As part of this year's AJL Convention, an impromptu roundtable of those affected by recent adverse economic conditions, and those in a position to be of help, was convened on Tuesday morning of the convention. Librarians who had either been downsized, had their jobs redefined or expanded to include additional responsibilities, or who were in a position to assist with resources filled two tables. The purpose of the roundtable was to discuss ways in which our working conditions had been affected by the economic downturn and to use our network of Judaica librarians to assist each other. The meeting was organized by Ann Abrams (Temple Israel, Boston, Mass., and New England AJL Chapter President) and Susan Dubin (AJL President).

Some resources for job-seekers that were mentioned at the meeting include

• Metropolitan New York Library Council, which provides a variety of services to member libraries including resume review and training,
• SLA, the Special Libraries Association, which provides job listings and other resources to special libraries and archives, and also has an employment task force including mentoring, job advisement and coaching, and may serve as a model for a similar program in AJL,
• GetAJob, a service of the American Library Association,
• The Library News, a site specializing in blogs and jobs,
• JewishJobs.com, listing jobs by geographical area,
• Indeed.com, a jobs site,
• @Libjobs, a job-posting aggregator on Twitter,

Not surprisingly, themes discussed focused on negative economic changes. With budgets shrinking and many Jewish organizations having difficulty raising money, librarians must learn to be their own advocates and develop home-grown sources of funds. Grants, book sales and birthday clubs were all mentioned as possible sources of fundraising. The growing trend towards outsourcing of technical services was also discussed. Networking and mentoring are crucial to making important connections; it was suggested that volunteering in an organization in which one would like to work can be valuable on both counts. The lack of respect for libraries and library services was also mentioned as a cause of many problems in the industry, with the example given of jobs lost in the corporate sector. Staying up to date on technology and proving one's relevancy in a changing work enviornment are crucial to maintaining one's position in a difficult period.

As a result of this meeting an online wiki was created to allow AJL members to post discussions, jobs and resources on an ongoing basis. You can find this wiki at AJLJobSeekers.wetpaint.com. It is open to anyone who creates an account on the site. The meeting proved to be a valuable opportunity to share information and form a network of librarians concerned about this issue and it is hoped that discussion will continue online.