Deadline Extended!

Please note that the deadline has been extended to July 1 for the First-Time Attendee Scholarship!

This award allows for a current member of the SC/MLA, who has never been to an SC/MLA annual meeting, to attend with funding. Funding is designed to pay for registration, travel, accommodation, meals, and one (1) CE course.

The applicant must:

• Be a current SC/MLA member in good standing (non-student)
• Answer the question: "What do you expect to gain professionally and/or personally by attending the SC/MLA annual meeting?"
• Attach a letter of support from an administrator demonstrating a genuine need for financial aid due to lack of institutional travel support or adequate salary support
• Register for and complete one (1) CE course
• Attend all sessions of the SC/MLA Annual Meeting, including the business meeting
• After the meeting, submit a brief (250-300 word) report about the meeting which will be published in Southern Expressions
• Attach a final expense report to the above-mentioned report. Conference registration and CE registration for one course will be waived. The expense report should include receipts for travel, accommodation, and meals.

Scholarships will be limited to one person per institution per year.

The Honors & Awards Committee will have the responsibility for deciding whether applicants meet the criteria and for awarding the scholarships.

If you have any further questions, please contact the Chair of the Honors & Awards Committee.

Remember, the deadline has been extended to July 1! Please send applications to the Chair of the Honors & Awards Committee.

Health Literacy Summit: Follow Up

The Health Literacy Summit, held on June 2-3 in Knoxville, was attended by 40 people from 9 states and one Canadian province. States included Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, New York, Illinois and Colorado. The participants included 15 librarians, physicians, nurses and members of the public health community.

The nationally renowned speakers, Drs. Baur and Rudd held everyone’s attention with their in-depth of knowledge and perspective on the history and progress made in the discipline of health literacy over the last few decades. The leadership that The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) Health Information Center is providing on this topic was also on stage. Health Information Center faculty librarians spoke of the Health Literacy research they recently conducted, utilizing an engaging method of timed poster presentations.  The Medical Simulation Center provided in depth knowledge about their research on the use of simulation to enhance the oral communication skills of residents, while Pharmacy and Patient Education team members provided a panel on evaluating print patient education material. The event not only promoted learning, but provided great discussion. The breakout groups allowed for further expansion on different health literacy topics along with further discussion.

The overall focus of the event was on assessing and promoting changes in the healthcare system to reduce barriers for low health literacy patients.  This topic is expansive, but by focusing in on the attributes of organizations that can reduce those barriers, and providing assessment tools by which to measure those assessments, participants left with information they could apply.

For more information on the speakers and topics, please see here: http://gsm.utmck.edu/cme/Literacy2017/

If you missed this year’s Summit, watch for notices for the 2018 event!

Developed resources reported in this Health Literacy Summit are supported by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH) under cooperative agreement number UG4LM012340 with the University of Maryland, Health Sciences and Human Services Library. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Now Accepting Applications for the Library Information & Science Student Award!

The SC/MLA Honors and Awards Committee is accepting nominations/applications for the Library Information & Science Student Award. This $250 award is designed to encourage LIS students to attend the annual SC/MLA meeting by helping to offset registration and travel costs. Two awards will be granted per year.

Applicants must be currently enrolled in an ALA-accredited library school within the region and must be a current member of SC/MLA.

In order to apply, please send the following:

• A letter of recommendation (on institutional letterhead) from a LIS instructor 
• A brief paragraph essay answering the question:  “What do you expect to gain professionally and/or personally by attending the SC/MLA annual meeting?" 
• The following application, which can be found here. 

Please send all of the above to the Chair of the Honors & Awards Committee by September 1, 2017.

$250 will be awarded to each recipient after the close of the SC/MLA Annual Meeting.
After the meeting, a brief (250-300 word) report about the meeting will be submitted by the successful applicant(s) and published in the SC/MLA’s newsletter, Southern Expressions.

Good luck! 

SC/MLA Annual Meeting: Call for Papers and Posters!

The 2017 SC/MLA Programming Committee invites you to submit proposals for contributed papers and posters for the 2017 SC/MLA 67th annual meeting in Knoxville, TN on October 19-22. This year’s theme is Change is in the Air: Purpose, Passion, Possibilities.

Proposals should relate to:

• Purpose: Share some of the ways your library is working to redefine its purpose, how its mission and services have changed, or changes in how your library is viewed by its stakeholders.
• Passion: Demonstrate instances in which your library is still passionate about the services, programs, support, or resources it provides, in spite of changes sometimes out of your control. 
• Possibilities: Examine new and innovative possibilities and opportunities within our libraries for changes to services, delivery of services or information, or how we as medical librarians serve our institutions. 

To submit your abstract:

• Papers: Email abstracts to scmlapapers2017@gmail.com using a Word attachment. You will receive a confirmation receipt within 2 business days.
• Posters: Email abstracts to scmlaposters2017@gmail.com using a Word attachment. You will receive a confirmation receipt within 2 business days.

Help Find the Hospital Librarian of the Year!

Do you know an amazing hospital librarian that you think should be recognized for their significant contributions? If so, nominate them for the Hospital Librarian of the Year Award! This award was established to recognize a hospital librarian who has made significant contributions to the profession, including:

• overall distinction,
• leadership in hospital library administration or service, 
• production of a definitive publication related to hospital librarianship, teaching, research, or advocacy, OR
• the development or application of innovative technology to hospital librarianship.

The nominee must be a member of SC/MLA, but does not have to be a member of MLA. Please remember that nominees must be hospital librarians at the time of the award and must have worked in a hospital library for at least 3 years immediately preceding the award.

 All nominations must be received no later than July 14, 2017.

The application can be downloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ndkfvk8ghxcvuia/Hospital%20Librarian%20of%20the%20Year%20Application%202017.pdf?dl=0.

Call for Conference Reflections

Plan on attending MLA 2017 in Seattle, LOEX, or another upcoming conference? We would like to hear about your experiences!

We are looking for a few SC/MLA members to write blog posts reflecting on their time at MLA and other conferences for Southern Salutations. Posts would need to be about 300-500 words in length and can focus on any aspect of the conference experience. (We also encourage including a photo or two!) Check out blog posts with the label "Inspiration & Reflections" for previous examples.

If you are interested in writing a reflection piece, please contact Elena Azadbakht at Elena.Azadbakht@usm.edu.

Academic Librarian of the Year Award

The Academic Librarian of the Year Award is a great way to recognize someone for their hard work and dedication. This would be a great time to nominate that co-worker that demonstrates excellence in everything they do. Maybe there is a colleague whom you've worked closely with that does in outstanding job in leadership, publications, or research. Consider nominating that colleague or co-worker who has made outstanding contributions to academic health sciences librarianship.

The nominee must be a member of both SC/MLA and MLA. They must in "mid-career" at the time of the award, which is defined as someone working at least 5 and not more than 15 years in an academic health sciences library. Please remember the nominee may not be a library director. For more information, please see here.

The winner of the award will be announced at the Annual Meeting of SC/MLA and they will also be presented with a plaque along with a check for $250.

The deadline to nominate is June 1. Please submit nominations to the Chair of the Honors & Awards Committee.