VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES!

SCALA places a high value on serving and contributing to our community. Here are two opportunities to do so within the next week. Keep posted, we'll let you know about more opportunites soon.

SISCO (School of Information Science Community Outreach) has scheduled the following service opportunities:

Book ‘Em: Sunday, November 2, 3-8 PM
We will fill and mail book requests from inmates across the country. Please come for the whole afternoon or stop in for a few hours. Bookem’ is located at 5125 Penn Ave, reachable on the 86B busline. http://www.thomasmertoncenter.org/bookem/

Millvale Library: Saturday, November 8, 10am-3pm
We will be helping to renovate and winterize the librarybuilding. Lunch provided! The Millvale Library is located at 213 Grant Avenue, Millvale,PA 15209 http://www.millvalelibrary.org/ML/Welcome.html

These are both great opportunities to contribute to the community and gain some experience as well. They have asked that you RSVP to sisco.pitt@gmail.com if you are able to attend. For more information about these projects, please view the SISCO blog: http://sisco-pitt.blogspot.com/

Book Kart Drill Team!

For those who missed the BKDT meeting, we have a Google Group, which you are encouraged to join if you have any interest at all in this thing; you can e-mail me at coral dot hess at gmail dot com, if you dislike the Google Groups interface and just want me to add you. We're using it to share ideas for themes/songs/awesome dance moves/videos we like. We also have a Google Calendar. Join the Google Group for access to it, or you can look at the publicly viewable version here. (Spoiler alert: I'm proposing a meeting on Wednesday, November 23, from 12:30-1:30. I know it's the day before Thanksgiving, but I have this theory that most people will still be in town that day. Join the group and make counter-suggestions, if I'm wrong!)

Just a heads up: by mid-December, we're going to need a commitment from everyone on our BKDT crew about doing this thing. That means coming to practices and being at the competition, at ALA Annual 2009 (in Chicago, IL, from July 9- July 15, though the competition will probably be that Saturday or Sunday). We need to start looking for funding, and the number of people who are participating has a big influence on how much we need to ask for. Yes, this is an opportunity to have your conference attendance subsidized; so, while it's a super fun and awesome thing, it is also something you need to be sure you can commit to.

More about that later, though.

In the meantime: about halfway through this video, something awesome happens. You should watch it.

November General Meeting!

SCALA will be holding its most excellently enjoyable and productive November meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 4th at 5:15pm in 1A04 (the first floor lounge).

Hope to see you all there!

PS- There won't be a Thanksgiving dinner served (and so ends the officers' tofurkey vs. regular turkey debate, sadly) at the meeting, but there may just be a cornucopia of such beautific majesty as to make Martha Stewart weep in her Burberry wellies, lol!

Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the last two meetings can be found here:

General Meeting October 8, 2008

Board Meeting October 2, 2008

Book Kart Drill Team!

Hello, from your friendly Treasurer-slash-Book-Kart-Drill-Team-Person!

I've looked over the current volunteer list, and it seems like 1) we've got enough interest to make this thing go, and 2) the best time to meet will be Wednesday, October 22, from 12:30-1:30. For now, the location is the First Floor Lounge, though I'm still working on little details like "how to reserve it"--I'll send an update if the location changes.

In the meantime, have a look at the previous Pitt drill team:



And various 2007 teams, in a montage:

Meeting Today!

Don't forget, folks! There's a meeting today, 1pm, in the First Floor Lounge! We'll discuss this semester's projects, and it will be fabulous. Also, I heard a rumor that there might be candy there.

ACRL Chapter Meeting, October 24

Greetings,

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), an academic libraries subdivision of the ALA, is holding its Western PA/West VA chapter meeting on the 24th of October. It will take place at Duquesne University in the Duquesne Union on the third floor in the Duquesne Room, so that should be easy to remember. Registration begins at 10 AM, and the event ends at 12:30 PM.

I strongly encourage all MLIS students to attend, no matter your specialization nor your membership status with ALA or ACRL. It will give you an opportunity to meet practicing librarians and familiarize yourself with the profession.

Maps and parking, general information about the local chapter, and the flyer for the event itself are at the links provided. If you use public transportation, many, if not most, buses heading downtown will suffice, but double-check the Port Authority's website further.

Business casual is the order of the day, so dress well, but no need for suits, gentlemen. (I'm less certain about dress options for women, but use your best judgment.) Good luck, and don't forget to bring a folio and plenty of resumes!


Blake