Honolulu, HI

Aloha from our little corner of America,

Many of you may have meet Emily Dovermann when she came to the 36th Annual Training Seminar. That visit has ignited a lot of patent and trademark related activity that included displays celebrating Intellectual Property Day with assistance from Arlene Nagamine and Stewart Chun. Two photos are included showing some of the effort used in our display. Shortly after putting together a workshop, featuring Tom Turner and Neil Massong, and companion display, that was described in our last newsletter, we are now anticipating a visit from Craig Morris, a frequent training seminar presenter, from the Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks. Although the preparations for his visit will not be as elaborate as last year, we will still try to do a special display for his program. We are planning a trademark themed display within an Intellectual Property Day exhibit.



Our new State Librarian has been named to guide us to her vision of a library future in Hawaii. Stacey Aldrich, a 2003 Library Journal Mover and Shaker and former State Librarian at California State Library in 2009-2012 where she first learned about PTRCs, has found out how steep the learning curve is in running a state-wide library system. She is a quick learner and her impact has already been felt. Although Stacey is a strong supporter of FDLP and PTRC libraries, she has so much on her plate that have a higher legislative priority that much time will pass before will be able to focus on exactly how our section will fit in her future libraries plan.

Our long time Hawaii State Library Director, Diane Eddy, has retired at the end of December. In her place, Marya Zoller has stepped in to take over her duties while Administration Core searches for a permanent replacement. Diane will be missed because of her support in helping us get Friends of the Library of Hawaii grants to attend the PTRC training seminars. We hope her new permanent replacement will also assist us so we can continue to send someone to learn more about the changes that are occurring in helping the public to use the various tools in searching for patents and trademarks.



Finally, I also have to report that this will be my last newsletter about our activities as a PTRC Representative. I am planning on retiring sometime before Fall 2016. It has been a pleasure to meet and exchange ideas with you during my visits to Crystal City and Alexandria, Virginia. I have never met a more supportive group that was willing to help out anyone, especially the staff at PTRCP. Although I don’t know who will succeed me, rest assured that we will have a FDLP and PTRC library somewhere at the Hawaii State Library. A silver tsunami has landed on our shores.
Take care and have fun,

Stewart Chun