Member A-LIRT: Getting to Know Gale
Burrow
It is the gleam in her eye that first draws your attention to Gale Burrow's presence in the room. Gale is currently the President of LIRT. Yes, you have seen her face or noticed her working, but it is not Gale's style to draw attention to herself. She is the consummate professional; deeply committed to instruction, always willing to give 100%, yet the last in line to seek the limelight. Gale's style and work experience represents a view of today's LIRT organization.
The Libraries of The Claremont Colleges
of California is a system of four separate libraries with a combined collection
of more than 1,950,000 volumes and approximately 6000 serial subscriptions.
Gale has been a member of the
Libraries' staff since 1987, and a member
of the Honnold/Mudd Reference staff since 1990. She has lived through the
changes and challenges that have moved libraries into the electronic age.
The changes and challenges have meant that life is never dull at Claremont.
Recently, her most exiting project has been the design and supervision
of the building of the libraries' new hands-on Learning Room. Although
it was completed last spring, the classroom has really begun to be used
heavily this fall. It is not uncommon for Gale to teach three or
four library instruction classes over the course of one day. The
addition of the Learning Room has made teaching and learning in the library
much more interesting and Gale hopes, much more effective. In addition
to reference and instruction, Gale Burrow serves as the subject specialist
for English and American Literature. Take a moment to view the library's
web site at http://voxlibris.claremont.edu/libraries/
and peruse Gale's web page on Internet resources in the field of literature.
Working with the faculty has always been a priority for Gale. On campus, Gale serves as the library liaison for the Mellon User Support Committee. This committee oversees the Mellon Grant that encourages faculty to use technology to improve their teaching and their student learning. This appointment allows Gale another vehicle for collaboration with the teaching faculty at Claremont.
Gale's involvement with LIRT started with her membership on the LIRT Computer Applications Committee. She moved to the chair of this committee under the LIRT presidency of Tim Grimes. Gale has served on the LIRT Liaison Committee as both member and chair. She has also worked on the LIRT Long Range Planning Committee.
What first attracted Gale to the organization was LIRT's emphasis on instruction. Prior to obtaining her Masters in Library Science from the University of Arizona in 1987, Gale was both a middle school and high school English teacher for a number of years. In addition to her Masters from Arizona, Gale holds a BA in English from Westhampton College, the University of Richmond, and an MA in English from the University of Virginia. People might be surprised to know that Gale spent her last four years of teaching in Thessaloniki, Greece, where she taught English as a foreign language to Greek high school students. She brings this wealth of classroom teaching experience to her library instruction. Library instruction affords Gale the best of "both worlds." She loves to teach, and she loves the face-to-face relationship with the students in the classroom. Yet she does not have to grade papers or take disciplinary actions.
Gale's first impressions of LIRT as an organization still hold true today. Gale found LIRT to be a friendly and welcoming organization. It is easy to get involved with LIRT. All you need to do is ask. This is one of LIRT's strengths that Gale wants to share with new LIRT members. Under Gale's competent leadership and her enduring style, LIRT will continue this strong emphasis on friendliness, instructional quality, and the importance of librarians as teachers.
Marcia King-Blandford is Reference Librarian at the The University of Toledo's Carlson Library.
