Sending our thoughts and prayers to Maurice and his family

I received sad news from Maurice Coleman that his son died earlier this week. Zach Gravels was 25-years-old and leaves behind two children. The loss was sudden and unexpected.

A tribute page has been established on Facebook for Zach at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=161828497177762

You can reach Maurice through Facebook and email. In lieu of flowers, a college fund is being established for Zach’s children. You can send contributions directly to Maurice through PayPal.

If you would like to make contributions by check or send written condolences to Maurice and his wife Vicki you can send them to me and I will forward them to Maurice.

Maurice Coleman
c/o Lori Reed
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library
310 N., Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28202

Maurice, on behalf of the ALA Learning team, the Learning Round Table, and all of the people you have reached through T is for Training, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this time.

Lori Reed

Lori Reed, Managing Editor of ALA Learning, has more than 15 years experience in training and is the Learning & Development Coordinator for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library where she oversees the learning & development of a diverse group of staff at twenty libraries. Lori’s passions are performance consulting, learning strategies, and e-learning. Lori is coauthor, with Paul Signorelli, of Workplace Learning and Leadership: A Handbook for Library and Nonprofit Trainers. Lori also blogs at LoriReed.com and can be reached at lori[at]lorireed.com.

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Join Us Tomorrow for T is for Training 45 at 2pm Eastern

Join us for our 45th episode which will most likely include the following subjects:

Computers In Libraries 2010 - Reports from those who went in person or attended virtually.  What did you learn, how did your presentations go, favorite and least favorite moments…

Thoughts on the use of the backchannel when presenting.  Are you for or against?

Competencies and Training Needs Assessments – how do you do it, have you done it, what works and what doesn’t work…  We’ll be discussing WebJunction’s wonderful resources.

The full post, including participating instructions is here.

Hope to see you then.  Especially those of you who attended CIL2010.  We’d love to hear your reports!  Everyone is welcome and it’s YOUR input that makes for a great show.  If you cannot join us, catch all of the episodes in the handy sidebar on the right hand side of the ALA Learning Blog.

Stephanie Zimmerman

Stephanie Zimmerman is the Training Coordinator for the Library System of Lancaster County (Pennsylvania), a federated system with 14 member libraries, three branches and a bookmobile, which serves 490,562 residents. She designs and implements technology and development training and consulting to the member libraries. This includes training on Innovative’s Millennium Integrated Library System, Microsoft Office Applications, emerging technologies (i.e. social media) and various other areas. Her goal is to remove the fear of technology and help others to realize the amazing possibilities it provides. Teaching others to do things for themselves and see their excitement when they break through their barriers is her greatest reward. Stephanie has been a software trainer for 15 years. Her past employment involved training on federal and county government applications. She also worked for a private industry marketing company where she traveled across the country showing manufacturers and retailers in the consumer packaged goods industry how to use geodemographic targeting software. Always wanting to help others, Stephanie graduated from Millersville University (in Pennsylvania) cum laude with a BA in Social Work. She was also a student in the Computer Information Systems program at Harrisburg Area Community College. She is a member of ASTD (American Society of Training and Development). She is also a regular contributor to the T is for Training podcast which focuses on training in libraries. She was a trainer for WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach project and has done training for Commonwealth Libraries. She is grateful to have landed in the world of libraries. When she began her current job in January of 2004, there were no other library trainers in her immediate area. She turned to the social web to begin networking with other library trainers across the world and immediately realized her passion for social networking and social media. All of her continuing education has been done through these networks and she can’t help but push others to discover the immense opportunities available through online collaboration. Stephanie lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her family which includes husband, Bill (a self-employed stay-at-home-dad) and two children (ages 2 and 4 months). When she’s not being Mommy, or working, you’ll most likely find her singing. Stephanie can be reached at szimmerman[at]lancasterlibraries.org.

Congratulations Maurice Coleman



Congratulations to ALA Learning Contributing Author Maurice Coleman for being honored as one of Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers for 2010. In addition to being one of our fabulous contributors, Maurice is the host of the popular live talkshow/podcast T is for Training which takes places every other Friday from 2-3pm Eastern.

Maurice has definitely rocked the training world and we are happy to have him on our team!

Maurice (aka baldgeekinmd) is the Technical Trainer at Harford County (MD) Public Library located in the North Eastern corner of Maryland.

Congratulations to all who were recognized this year! You can see the full list here: http://www.libraryjournal.com/ms2010.

Lori Reed

Lori Reed, Managing Editor of ALA Learning, has more than 15 years experience in training and is the Learning & Development Coordinator for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library where she oversees the learning & development of a diverse group of staff at twenty libraries. Lori’s passions are performance consulting, learning strategies, and e-learning. Lori is coauthor, with Paul Signorelli, of Workplace Learning and Leadership: A Handbook for Library and Nonprofit Trainers. Lori also blogs at LoriReed.com and can be reached at lori[at]lorireed.com.

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T is for Training 41 Happens Tomorrow

Tomorrow marks the 41st episode taping of the Library Training Podcast, T is for Training which is sponsored by the ALA Learning blog.

Detailed notes about the podcast are visible here: Gearing Up for Tomorrow’s T is for Training

You can listen to past episodes of the podcast by clicking on the widget on the top right side of this page.

Thanks for listening!

Stephanie Zimmerman

Stephanie Zimmerman is the Training Coordinator for the Library System of Lancaster County (Pennsylvania), a federated system with 14 member libraries, three branches and a bookmobile, which serves 490,562 residents. She designs and implements technology and development training and consulting to the member libraries. This includes training on Innovative’s Millennium Integrated Library System, Microsoft Office Applications, emerging technologies (i.e. social media) and various other areas. Her goal is to remove the fear of technology and help others to realize the amazing possibilities it provides. Teaching others to do things for themselves and see their excitement when they break through their barriers is her greatest reward. Stephanie has been a software trainer for 15 years. Her past employment involved training on federal and county government applications. She also worked for a private industry marketing company where she traveled across the country showing manufacturers and retailers in the consumer packaged goods industry how to use geodemographic targeting software. Always wanting to help others, Stephanie graduated from Millersville University (in Pennsylvania) cum laude with a BA in Social Work. She was also a student in the Computer Information Systems program at Harrisburg Area Community College. She is a member of ASTD (American Society of Training and Development). She is also a regular contributor to the T is for Training podcast which focuses on training in libraries. She was a trainer for WebJunction’s Spanish Language Outreach project and has done training for Commonwealth Libraries. She is grateful to have landed in the world of libraries. When she began her current job in January of 2004, there were no other library trainers in her immediate area. She turned to the social web to begin networking with other library trainers across the world and immediately realized her passion for social networking and social media. All of her continuing education has been done through these networks and she can’t help but push others to discover the immense opportunities available through online collaboration. Stephanie lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with her family which includes husband, Bill (a self-employed stay-at-home-dad) and two children (ages 2 and 4 months). When she’s not being Mommy, or working, you’ll most likely find her singing. Stephanie can be reached at szimmerman[at]lancasterlibraries.org.