Congratulations to Ann Aldrich!

Next time you see Ann Aldrich, congratulate her! She was just appointed as Librarian at Woodland East Elementary School in Gurnee. Ann has taught kindergarten at Woodland for 13 years. Her earlier career also included several years of teaching first and second grade in locations as different as Kuwait and Glenview (really!). Now she's eager to make a difference in her school's library, and I have no doubt that she will. She will serve more than 800 students and nearly 100 faculty and staff. I'm sure that Ann's work ethic, professionalism and desire to put the kids first will benefit every student who comes her way!

Ann will be getting a Library Information Specialist (LIS) endorsement on her teaching certificate by completing LTA coursework at CLC. In fact, it was Ann's questions about the endorsement last spring that prompted me to get a definitive answer on this topic from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Courses taken at CLC do satisfy the requirement for the LIS endorsement, and Ann will be the first to earn it since we've received this official answer from the ISBE.

Share Your Success!

Have you recently landed a new job in a library? Attended a library conference? Received a special recognition at your job? Been involved in an interesting project or program at work? If so, please let me know! Of course, I'd like to know what great things you are up to, but I'd also like to share your success with your fellow LTA classmates. Knowing what your fellow LTAs are accomplishing will serve as motivation and inspiration. Share your success!

Registration Begins

Priority registration for currently enrolled students begins next Monday, April 17th, and open registration for all students begins Monday, April 24th. Once registration begins students can register for both summer and fall classes. If you wish to enroll in a summer practicum, please contact me before you register -- the sooner, the better. For fall, we will offer LTA 121, Introduction to Library Science; LTA 272, Cataloging and Classification; LTA 277, Automation for Libraries; and LTA 273, Library Materials.

Life after College

The CLC Alumni Association is hosting "Life After College - Putting the Pieces Together", on Tuesday, April 18th, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00p.m. in the Main Lobby of the Grayslake campus. Eighteen different "life" areas will be represented including, financial planning, career planning, buying a home, transferring to a 4-year school, networking (CLC Alumni Association), insurance, taxes, etc. This is an opportunity to prepare for the next stage in your life. Free pizza and prizes will be offered.

Reaching Forward -- A Conference for Library Support Staff

Are you familiar with the Reaching Forward Conference? It's a conference planned especially for library support staff, and it's such a great day that many who are not support staff want to attend also! In fact, Tom Rich, who is a valued member of our LTA Advisory Committee, is one of the primary planners of this wonderful conference. This year, Reaching Forward is on Friday, May 19, 2006 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont Illinois. After breakfast and a keynote address, three sessions of at least ten programs each are offered. This year's keynote speaker is Loretta LaRoche, an international lecturer, stress management consultant, theatre performer, and best-selling author. Her irreverent humor, wit and wisdom helps people learn to take themselves less seriously by seeing the humor in everyday stressors. If you have never attended a conference, this is a great one to start you off. To paraphrase from the Reaching Forward web site, this is a day to learn, network and have fun! To find out more, click on Reaching Forward in the Links of Interest at left. If you have attended the conference, leave a comment here to share your experience with colleagues.