TEL Trainer of the Month
November 2009 TEL Trainer of the Month: Chantay Collins
by Jennifer Wooters
Congratulations to Chantay Collins, our TEL trainer of the month for November! Chantay is the Library Director at Maynardville Public Library in Union County, TN. Chantay has been with TEL practically from the beginning, and she tirelessly promotes TEL. Chantay organized a Balloon Release event to celebrate TEL’s first birthday. Most recently, her community celebrated TEL’s 10th birthday at their annual HeadStart Parenting Fair.
Chantay has trained teachers and school librarians in her school system to use TEL. She would also like to organize TEL training for high school students, including homeschooled students. She works hard to give students the skills and tools they need to succeed in college. She says, “Each year when my library kids go off to college, I give them a flyer that has my website and all the passwords for TEL. I show them what they can do with TEL’s databases and eBooks, and how to use the tools to cite their sources.”
Chantay’s library has 1,600 square feet of space, and even though 30 new shelves have been installed under her direction, there isn’t enough room for all the books she would like to offer. Chantay says, “Being a small rural public library, this was a way to get more info without the big cost. It’s all online and doesn’t take up shelf space that we don’t have.” With Gale Virtual Reference Library or General OneFile, Chantay can offer a single e-publication to an entire class of schoolchildren. Every child can read the publication at once while they are at school, at the library, or at home. And their parents don’t have to worry about overdue fines! Chantay says that Kids Infobits is her favorite resource for children, and she points out that the Teacher’s Tool Box has excellent free printouts.
Chantay has customers of all ages, so she also uses TEL with adult learners. She directs people who will soon take the GED test or the ASVAB test to Learning Express resources. Chantay points out that the ASVAB Practice Test helps test-takers get the highest score by helping them become familiar with the material on the test, and by allowing them to practice taking a timed test. TEL resources designed to help prepare users for career success, from the job search to interviewing, are also popular at her library. She also enjoys showing people the TEL Health and Wellness Resource Center and Alternative Health database.
Chantay says, “I became a TEL trainer to learn more about what all TEL had to offer for my customers.” Now she says, “My goal is to train everyone to go to TEL first for info.” To achieve this goal, Chantay is always looking for opportunities to promote TEL. She says, “We just had our annual 2009 Union County Heritage Festival. The Union County Chamber of Commerce passed out 300 bags with our TEL flyers inside. We also passed out approximately 500 flyers and bookmarks with information about TEL.” Thank you, Chantay, for promoting TEL so enthusiastically and sharing TEL’s resources with your community!
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