Reference & Access Services Subcommittee Annual Report 2021

submitted by Kate Lambaria

Current Roster

  • Kate Lambaria, chair (2023)
  • Taylor Greene (2022)
  • Kristina Shanton (2022)
  • Joe Clark (2023)
  • Donna Maher (2023)
  • Carol Lubkowski (2024)
  • Laura Thompson (2025)

List of Previous Goals and Progress Made

  • Continue to offer responses to queries from the “Ask MLA” feature on the MLA website
    • Ongoing. Members successfully monitored the Ask MLA email account and responded to queries received. 
  • Discuss, prioritize, and start new projects relating to updated subcommittee charge
    • Completed. The subcommittee identified five areas for future work and selected three that are of the most interest to the committee and feasible for us to pursue in the next 1-2 years. These include sponsoring a session at MLA 2022 that focuses on DEIA research in music, developing a workshop(s) or an online repository of resources for training music reference employees, and a follow up survey on the impact of the pandemic on music reference and access services.
    • Subcommittee members have also taken on a review of Ask MLA emails to identify common questions. This will allow us to develop standard responses for use by current and future members and/or a public FAQ.
  • Propose or sponsor session/workshop for MLA 2022 that relates to changes in subcommittee charge.
    • Completed. The subcommittee added ideas to the open proposal spreadsheet to try and identify speakers/collaborators related to the topic mentioned in Goal 2 above but was unsuccessful. We hope to pursue a variation on the topic again in 2023.

List of Future Goals

  • Continue to offer responses to queries from the “Ask MLA” feature on the MLA website.
    • Goal Area: Organizational Excellence; Objective 2: Improve access to information by and about the Association to meet the needs of members and other interested parties.
  • Complete review of AskMLA emails to determine whether standard replies or public FAQ is needed.
    • Goal Area: Organizational Excellence; Objective 2: Improve access to information by and about the Association to meet the needs of members and other interested parties.
  • Propose/sponsor a session or workshop for MLA 2023 that focuses on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in reference and access services. 
    • Goal Area: Value of the Profession – MLA’s activities are relevant to current issues in librarianship and music, and non-members understand the mission and goals of the Association.
  • Explore options for developing shared music reference training resources. 
    • Goal Area: Education; Objective 2: Use technology to provide training and professional development opportunities through webcasts and other web-based workshops.
    • Goal Area: Value of the Profession; Objective 3: Use new technologies to build greater public awareness, understanding and support for the Association, music libraries and music librarianship.
    • This may result in an online repository, virtual or in-person workshop(s), or some combination of these and other options.