Funding Recipient Spotlight: Professional Development Grant for the UNYOC/MLA Conference

Posted by liaison on December 9th, 2024 Posted in: Funding

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This is a guest post written by funding awardee, Jasmine Zacate. She used NNLM Region 4 professional development funds to attend the Upstate New York and Ontario Chapter Medical Library Association (UNYOC/MLA) 2024 conference in Celoron, New York this past October.

I recently attended the Upstate New York & Ontario Chapter Medical Library Association Annual Conference. I chose this conference because my project focused on digitizing and analyzing data from Michael Kudish’s field notes of the Catskill Mountain Region located in southeastern New York and for the focus on medical librarianship. I am honored to have been awarded the Professional Development Award from the National Library of Medicine  Region 4, which generously covered the cost of my attendance.

As a 2024 NCDS intern, I hoped to gain a broader understanding and deeper insight into the library profession by attending this conference. One of my favorite sessions explored how to implement horticulture therapy into library spaces for improved mental health. I found

physically touching natural elements such as dirt, moss, sea glass, and seashells to be calming. I even brought my plant home with me. It now lives in my office. I also enjoyed listening to updates from members and learned about new updates to library databases through sponsor lightning talks.

I was also excited to share my experiences of gaining skills in data services and how that fits into my professional goals of becoming an academic data librarian through a lightning talk of my own. I presented “Developing Data and Communication Skills: Lessons from the 2024 National Center for Data Services Internship,” to share my experience from the summer internship. Presenting at this conference allowed me to demonstrate and reflect on the soft and technical skills I learned during this internship.

As I returned from the UNYOC conference to my role as a student and a library specialist at a medical library, I brought with me a rekindled passion for librarianship and an array of exciting new ideas on how libraries can help with healthcare innovation.  And my plant!

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If you are interested in obtaining funding for professional development, we are currently accepting applications for Year 4. Applications are accepted and awarded on a rolling basis until February 16, 2025 at 5:00 pm MT or when the funds are depleted.

Please reach out to your state’s point of contact with any questions you may have.

• Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico – Dana Abbey
• Idaho, Montana, Utah – George Strawley
• North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming – David Brown
• All Region 4 states – John Bramble