrated paper engineering as this year's theme, with a month-long exhibit Ideas in Motion: The History of Pop-Up and Movable Books. Ellen G.K. Rubin curated the exhibition of more than 80 items, from her own collection. Robert Sabuda, creator of celebrated pop-up versions of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, presented a slide show, Paper in Motion: Contemporary Paper Engineering.

Other NLW events included a presentation on writing for magazines, workshops on paper animation, a noontime entertainment series, many drawings for prizes, book sale donations, database workshops, contests, a display to promote librarianship, and a Friday night coffee house. 2005 READ posters featured New Paltz alumni and their favorite books.

Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature was the title of a five-part book discussion series this spring, focusing on the theme of homecoming and estrangement in contemporary Jewish literature and culture. Valerie Mittenberg was awarded an ALA grant to organize this series, which also received support from The Louis and Mildred Resnick Institute for the Study of Modern Jewish Life and the SUNY New Paltz Foundation.

By Susan Kraat, Coordinator of Library Instruction, SUNY New Paltz

Southeastern News Online is published by SENYLRC staff.