Reflections on the last decade by Rebecca Davis, President, 2004/05:

I loved being the President of NCNMLG. My only regret is that I couldn't serve for two years, rather than one. During my tenure (2004/05) we resurrected some ideas that had been on the back burner for a while; and came up with a few new ideas. The Executive Board and Committe Chairs were a stellar group that worked hard to implement those ideas. Some of those ideas actually came into fruition, but I'll mention all of them.

Here's what I remember happening: At the 2004 Transition Meeting, most of our discussions and plans were concerned with ways to welcome new members and help them feel part of the group; devising ways for members to acknowledge the work of a colleague; and the encouragement of professional development. Three programs were developed to address these concerns. The Mentoring Taskforce initiated a new program called the Colleague Connection, to match new members with current members. It had some success the first year, but became a "back burner" item.The Colleague Appreciation Program (CAP) was the culmination of one of those "back burner" ideas that had been discussed for a while - finding ways to acknowledge colleagues by donating money to the chapter in their name. The idea was based on the 'Armadillo Accolades" given by the South Central Chapter. The CAP allows any member to honor a colleague for at least a $10.00 donation to the Chapter. The honored colleague receives a certificate; listing in the newsletter, and is part of a poster presentation at the next Joint Meeting. To date, about $600 has been donated, honoring about 15 people.At the time, the plan was to use the money received for the Colleague Appreciation Program to fund a new program (at least for our chapter) that would encourage professional development by providing grants. The Professional Development Grant was designed to provide an appplication process (deadlines April 15 and November 15) for members to request up to $300 to attend an educational event. Two people have received funding. In 2006/07, it was decided that the chapter should fund the grant directly for $1,000 per year, in addition to the CAP funds.

More thoughts and events from 04/05 later.
Rebecca Davis MLS AHIP
Coordinator of Outreach Services
Health Sciences Libraries
Blaisdell Medical Library
radavis@ucdavis.edu
916-734-3529