Michele feels that by working in libraries, she really has “come home” and that libraries can make an incredible impact on individuals and communities. That belief motivates her to continue to work on new projects and promote opportunities for libraries and librarians. Michele has been involved in many of the projects and events that have been part of WebJunction’s efforts over the years. She says that one of her favorite programs was the Rural Library Sustainability program, where she served as the trainer in her state and also helped to prepare other states to deploy the program. In Iowa, the workshops were called Libraries on the Prairie, and Michele says that one of the best things is that it allowed for “a large number of our smaller libraries, who usually can't attend most workshops, to come and give us all an invaluable perspective of rural communities and libraries in Iowa.” Exactly what the team at WebJunction was hoping would happen!
Michele keeps engaged with the library community and has helped to create valuable resources and experiences for library staff. She has also been active in building online communities and is especially looking forward to the new community driven features that are available on WebJunction. Michele was ahead of the game at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim, where she did an outstanding job as a host of the Library 2.0 Café, bringing her expertise for building community to a roomful of librarians.
In addition to her community building efforts, Michele has also tackled important topics such as staff competencies and blended learning. She served as an advisory member and contributor for two important WebJunction publications, the Blended Learning Guide and the Competencies for Sustaining Public Access Computing Programs. And at both the Public Library Association conference in 2008 and the American Library Association 2007 conference, Michele served on a panel which discussed the Blended Learning Guide (and you can listen to the podcast recording of that session). We're not sure where she gets all the energy...
As the community team leader for WebJunction Iowa, Michele is at the forefront of making WebJunction a valuable and interactive experience for the library staff in her state as well as contributing to the strength of the entire WebJunction community. We look forward to seeing more of her great ideas in action. Thanks for all that you do for libraries, Michele!
