Nancy Disbrow, M.L.S., Adv. Certif.
Associate Professor
Email: disbrown1@southernct.edu
Phone: 203.392.5702
B.S., M.L.S., Southern Connecticut State College; Certificate of Advanced Study, Fairfield University.
Teaching Responsibilities:
Department Chair until August 2000
Courses taught during that time period (courses are listed with new ILS designation):
- ILS 300 - Literature for Children
- Taught section individually as well and team-taught with Mary Brown and Jodi Williams.
- ILS 302 - Information Services*
- ILS 310 - Book Trade*
- ILS 421 - Organization of Information Centers*
- ILS 425 - Information Sources*
- ILS 511 - Materials and Services for Children*
- ILS 512 - Materials and Services for Adolescents*
- ILS 517 - History of Children's Literature*
- ILS 693 - Issues in School Media Centers Institute. This is a unique program that I have been co-teaching with Bill Derry for the past two summers. The first year it was done in cooperation with the New Haven Public Schools. The second year it was expanded to include Connecticut Educational Media Association (CEMA) members, who acted as mentors to our students. We have already started planning for next summer. We have a commitment from CEMA to participate again and we have been in contact with Betsy Foye from the Education Department. Our plan is to have education majors to sign up for the class so we can have the students develop cooperative units to take back to their schools. We achieved this last year, but only had a few students from education. The units that were developed can be viewed at: http://www.southernct.edu/~derry/ils693s01/
*These courses were developed into online versions. In the spring, 1999, the department began teaching online courses. This developed into placing the entire Master's program online. A grant was received by the department which stipulated that 40 courses would be available online at the end of a 3-year period. The entire faculty worked hard to meet these requirements, my share was 7 courses were put up.
Advisement:
- Coordinator of undergraduate program
- Advisor to graduate students
Committees Served:
Department:
- Department Curriculum Committee, chair
- Department Admissions Committee, chair until August, 2000
- Department Independent Study Review Committee
- Department Scholarship Committee
University:
- Senate alternate, fall, 1999
- Undergraduate Curriculum Forum
- Sub-committee: Notifications Management Committee
Professional Memberships:
- American Library Association
- Association for Library Service to Children
- Young Adult Library Services Association
- Connecticut Library Association
Professional Meetings:
Annual meeting of ALA*
- Washington, D.C.
- New Orleans
- San Francisco, twice
- Chicago
Mid-winter Meetings*
- San Antonio
- Washington, D.C.
- New Orleans
*ALA reconstituted a sub-committee: Teachers of Children's Literature, which I have been attending since it was reorganized.
New England Library Association - annually
- As department chair, we had a booth at the conference each year to promote our program. Last year we had a laptop available to demonstrate the online program to interested students.
Connecticut Educational Media Association - annually
- Also, liaison from the department, I attend monthly board meetings
Professional Development Congress, Washington, D.C.
- represented the department in the first professional congress held
Professional Activities:
- On Nutmeg, 2004 Nominating Committee. Currently reading 120 books for young readers, grades 4 to 6 in order to select 10 titles for the list to be read in 2004.
- Reader for new edition of Introduction to Librarianship by Jean Gates for Neal-Schuman.
- Discussion leader for Time for Libraries sponsored by Connecticut Library Council at Silas Bronson Library, Waterbury
- Discussion leader for Time for Libraries sponsored by Connecticut Library Council at New Haven Public Library
- Received Curriculum Development Grant to develop ILS 517 - History of Children's Literature. The course had not been taught in 20 years. Most materials are out-of-print, much time (and funds) was spent on accessing the materials, and then developing the content The course was taught in spring, 2001.
- Served as Book Bowl judge for New Haven Public Schools, a city-wide reading incentive that culminates in a "College Bowl" style completion that is televised on the local education channel.
- Developing an online "course" to teach to eighth-graders at East Rock Community School. Students will logon to a website that will take them through the elements of good literature, then apply them by selecting and reading aloud to the younger grades.
Community Activities:
- Vice president/President-elect Bethany Library Association Board (President term to begin January, 2003)
- President of Friends of the Bethany Library.
As president, there are two major projects that I have accomplished in addition to regular duties. First is the Books for Newborns that I instituted. When a new baby is born to a Bethany resident, a postcard is sent to the parents telling them a gift is waiting for the baby at the library. The gift consists of:
- a bibliography of the library's holdings about child development
- a pamphlet from the American Library Association about the benefits of reading to newborns
- a pamphlet about the library
- a board book for the infant
Second, I oversee fund raising. In the past 10 years, we have:
- Contributed $23,000.00 to the building fund.
- Matched a town grant of $25,000.00 for the new computerized circulation system
- Paid for all computers purchased by the library (in addition to the circulation system, there are 4 computers for general use, and one for the librarian - all are new and updated frequently)
- Pay for the Video 5 annual subscription ($500)
- Pay for Electronic Library
