RASD

RASD at the Long Island Library Conference 

Enhancing Health Literacy: The Essential Role of Libraries and Librarians
Speakers: Terri Ann Parnell DNP, MA, RN, FAAN
Sponsored by: SCLA RASD Health Concerns, NCLA Health Concerns & LILRC Health Sciences Information Committees
Arranged by: Sally Stieglitz & Salvatore J. Filosa
Location: Roosevelt Salon Lower Level   Session I (9am-10am)

Access to clear and actionable information is vital for effective individual health management. Libraries and librarians are essential, trusted community partners that can provide resources to help minimize the gap that exists between individual skills and abilities and the increasing demands and complexities of health care organizations. Health literacy is a precursor to health and is increasingly being viewed through a public health lens with a focus on health promotion and empowerment. Health literacy has been defined as the “degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions”. Health literacy skills are dependent on individual and systemic factors. Partnerships to promote health literacy across professions, organizations and sectors are essential to help address the 88% of American adults with health literacy limitations.

RASD at the Long Island Library Conference 

The Future of Reference Services
Speaker(s): Ellen Firer, Director of Merrick Library
Trina Reed, Director of Levittown Library
Caroline Ashby, Assistant Director of Nassau Library System
Sponsored by: SCLA & NCLA RASD
Arranged by: Cynthia HoSang and Rose Marut
Location: Salons 1, 2, 3 Upper Level    Session I (9am-10am)

The Member Library Directors’ Reinvention Committee was established in 2012 as a follow up to a program on Reinventing the Library. Currently, the Reinvention Committee, after attending a variety of conferences, particularly the “Library Leaders’ Summit” at Computers in Libraries, decided to focus on the future of Reference librarianship.

To begin with, we created surveys for staffs of representative libraries to gather data on what is currently being done at Reference desks. Roundtable groups will follow, to discuss what Reference librarians see as their job, and what direction they see it going in the future. These roundtable groups will be composed of either volunteers from the libraries in one group, recommendations by Directors of innovative and forward thinking librarians in another group, and then each member of the committee will have a group at their own library. At the end of the project, we will compile results, and the methodology and results of this project will be in our presentation.