On July 27th, 2020, 29 members attended the Lambda Chapter of Beta Phi Mu held their spring virtual initiation and business meeting via Zoom. Dr. June Lester was the speaker at the event and spoke on the elements and merits of “Accidental Librarianship.” Dr. Lester had not intended to have a career in Librarianship. However, she gave three pieces of advice on getting an accidental career: 1) take advantage of good opportunities, despite family and plans, 2) mind other people's business by learning what and why they do what they do, and 3) be adventurous in your career by taking chances to grow, learn, and meet challenges you did not expect to face.
The Lambda Chapter initiated 19 new members to organization: Peter Addison, Tracy Ashby, Jodena Brown, Hailey Carroll, Shannon Craycraft, Sarah Davis, Sheryl Lynn Hamilton, Laura Haygood, Jessica Humphrey, Haley Hurt, Brittany Muirhead, Sarah Munguia, Melodie Pennington, Sammie Robertson, Chloe Summers, Kelly Walvoord, Elizabeth Wasson, Tiffany Wood, and Jamie York. The Lambda Chapter is excited to welcome these new librarians and see what “accidental” career moves they make! Two new board members were also welcomed: Marianne Myers (Treasurer) and Elizabeth Szkirpan (Vice President). Marianne is a Reference and Instruction Librarian for the Northeast Campus Library at Tulsa Community College. Elizabeth is the Director of Bibliographic Services for the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa. While it is always exciting to welcome newbies, we also sadly say farewell to those exiting the board: Mellisa Kash (Past President) and Lyssa Prince (Treasurer). Their contributions to the chapter such as creating a new website and setting up PayPal (respectively) are much appreciated and they will be missed!