Karen Bale

Background

About Karen Bale

I have been involved in the Education sector for 35 years and am passionately interested in the development of the whole student - I am a 'people' person and enjoy human interaction, but am also interested in computers, e-resources, etc. This is where the intersection of my interests in podcasting and capturing the stories of others becomes especially exciting - sparking my passion for interacting with others and using their stories to add not only value, but a human touch. I have witnessed the gradual but currently snowballing growth of ICT and technology in Libraries and relish the opportunity to continually upskill in this area. I am also finding the power of social media, first and foremost as a means to engage in professional development, but also to inform, alert and promote programs to users and potential clientele. My most recent projects include Co-Directorship of Pen paper Pixels. This is a festival of story in different forms and mediums held annually in Port Macquarie, NSW. In addition, in 2019 I was heavily involved in the 50 Year Anniversary celebrations of St Joseph's Regional College which sparked an interest in preserving and making accessible archival material. I worked on a podcast series for the archives -"Regionals". I have successfully written grant submissions and in 2019 I drove a team-led investigation of our college culture and values as we prepared for significant changes in our workplace. I served as a regional representative on the Management Committee of the School Library Association of NSW from 2018-2020. I’m currently volunteering as Media and Promotions Officer with the Hastings Education Fund. Specialties: Library Management, Information Literacy, Collection Development, Literacy Support, Information sourcing, Citation and referencing assistance, Budget management