SUNYLA Conference
June 2022
With CLRC’s Professional Development Award, I was able to attend The State University of New York Librarians Association (SUNYLA) annual conference: Soaring Into the Future of Libraries, held June 8th-10th, 2022, at Farmingdale State College, in Farmingdale, NY. I am so thankful for the opportunity that this award afforded me! Not only was I able to attend the conference to learn from the expertise of many colleagues working across New York state, I also presented a lightning talk with a former colleague, discussing the pros and cons of inclusive-access book bundles.
With my SUNYLA swag at the Sustainable Garden at Farmingdale State College.
In my role as the Research Services Librarian for History & Archives at Le Moyne College, my job duties include research, instruction, collection development, and archival arrangement and description. The primary conference sessions provided a chance to hear from presenters, both within and without the SUNY system, who shared their diverse backgrounds and disciplinary expertise on a wide range of academic library-related topics. During the social events, attendees were able to network and share food and conversation while enjoying the beautiful campus of Farmingdale State College. Its heritage as an agricultural institution in the 1910s is evident in the lovely grounds, greenhouse, and the stunning Robert F. Ench teaching gardens.
Setting the tone for a conference experience abundant in creative inspiration and innovation, Rachel Ivy Clarke of Syracuse University kicked off SUNYLA 2022 with a keynote, entitled “It’s Not Rocket Library Science: Reconceptualizing Librarianship as a Design Field,” provoking attendees to reimagine the field of library science as a design-centric field, rather than a scientific one. This empowering address readied me to think about adjusting, editing, drafting, and refining my current work practices and initiatives – like artists do!
The first lightning talk session, during which my colleague and I presented, focused on open initiatives at a variety of institutions, featuring creative assignments generated by a librarian and a teaching faculty member using open pedagogy, and the how-tos of incentivizing participation in OER programs beyond the initiative-level. My colleague and I spoke about our experiences building a relationship with our college bookstore at Utica University to combine efforts and expand options for affordable textbooks while promoting academic freedom.
Robin Naughton, an assistant professor and the Web and Digital Services Librarian at Queens College, provided a framework and best practices for good design of library web-presence in her talk entitled “User, How Do I Know Thee?” These practices involve setting our own notions aside and letting users speak for themselves, helping us make informed choices. She recommended low-stakes, low-tech processes such as paper prototypes to help minimize unnecessary labor and effort in this kind of design work. Again, the concept of “design thinking,” which allows for trial, error, and iteration, permeated Dr. Naughton’s presentation. This reinforced the concept that not only is it okay for our work not to be perfect the very first time, it’s actually a good thing, since it means we can take the opportunity to strive to be better and improve with each iteration.
In the session, “So, You Want to Make a Podcast,” Amanda Lowe from University at Albany shared her experience creating a library podcast. She focused on practical aspects of production, like software and recording equipment. Especially inspiring was her explanation of how she comes up with ideas for guests and episodes, making the process feel doable. She emphasized the benefit of allowing guests flexibility and creativity in speaking about topics in which they are truly interested, resulting in a fusion of creativity and collaboration on their campus. At Le Moyne College, several history and English department faculty have expressed interest in creating a podcast centered on local CNY history, collaborating with me on research in the College and regional archives, and I hope to put the knowledge gained from Amanda’s presentation to good use in this project.
Lisa Rogers, my co-presenter, and I in front of our slideshow
During the next round of lightning talks, one particularly stood out to me. “Working Through Your Workflow So Your Work . . . Flows,” by Kathryn Machin of Farmingdale State College provided guidelines on how to use a variety of training modalities and workflow processes when supervising or working closely with other staff. When we flexibly adapt to the preferences and styles of our colleagues, it becomes much easier to learn together as a team, and increases motivation and retention of processes. This highlighted yet another facet of work in which adaptability and iterative thinking are important, and the constant intention required to be willing to fail and try again while working with others.
As the newly-minted institutional archivist at Le Moyne College, I am hoping to engage both undergraduate and graduate students to work on projects in the archives. Ideally, these would be paid experiences, which reinforce that students’ labor has tangible value, while also providing a collaboration and mentorship opportunity for students interested in archives and special collections. The presentation by Annie Tummino and Max Thorn, “The Graduate Archival Fellowship Experience at Queens College” outlined the benefits and challenges of such an initiative. Benefits included the opportunity for students to have significant autonomy over their work and take ownership of the lesson plans, displays, processing projects, etc. that they created during their fellowship. Challenges included obtaining consistent funding and ensuring that students have meaningful projects tailored to their individual interests. Hearing directly from a student, Max Thorn, about the significant impact of the experience on his career growth really motivated me to try to pilot a similar program at Le Moyne College. Queens College’s example of a successful fellowship project provided an excellent model for opportunities for Le Moyne College students who have begun coursework at Syracuse University’s iSchool, an institutional partner with Le Moyne’s 3+1 program in library and information science.
Rounding out my SUNYLA 2022 experience was “History and Scholarly Research: A Blended Approach.” From Fabio Montella at Suffolk County Community College, I learned strategies for collaborating with history faculty to transition from the typical library one-shot instruction session to a more holistic, semester-long approach to more seamlessly blend research and history instruction.
Attending SUNYLA 2022 at Farmingdale State College offered me a wonderful opportunity to present at a state-wide conference, network with academic librarians, and glean many tips, tricks, and ideas from colleagues across New York and beyond. As an academic librarian, attending a conference focused primarily on serving users in higher education provided me with the opportunity to ask questions of and find mentorship from colleagues working in the subject areas of history and archives, and build my personal toolkit. As a presenter, I gained more experience in public speaking, a skill I can never practice enough! The opportunity boosted my confidence and motivated me to continue submitting conference proposals.
Because I don’t work for a SUNY library, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the conference, or whether most of the sessions would be too specific or tailored to the SUNY experience to be of much practical use. Totally to the contrary, I left with a renewed sense of pride in the field of libraries, and felt energized to implement changes in my instruction, student mentoring, and outreach activities. I highly recommend anyone who is able to attend a SUNYLA conference do so!
Christina Swendsrud
Research Services Librarian – History & Archives, Le Moyne College
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