By: James Shedlock, Director

This article was featured in Library Notes #50 (March 2009).  

The Galter Health Sciences Library will host Nancy Tannery, Associate Director for User Services, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System, for two one-week visits in March and April, 2009.  Nancy is one of five recognized fellows in a leadership development program sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries.  The purpose of this program is to prepare promising candidates to assume directorships in academic health sciences libraries.

During the one-year program, I will be serving as Nancy's mentor.  The program provides a number of learning events including conference calls on selective topics, frequent online and telephone discussions with mentors, and attendance at the 2008 Association of American Medical Colleges annual meeting, the 2009 Medical Library Association annual meeting, and a special three-day instructional session in Washington, D.C. that concludes the fellowship year in Fall 2009.  All of the learning activities involve the 5 fellows and their mentors along with other library leaders.  The range of topics for the program year include strategic planning and financing in academic libraries, managing change in the library environment, e-science and its impact on librarian roles, diversity and communication skills, fundraising and development, power and influence, and practical interviewing tips.

The highlight of the fellowship year is the visit to the mentor's library.  The visit provides the opportunity for the fellow to see library management up close by shadowing the library director as he or she conducts everyday library business. During Nancy's visit, she will attend meetings with Jeff Miller, Vice Dean-Operations, various medical school administrators, the Library Committee and Galter Library staff.  A key feature of the first visit is observing how preparations are made for the library's FY2010 budget.  During Nancy's second visit to Galter in mid-April, she will participate in a mock interview as a way of prepping herself for potential job applications, and she will make a presentation to Galter staff about a key issue facing health sciences libraries.

Nancy is a native of Pittsburgh and has spent her entire career at the University of Pittsburgh, first as a research assistant in various laboratories and then in the health sciences libraries.  She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in medical technology from Penn State University and received her Masters' degree in library science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995.  She has published widely including articles in Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, Molecular Endocrinology, Medical Reference Services Quarterly and the Journal of the Medical Library Association. She has also spoken at various library science meetings regarding her focus on reference service or health statistics.  Her career ladder at the university has included increasing responsibility for library services with the goal of becoming an academic health sciences library director. 

We are pleased to welcome Nancy to the Galter Library, the Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern University.