Elissa Mondschein Heads IBS

Michael Villarreal Joins Physics Library

Giselle Descends a Floor

Alina Christian Returns to Circ Services

Emerging Leader in Tech Services

VIRGINIA PRATT, 1923-2006

EVENTS

FSM Café Presents

HR ALERT

Training for Supervisors and Managers

Library Employment Opportunities

Courtesy Listings

Elissa Mondschein New Head of Interlibrary Borrowing Service (IBS)

I am pleased to announce that Elissa Mondschein has been appointed Head of the Interlibrary Borrowing Service effective January 1, 2007. Elissa brings a wealth of relevant experience to the position, having worked in IBS for more than 9 years. Previous to her stint in IBS, Elissa worked at the NRLF for four years, and has more than 15 years of experience working in bookstores in the Bay Area. Many of you also know Elissa through her many voluntary endeavors here in the Library including her work maintaining the Doe Library second floor bulletin board; running the TUNA listserve; rotations in Gifts and Exchange and the Library Purchasing Office; and work on the Staff Development, Library Classification and Safety Committees.

Please join me in congratulating Elissa on this new phase of her career here at the UCB Library.

Charlotte C. Rubens, Head
Interlibrary Services

Michael Villarreal Joins the Physics-Astronomy Library

The Physics-Astronomy Library is pleased to welcome Michael Villarreal as the new Operations Manager beginning on Monday, December 4th. Michael comes to us from the Doe Library, where he worked in the Reference Services. Previously, he worked at UC Davis in the Carson Health Sciences Library and the Physical Sciences Library. Michael was also a substitute teacher in the Davis Joint Unified School District.

Michael can be reached at 3-1003 and mvillarr@library.berkeley.edu

Susan Koskinen, Head
Physics-Astronomy Library

Giselle Descends a Floor (and Gains a New Gig)

I am very pleased to announce that Giselle Herrmann, formerly Head of Routing and Sorting in the Monographic Receiving Unit of Technical Services, has accepted the position of Operations Supervisor in the Media Resources Center. Giselle has a B.A. in French Literature from UC Berkeley and is currently working on her MLIS at San Jose State University. Before joining the library, she taught French at Piedmont Adult School. Giselle brings with her valuable experience with library processing and computer technologies, along with a great enthusiasm for film and video (she was a regular user of MRC during her student days at UCB). Please join me in welcoming her to her new home in Moffitt.

Gary Handman
Media Resources Center

Alina Christian Returns to Doe/Moffitt Circulation Services

I am pleased to announce that Alina Christian has returned to Doe/Moffitt Circulation Services as the new night/weekend supervisor in Doe Circulation. While an undergraduate, Alina began working in the department in 1998, and soon worked her way up to student supervisor. After graduating from Cal, she worked as a library assistant in RRC while pursuing a graduate degree at John F. Kennedy University where she also worked part-time as a library assistant. Alina received a Master of Arts in Transformative Arts and Education in 2006.

Aside from keeping me up to date on new local music, Alina is the only person I trust to interpret my dreams. If you have trouble making sense of your dreams, or have a Doe Circulation or Privileges question, Alina can be reached nights and weekends at (510) 642-3829 or achristi@library.berkeley.edu.

Peter Soriano
Main Doe Circulation

Emerging Leader in Technical Services

I am proud to announce that Saima Fazli, a member of the Collections Core Services Division's Documents Unit in Technical Services, has been selected by the American Library Association as one of the initial participants in ALA's Emerging Leaders Institute. Saima went through a highly competitive application process to participate in this innovative ALA program enabling 100 young librarians to get on the fast track to ALA and professional leadership. The program sponsors librarians under the age of 35, or new librarians of any age with fewer than 5 years post-MLS experience, to receive two days of specialized leadership training, participate in a problem solving work group, network with peers, and get an inside look at ALA's structure and functions. Emerging Leaders must attend both ALA conferences, work virtually in between, and commit to serve on an ALA, Division, Chapter, or Round Table committee, taskforce or workgroup upon completion of the program. Saima received her MLIS from San Jose State University's School of Library and Information Science in 2004.

Check the website for more information about ALA's Emerging Leaders Institute.

Rebecca Green, Head
Collections Core Services Division
Technical Services Department

Virginia Pratt Remembered

From Sheila T. Dowd, UC Berkeley's head of collections in the 1980s, comes the sad news that Virginia Pratt, former head of the Library School Library, died peacefully in her residence at Willow Glen Villa, San Jose, on November 30, 2006. Sheila has shared some of her recollections of Virginia's life below:

"Virginia was born and reared in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1945 she received her B.A. (with honors) from Whitman College in that city. She then enrolled at Columbia University and was awarded the B.L.S. the following year.

"She began her professional career in Portland, Oregon, as a librarian at the V.A. Hospital. In 1948 she accepted an appointment wit U.S. Army Special Services and went to Stuttgart, Germany, as an Army librarian. It was a sobering time to be in Europe. The war's destruction was still widely evident and local economies were struggling to begin a recovery. But the beauties and cultural riches of the continent were again becoming accessible and young Army librarians seized every opportunity to explore their surroundings. It was a time and an experience that turned Virginia into a lifelong European traveller, with an inexhaustible passion for its landscapes and its architectural wonders, and for French romanesque architecture in particular.

"In 1951 she came to U.C. Berkeley to join the library's General Reference Service. It was work at which she excelled and which gave her great joy. In mid-career she accepted the headship of the Library School Library and there found a perfect outlet for her holistic sense of librarianship. Her empathy with users' needs could be engaged in direct reference service, in building a collection which admirably met those needs, and in vigilant attention to the maintenance and enhancement of a catalog which served them well. Her work was valued by students and faculty of the Library School (in which she also taught a reference laboratory course), professional colleagues throughout the region, and also by students of intellectual and social history.

"Virginia Pratt retired in 1988. She knew years of continuing pleasure in travel, music, ballet and other arts before failing health limited her activities in later years."

Those who knew Virginia Pratt and her tremendous contribution to the UC Berkeley Library will remember her with great affection and mourn her passing.

James H. Spohrer
Librarian for the Germanic Collections

EVENT

Free and open to the public

Location: FSM Café at Moffitt Library
Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Time: 6:30-8 pm, doors open 6 pm.

Snacks and beverages from 6:00 until 6:30.

"Extraordinary Rendition" is a procedure by which U.S. authorities transfer suspects to the custody of third-party states outside formal legal procedures. There have been disturbing reports that some of these detainees have been tortured by authorities after their transfer by the U.S. A short documentary film that tells the story of two such detainees will be shown: "Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, Torture and Disappearances in the 'War on Terror.'"

Professor Laurel Fletcher, Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at Boalt Hall, will present an overview of the international law and policy applicable to the practice of extraordinary rendition and discuss the legality of the U.S. government's use of this practice in its efforts to combat terrorism.

For more info: jhayes@law.berkeley.edu

All are welcome; admission and snacks and beverages are free.

Limited seating - please arrive early

Sponsored by UC Berkeley Library's Free Speech Movement Educational Programs
Free Speech Movement Café Educational Program Series, UC Berkeley Library