Biblio File
Metropolitan New York Library Council: Training for Librarians
One of the many advantages of large urban areas is increased opportunities for professional development. METRO is one of the most helpful librarian professional organizations that I have found in New York City. It hosts a terrific annual conference, it has job listings, and it has special interest groups. It also collaborates with other librarian organizations, such as ACRL/NY, to put on informative programs for its members.
METRO Conference
Luckily for me, NYPL is an institutional member, so I can attend the annual conference for free. Many of the training sessions are free, but some require a small fee. I remember when I attended its annual afternoon business meeting around 2010. It was held in a downtown Manhattan location, and David Ferriero, the US Chief Archivist and former Andrew W. Mellon Director at NYPL, spoke about the National Archives. It was an eye-opening experience for me. In 2011, a new president took the lead at METRO, and he helped catalyze the development of a full-day annual conference. The conference consists of keynote speeches as well as participant-run break-out sessions, in which they discuss innovative projects upon which they are embarking. Library staff can submit proposals in order to have a chance to present at the event. I have attended two of these conferences, and I liked them both very much. The Metro Annual Conference 2015 is scheduled for January 15, 2015.
Get on a waiting list for the January Metro conference.
Special Interest Groups
The Special Interest Groups (SIGs) of METRO have helped me meet and network with other professionals in my areas of interest. I attended a session of the Prison Librarians SIG, and it was intriguing to hear about their book-lending experiences in correctional institutions. I have volunteered for the Rikers Island lending service that NYPL provides. I also presented in another SIG about my mentoring experience with ACRL/NY and about the collaboration between school and public libraries.
Job Listings
The job listings help me keep abreast of the job trends in the field, and I can use them to help my mentees find jobs. METRO members are dedicated librarians from whom I can learn, and I am thrilled to have this tremendous resources in our community.
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