Scherelene Schatz

Scherelene Schatz joined the Library Development Bureau at the NJ State Library in 1997.  My primary responsibilities include project management of JerseyCat: New Jersey’s statewide interlibrary loan system and virtual catalog, JerseyClicks: New Jersey’s statewide full-text databases, and since early in 2010 I have been learning to be the State Data Collector.  My responsibilities include system administration tasks, library staff training via webinars and live meetings. I have done numerous presentations at Computers in Libraries and A.L.A. about accessibility to library materials via these systems and most recently about home delivery of library materials.  My primary responsibilities as the State Data Collector include development of the survey to be distributed electronically statewide, acquiring and recording all information accurately, distribution of Per Capita State Aid checks to public libraries of the state, and reporting to I.M.L.S. annually.

Prior to coming to the New Jersey State Library, Scherelene served as the Interlibrary Loan and Reserves Manager at Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, PA for 18 years.  I received a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Education in 1987 from Muhlenberg College, and a Master of Library Science from Syracuse University in 1995 where I was in the first graduating class of their distance education program.

Scherelene’s other interests include collecting vintage postcards, scrapbooking, and annual treks to the Adirondack Mountains in New York.  She is the author of  “The Adirondacks: a postcard history”.

Diana Very

Diana Very joined the Missouri State Library in 2005 and moved to the Georgia Public Library Service in 2007.  My primary responsibilities include LSTA grant administration, Georgia state data coordination, strategic planning consultation,  research and statistical analysis. Before working with the state libraries, I worked for several Missouri state agencies as an accountant, policy analyst, and grant officer and as an adjunct faculty teaching accounting and business management for a community college and William Woods University in Fulton, MO. I went to the Missouri State Library to work on a grant and fell in love with libraries. 

I received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Accounting) from University of Missouri in St. Louis, a Masters in Public Administration from University of Missouri in Columbia, and a Masters of Library and Information Science from Valdosta State University in Georgia. I am now working on a Doctorate of Public Administration at Valdosta State University.  

Bruce Pomerantz 

 I began working at the Minnesota state library agency in January 1998 with public library statistics being what I thought would be a secondary duty, It is 40% of my present work. Back in the day, we SDCs met early in the new year. As Minnesota public libraries were submitting their data in March 1998, I was learning about NCLIS, edit checks, E.D Tabs, and WinPLUS, the precursor to WebPLUS, from Keith Curry Lance, Gerry (pronounced Gary) Rowland, Mary Jo Lynch and Darla Cotrill. The newer SDC’s may have heard about these legendary persons who contributed in the early days of public library data collection but I knew them personally. This makes me somewhat of an institutional memory.

Still, I perceive myself as forward thinking despite, at 13 years, having “always done it this way.” My proposals this year for tabulating alternative outlets and rethinking how to count unbound periodicals evidence this. I respect the three-year cycle for adopting new data elements. However, we can be more agile in obtaining data needed in quickly changing environments that may not be needed within several subsequent years. My solution: Most states collect data for their use that is not submitted to IMLS. We can agree among ourselves to enter an identical data element in our respective state reports and individually and separately give the results to an institution, such as ALA or COSLA, that requested the information.

I thank you for considering me for election to the Steering Committee.