Medical Library Association | Public Policy : Press Releases

Press Releases

What's New: January 2006

MLA New MLA Officers Elected, MLA Members Elect Mark E. Funk, AHIP, to Serve As 2007/08 Association President

NMLM Creative Promotions Award Winners Announced

New MLA Officers Elected, MLA Members Elect Mark E. Funk, AHIP, to Serve As 2007/08 Association President

Members of the Medical Library Association (MLA) recently voted for president-elect, two MLA positions on the Board of Directors, and nine positions on the MLA Nominating Committee for the 2006/07 association year. MLA is pleased to announce that the following elected officials will assume their new roles at the conclusion of MLA '06 in Phoenix, AZ.

Mark E. Funk, AHIP, Samuel J. Wood Library, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, was elected to serve as 2006/07president-elect-the fourth time Funk has been elected by his peers to serve the association on a national level. Twice elected to the MLA Nominating Committee, he also served on the MLA Board from 2000-2003 during which time he acted as MLA Board treasurer. Head of Collection Development at Cornell, Funk is considered to be a leader in this field. One of MLA's most active members, and a Distinguished Member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP), Funk has lent his talents to numerous MLA-affiliated chapters, sections, and committees. Currently a member of MLA's Scholarly Publishing Task Force, Funk was a jury member for the Louise Darling Medal for Distinguished Achievement in Collection Development in the Health Sciences. He also served as chair of MLA's Research Section from 1992-1993. In addition to serving as 2004-2005 chair of the Collection Development Section, Funk chaired the section's Ad Hoc Committee on Collection Development Research.

"On being elected president of the Medical Library Association, I am reminded of Gandhi's statement, 'I must follow the people for I am their leader.' Members of MLA are highly skilled professionals providing quality information for improved health. Every day, in hospitals, medical schools, and other institutions, medical librarians sift through mountains of available resources to provide just the right piece of needed information. I am constantly awed by their perseverance, adoption of new technology, generosity, and spirit. I hope as their leader I can follow them closely," Funk stated.

Two highly-esteemed members of the association will join the MLA Board of Directors, T. Scott Plutchak, AHIP, Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, University of Alabama-Birmingham and former editor of the Journal of the Medical Library Association; and Linda Walton, Galter Health Sciences Library, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, and Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Dominican University, River Forest, IL. Plutchak and Walton will each serve three-year terms on the MLA Board.

The role of the MLA Nominating Committee is to prepare annually, a slate of at least two nominees for president-elect and for each board of director slot that whose term is expiring. MLA's 2006/07 immediate past-president, Joanne Marshall, AHIP, will chair the incoming Nominating Committee. The newly-elected members of the committee are:

Margaret (Peg) Allen, AHIP
Diana Cunningham, AHIP
Rosalind Dudden, AHIP
Gale Dutcher
Gary Freiburger, AHIP
Terry Ann Jankowski, AHIP
Janice Kelly
Jett McCann, AHIP
Mary Fran Prottsman, AHIP

MLA, a nonprofit, educational organization, comprises health sciences information professionals with more than 4,500 members worldwide. Through its programs and services, MLA provides lifelong educational opportunities, supports a knowledgebase of health information research, and works with a global network of partners to promote the importance of quality information for improved health to the health care community and the public.

For more information, please contact Evelyn Shaevel, mlaedo1@mlahq.org, 312.419.9094 x15.

NMLM Creative Promotions Award Winners Announced

The Medical Library Association (MLA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2005 Creative Promotions Award contest held in honor of National Medical Librarians Month (NMLM) observed each year in October. The award recognizes inventive ways MLA members and member institutions have celebrated NMLM. Prizes awarded are $200, $150, and $100 for first, second, and third place respectively.

The 2005 first place winner, Lister Hill Library, University of Alabama-Birmingham, celebrated NMLM combining their NMLM celebration with the university's homecoming celebration. Staff decorated the library in school colors, participated in the homecoming parade with their own float, and elected a "Mr. and Mrs. Lister Hill Library." Lister Hill staff hosted a full-day NMLM celebration with over 300 patrons in attendance. Staff contacted a local FM radio station, who broadcast live from the library during the event.

For the first time, second place recognition went to two libraries: Hinks and Elaine Shimberg Health Sciences Library, University of South Florida-Tampa, and Julius Jacobs Health Sciences Library, St. Thomas Hospital, Nashville, TN. Both libraries used the western theme from the 2005 NMLM poster, "Saddled with Health Questions? We Can Round Up Answers," (jpeg, 85KB) to raise awareness of the observance and of their libraries. Staff at Shimberg Health Sciences Library combined Halloween and the western theme by creating "WANTED" posters of librarians in costume. In addition, more than 5,000 faculty and students were emailed invitations to participate in weekly contests and Web scavenger hunts. Staff at Julius Jacobs Health Sciences Library also dressed in western gear and distributed western-themed promotional items including a cowboy hat-shaped stress relief ball. The library's NMLM events were widely promoted in the hospital newsletter and in colorful western-themed flyers.

The Bell-Pittman Library Resource Center, Wilson Medical Center, Wilson, NC, received third-place honors for their "We're Rounding Up Resources" promotional campaign. The library hosted a western "round-up" designed specifically to address problems the staff was experiencing with overdue and lost materials. To encourage employees to return resources to the library's new drop box, staff created "WANTED: Resources to Be Returned on Time" posters in addition to awarding prizes and serving refreshments. After the event, staff hand-delivered follow-up notes and photos to those who attended the round-up.

Honorable Mention goes to Bio-Medical Library, University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, for their new branding campaign, "Stuck? The Bio-Medical Library Can Help-and It Won't Hurt a Bit!" The library hosted its first open house and distributed posters and giveaway items including syringe-shaped pens filled with red ink.

For more information, please contact Tomi Gunn, mlams@mlahq.org, 312.419.9094 x11.