Updates from WHSLA President

 Hi WHSLA Members-

Welcome February- I hope you are doing well.  Here are some WHSLA updates:

Ad Hoc Committee activities:

Our ad hoc committee focused on Medical Librarian Career Outreach met in November. We prioritized having a web page and reaching out to the information science schools in the state to learn their needs and offer our assistance in providing information, mentorship and practicum experience for library science students to acquaint them with medical librarianship.

In January, Hayley Severson, adapted  MLA's "About the Profession" web page with permission. She  augmented the description to include more insights from WHSLA board members.  Liz Suelzer has now uploaded it to the WHSLA website.  https://www.whsla.org/about/about-the-profession/

 Also in January, Will White and I met with University of Wisconsin -Milwaukee School of Information Studies Assistant Dean - Student Affairs  Chad Zahrt and Julie Walker the school's  Student/Alumni  Engagement & Outreach Specialist.  They are now aware of WHSLA members desire to foster interest in medical librarianship.  Will White will be the contact for Julie Walker.  He will send her information on meetings, outreach activities and fieldwork from WHSLA.  Julie will reach out to Will when they need a speaker or panelist about the career. We are excited to establish more formal ties to the program so we can create interest in MLA 2026 in Milwaukee among library school students!

 New Membership Form:

In other news, for those of you who have trouble with Google Docs because of hospital firewalls, we have created a fillable pdf membership form so there is no need to print and scan your renewal form.

Professional Development Award Sign up Feb.6-28:

With the scheduling of MLA 2025 on  April 29 - May 2, I asked our Professional Development Coordinator Dora Davis to open up the drawing for the award a bit earlier, so members who might want to use the award can make plans before the early registration discounts end.  Thanks to Dora, you may enter Feb. 6 to  Feb. 28, 2025.  Watch an email with the link to the form on February 6, 2025.

Your At- Large Board Members:

Generally we have a spring board meeting in April.  If you have concerns or questions to bring before the board, a reminder that there are two at-large board members you may contact. Reach out to either Michelle Harrell or Will White.

Have a great month!

Barb Ruggeri

WHSLA 2025 President