Gregory Holch

The annual meeting of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) was this afternoon from 2:00-5:00 p.m. Norman J. Jacknis (Director of Cisco IBSG Public Sector and METRO Board President) announced that Jason Kucsma would be the new METRO Director.

Suzi Oppenheimer (New York State 37th Senatorial District) and Rachel Sterne (Chief Digital Officer, New York City) received awards and gave brief talks. Maureen Sullivan (President-Elect of the American Library Association) gave the keynote address. (Hey, Seth Godin, she knows who you are! She mentioned your writing on user experience in libraries.)

Of all the library organizations of which I am a member, METRO is my favorite. For those of you not from the New York area, METRO is a non-profit organization of member libraries working to develop and maintain essential library services throughout New York City and Westchester County. Most helpful to me has been the individual MyMETRO membership, which let me join as a student and as a new librarian without a library. (Try joining the Children's Book Council when you no longer work for a publishing company.) Through MyMETRO I've been able to take many short courses on everything from creating WordPress websites to writing a better resume. I feel that MyMETRO should be a model for all professional organizations. I highly recommend that you join.

(And this is how you can find out more -- contact Tom Nielsen, Member Services Manager: tnielsen at metro dot org. Or look online at the Individual MyMETRO Membership page.)