Iconic librarian Nancy Pearl to teach at Syracuse iSchool’s 2009 Regnier Summer Institute

Margaret Spillett
(315) 443-1069

Author and nationally known library advocate Nancy Pearl will teach the five-day, two- credit course “Adult Services in the Public Library” from July 27-31 on the Syracuse University campus. The course is part of the 2009 Regnier Summer Institute on Leadership and Change, which offers a range of graduate-level courses for students and working professionals in short, intensive courses. Registration for summer courses begins March 18.

The course is designed to help students develop the professional and personal skills needed to work with adult readers in a library setting, including online and in-person advisory service, understanding and assessing print and electronic resources, marketing library book collections and establishing book groups.

“We’re thrilled to have Nancy Pearl teach this course for us,” says Blythe Bennett, director of the Regnier Summer Institute. “We’re excited that we’re able to provide this kind of an opportunity for our students and local professionals interested in learning from one of the most innovative, energetic and entertaining librarians in the country.”

Pearl has authored six books, including the “Book Lust” and “Now Read This” series, and is a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” She has her own monthly television show, “Book Lust with Nancy Pearl,” on the Seattle Channel and even has her own action figure, a cult collector’s item among librarians. She has worked as a librarian in Detroit, Tulsa and Seattle, and is the former executive director of the Washington Center for the Book.

Throughout her career, Pearl has received numerous recognitions, such as the Women’s National Book Association Award, the Washington Humanities Award and the American Library Association’s Louis Shores Greenwood Publishing Award for Reviews and Allie Beth Martin Award. In 1998, she developed the program “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” which spread across the country.

Through the generosity of the Victor and Helen Regnier Charitable Foundation, SU’s School of Information Studies (iSchool) offers the Helen Benning Regnier Summer Institute on Leadership and Change in an Information Society.

The Regnier Summer Institute enables the iSchool to offer courses in topics and in intensive formats that are not always possible during the academic year. It gives working professionals a way to try out a course or two, allows current iSchool students to get ahead in their programs, introduces new distance students to SU and the iSchool’s resources, and provides faculty the latitude to experiment with a new course offering or bring in a world- class practitioner for a one-time course offering.

The 2009 Regnier Summer Institute offers more than 30 courses, ranging from online and social media and gaming in libraries to advanced security management and CIOs in global enterprises. For more information and to register, visit http://ischool.syr.edu/summer.