University of Arizona Volume 2, Issue 1

School of Information Resources and Library Sciences September, 2002

Bringing Distance Students Closer! Write me at: mailto:lknelson@email.arizona.edu

I hope this letter finds you well and ready to start the new semester! There have been many changes over my summer, but the biggest change is that I’ve gone from being a full-time student, to being a full-time school librarian. I’m opening up the library in a brand new school; when I arrived, there was nothing but furniture. The Assistant Principal handed me a package of Follett software and said, “Here’s your library system. The network server’s down the hall.” Two days ago, a huge truck brought in 6,000 volumes. An hour later, two teachers sent in students, asking if they could check out books yet! If you have any questions about being a very new school librarian, I may be able to come up with a few answers…

Anyway, with two classes and a new library to run, The Distant Echo may be on the brief side. More than ever, I need your input. Have a great month!

Social Events in the Phoenix Area

I see that Tempe has turned into one great big “no smoking” section. It makes me wonder if one of the nicer downtown pool halls might be a fun place for a get together. I was thinking about early October. Let me know if it sounds like something you would like to attend.

Questions, Concerns, and Suggestions

As I did last spring: you send, I’ll print. I know firsthand what a HUGE help other students can be, especially at the beginning of a program. For every problem or difficulty I’ve encountered in this program, someone—student or staff—has provided suggestions and advice to help me find solutions. One of the purposes of this newsletter is to bring problems and solutions together on a larger scale.

One last thing to think about…I’ll be graduating (knock on wood!) in December. If you want to keep The Distant Echo coming, one of you will need to plan on taking over the Editor’s job in the spring. If you’re interested in developing this line of communication, let me know. Aside from being a nice thing to do for SIRLS, it’s a good personal accomplishment to add to your list.

Enjoy the semester—keep writing!

Lori