[Libs-Or] [PL-Directors] Introducing upcoming new Library Support team members!

Thu May 30 14:01:55 PDT 2024

Hurray! Congratulations all around!

Adrienne Doman Calkins (she/her/hers)
Library Manager, Sherwood Public Library
22560 SW Pine Street, Sherwood, OR 97140
503-625-4272  |  domancalkinsa at sherwoodoregon.gov<mailto:domancalkinsa at sherwoodoregon.gov>
www.sherwoodoregon.gov/library<http://www.sherwoodoregon.gov/library>  |  Monthly e-newsletter<https://www.libraryaware.com/1690/Subscribers/Subscribe?showonlynewsletterlists=true>
A member library of Washington County Cooperative Library Services

From: Libs-Or <libs-or-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of Stephanie Chase via Libs-Or
Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2024 10:44 AM
To: NIELSEN Buzzy * SLO <Buzzy.NIELSEN at slo.oregon.gov>
Cc: Andrea Scherer via Kids-lib <kids-lib at omls.oregon.gov>; Public Library Directors announcement list (pl-directors at omls.oregon.gov) <pl-directors at omls.oregon.gov>; Tribal Library Directors announcement list (tl-directors at omls.oregon.gov) <tl-directors at omls.oregon.gov>; Answerland discussion list (answerland at omls.oregon.gov) <answerland at omls.oregon.gov>; libs-or at omls.oregon.gov; Academic Library Directors announcement list (al-directors at omls.oregon.gov) <al-directors at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: Re: [Libs-Or] [PL-Directors] Introducing upcoming new Library Support team members!

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you are expecting this email and/or know the content is safe.

Big congratulations to Gesse and Ericka, and to the State Library!

On Wed, May 29, 2024 at 5:13 PM NIELSEN Buzzy * SLO via PL-Directors <pl-directors at omls.oregon.gov<mailto:pl-directors at omls.oregon.gov>> wrote:
Hi folks,

I am very, very, very excited to announce that the Library Support division at the State Library of Oregon will have two fantastic new people joining our team in the coming weeks.

Gesse Stark-Smith – Virtual Reference Coordinator
Gesse will join the State Library on June 5 as our Virtual Reference Coordinator. In that position, Gesse will coordinate our 24/7 online library chat reference program Answerland<https://answerland.org/>, which connects people with librarians from around Oregon and the country to answer their questions. Gesse will work with partner libraries, volunteers, and others to ensure Answerland continues providing great service in English and Spanish.

Gesse comes to us with a background as a school librarian and over ten years’ experience in various roles at Multnomah County Library, including School Corps librarian, Spanish/English bilingual youth librarian, community outreach librarian, and supervisor and manager of various programs including adult learning and culturally-specific programming. Gesse also served on and chaired our Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Advisory Council<https://www.oregon.gov/Library/libraries/Pages/lstaac.aspx>.

Many thanks to the Virtual Reference Coordinator search committee: Tamara Ottum and Natalie Brant from the State Library and Michele Burke from Chemeketa Community College.

Ericka Brunson-Rochette – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant
Ericka joins the team on July 15 as our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant. This brand new position was created in response to strong interest from all of you in the library community! In the role, Ericka will provide training, consulting, and resources to support libraries to better serve communities that are historically and currently underserved and under-resourced, as well as help libraries on their path to becoming more equitable, diverse, inclusive, and antiracist.

Ericka likely is a familiar name for many of you, as she is currently the president of the Oregon Library Association and has been active in OLA’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Antiracism (EDIA) Committee. In addition to her on-the-ground DEI experience, Ericka has training and holds certifications in DEI from the University of South Florida, Rice University, and Cornell University. She also joins the team with over 15 years’ experience in children’s services at the Manhattan Public Library (Kansas), Kitsap Regional Library (Washington), and most recently Deschutes Public Library here in Oregon.

Thank you to the search committee for DEI Consultant: Greta Bergquist and Wren Kominos from the State Library, Christina Fuller-Gregory of Fuller Potential Consulting, and LaRee Dominguez at Albany Public Library and co-chair of OLA’s EDIA Committee.

You can expect to hear more from both folks after they start their jobs. Please give them a bit of time to settle in!

In Library Support, we are continually trying to evolve our services to better serve you and your libraries. Gesse and Ericka will bring experience, wisdom, and fresh perspectives to help Library Support continue being responsive to your changing needs. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and ask.

Cheers!

Buzzy Nielsen, MPP, MSI (he/him/his)
Program Manager for Library Support and Tribal Liaison
State Library of Oregon
buzzy.nielsen at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:buzzy.nielsen at slo.oregon.gov> | 971-375-3486
www.oregon.gov/library/libraries<https://www.oregon.gov/library/libraries>
Follow us: Facebook<http://fb.me/StateLibraryOR> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/StateLibraryOR> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/statelibraryor/> | Pinterest<https://pinterest.com/statelibraryor/> | YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-kU8Gu0jS_YcnXg-b_TRA/featured>

[Logo for the Library Support & Development Services division at the State Library of Oregon]<http://www.oregon.gov/library/libraries>

This email may contain confidential information or privileged material and is intended for use solely by the above referenced recipient. Any review, copying, printing, disclosure, distribution, or other use by any other person or entity is strictly prohibited and may be illegal. If you are not the named recipient, or believe you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the City of Sherwood at (503) 625-5522 and delete the copy you received.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20240530/d432b723/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 19516 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20240530/d432b723/attachment.png>