Virtual Conferences

Video-conference-5167472_1920Like many of you, I've been attending a lot of virtual events. SCLS has hosted webinars for many years so virtual events are nothing new. Now, however, events that were normally in-person are being moved online like the recent American Library Association Annual Conference and the upcoming Association for Rural & Small Libraries Conference. I recently attended the Denver Public Library's Advancing Racial Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Symposium (more about that in a minute).

Here is a list of upcoming virtual conferences:

For SCLS member public library staff, you can use CE Grant funds to offset the cost of attending these conferences.

I mentioned the Denver Public Library's Advancing Racial Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Symposium earlier and wanted to tell you more about it. Originally, this was to be a relatively small (about 125 people) in-person symposium held in Denver, Colorado. When the pandemic changed everything, the planning committee changed this event too. The event grew into a three-day virtual conference with more than 1000 people attending. The recordings of most of the sessions are available for you to watch here. This was one of the best virtual events that I've attended. The organizers, especially Ozy Aloziem from Denver Public Library, did a fabulous job bringing together a wide variety of speakers and artists in a really thoughtful way and acknowledging the hard work that needs to be done around racial equity.

One thing I learned from attending DPL's Symposium is to treat attending a virtual conference like an in-person conference. While you may not be physically leaving your home office or library to attend, you owe it to yourself (and the conference organizers and presenters) to block out your calendar, turn off your email, and be present for the conference sessions. It's worth it!

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

Updated 7/27/2020 to add CIL & Internet Librarian conference.

July 24, 2020 in Conferences | | Comments (0)

Compassionate Accountability: Resources to Help Library Staff

As libraries are working on their re-opening plans, one of the questions that has come up is how staff can best de-escalate challenging situations that may arise. Dealing with challenging behavior or situations isn't new in libraries. Our new reality, though, is bringing new worries into the mix. While I don't have all the answers for you, I wanted to share some resources for you and your staff.

First, SCLS is hosting a webinar on June 11 from 10 - 11:30 a.m. called Compassionate Accountability: Dealing with Problem Behaviors in the Library. In this webinar, Emily Rogers and Karla Giraldez from Brown County Library, will explore ways that library staff can explain changes to library services and enforce existing and new guidelines. Register here! if you're not able to attend live, the webinar will be recorded. (Updated 7/31/2020 with link to the recording)

Next, all Wisconsin library staff - including SCLS - have access to Ryan Dowd's Librarian's Guide to Homelessness online training. The Core Training is especially helpful in working with all patrons, not only those who are experiencing homelessness. In addition to the Core Training, there are 8 additional one hour webinars on a variety of topics. If you have any trouble accessing the training, please contact Jean.

There are several recorded webinars that are about security, safety, and service in the library:

And, finally, Reb Kilde with the IFLS Library System recently wrote a post called The Big Mask Ask: Can you really make anybody wear a mask?  In addition to great information about using empathy to encourage compliance with library guidelines, she's created a couple of great posters to use in the library and includes instructions on how to make them yourself. Thanks Reb!

If you have other resources to share, let me know in the comments.

 

May 29, 2020 in Miscellaneous | | Comments (0)

Trustee Training Week 2020

FINAL-TRUSTEE-WEEK-LOGOcroppedTrustee Training Week registration is now open! Here's this year's lineup:
  • Monday, August 24 -- Core Values of Librarianship with Jessamyn West
    Librarianship as a profession has a set of core values. But where do they come from, and what do they mean? Library technologist Jessamyn West will talk about the things that make up the core values of librarianship and discuss the tensions that exist between some of them.
  • Tuesday, August 25 - Recruiting and Engaging Friends and Trustees Under Age 40 with Madeline Jarvis and Tess Wilson
    Millennials are more likely than other adults to have visited the library recently. However, most Friends and Trustee boards do not have even a single Millennial member (Pew 2016, ALA 2018). What accounts for this discrepancy, and how can we rectify it? Learn how to attract Millennials to your Friends group and Board of Trustees, and turn the largest generation of library users into your best advocates.

  • Wednesday, August 26 - Public Library System Redesign (PLSR) Implementation Update with Bruce Smith
    Throughout the response to the public health event, the Department of Public Instruction Division for Libraries and Technology, Public Library Systems, Public Libraries and other partners have been extraordinarily collaborative in our efforts to support the Wisconsin library community. These efforts have allowed us to see new ways for how libraries and systems can be connected and work together in the spirit of PLSR. Through this lens of cooperation and continuous improvement as libraries bounce back from the impact of the pandemic, we continue to move our efforts forward to implement the recommendations of the PLSR Steering Committee. This presentation will include an overview of the PLSR process and an update on the progress of implementing the seven recommendations including information about specific activities and timelines. There also will be time for questions, comments, and input from attendees.

  • Thursday, August 27 - Equity, Diversity, Inclusion: What Library Trustees Need to Know with Anne Phibbs
    Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) impacts all communities and all aspects of librarianship. Library Boards of Trustees have an important role in supporting EDI and related initiatives. This webinar will help trustees and library directors understand how to incorporate EDI into policy development, strategic planning, funding initiatives, board development, and more. Anne will present a variety of interactive scenarios in which EDI issues are a factor, with time for Q&A and discussion. In this webinar, Anne Phibbs, PhD, Founder and President of Strategic Diversity Initiatives, will give a basic introduction to EDI and discuss what library trustees and boards need to know about EDI.
  • Friday, August 28 - Walk the Line: How Trustees Can Best Lead Their Libraries Without Overstepping Their Authority with Becky Spratford
    Being a Trustee is an important job. You are part of a team that represents the tax payers, oversees the Library Director, and advocates for libraries. However, where exactly do your duties end the Library staff's begin? This line, while very clear from a legal standpoint, can become a bit fuzzy in practice. Join Becky Spratford, a 20 + years librarian and 5 term library trustee as she helps you understand how to walk the fine line between being a leader and being in the way. She will go over how you as a Trustee can best help the Library thrive, noting when you should step in but also when you should back off, strengthening all of Wisconsin's Libraries in the process.
Webinars are from noon - 1 p.m. each day and will be recorded and captioned.

Trustee Training Week is supported by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Public Library Development Team, with funding support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

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May 21, 2020 in SCLS, Webinar | | Comments (0)

Professional Development Resources during COVID-19

Here is a list of continuing education resources for you and your staff. I'll keep adding to this list as I come across new items:

  • Whitney Parillo, Director of Hutchinson Memorial Library in Randolph, shared this list of items for her staff to watch while the library is closed
  • Center for Professional & Executive Development, UW Madison School of Business, has a series of 5 webinar recordings available including Culture: the Driving Force Behind Your Business Culture and more.
  • Dr. Steve Albrecht's webinars on Library 2.0 (free registration required):
    • Library Safety * Security 2020
    • Interacting with the Homeless
    • Sexual Harassment of Library Staff: Responding to Incidents by Patrons or Others  
    • Security for Rural Librarians
    • How to Handle Challenging Patrons
    • Stress Management for Library Staff
    • Coaching Skills for Library Managers and Supervisors
    • Responding to an Active Shooter in the Library
  • Public Libraries Respond to COVID-19, a free webinar series 
    • Note: registration may be closed for some of the webinars, but they will be recorded and available for future viewing
    • The Current Landscape, March 26 at 1 p.m. Central Time
    • Successful Ways to Work Remotely, April 2 at 1 p.m. Central Time
    • Managing Stress and Anxiety, April 9 at 1 p.m.
    • Innovative Solutions in Times of Crisis, April 16 at 1 p.m. Central Time
  • Professional Development Opportunities, WI Libraries for Everyone blog post
  • Librarian's Guide to Homelessness with Ryan Dowd includes Core training and bonus webinars:
    • Burnout/Compassion Fatigue
    • Advanced Body Language
    • Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault
    • Homelessness 201
    • Body Odor
      • All SCLS Member Library staff should have access to this. If you are having any trouble, please contact Jean
  • WebJunction Course Catalog
  • Infopeople
    • Webinars are free, courses are for a fee. SCLS member libraries may use CE Grant funds to offset the cost of courses.
  • OCLC at PLA 2020, a YouTube playlist
  • Wisconsin Literacy's Plain Language recorded webinar. Available until May 7

 

March 23, 2020 in Collection Development, Infopeople, PLA, SCLS, Webinar, WebJunction | | Comments (0)

Professional Journals Available during COVID-19 Pandemic

I'll update this list as I learn of more resources for you.

Professional Journals available for free during the COVID-19 Pandemic:

  • Booklist Online free until further notice. Also, once things are back to normal, SCLS will be adding a second copy of the print issue of Booklist to route to libraries.
  • Horn Book is offering temporary free access to their digitized editions as well as their website content
    • To access their website content, log in using access@hbook.com email and password: THBfullaccess1
    • To access digitized editions, visit The Horn Book site and select Access Digitized Edition
  • Library Journal is offering temporary free access to their digitized editions as well as their website content
    • To access their website content, log in using access@libraryjournal.com email and password LJfullaccess1
    • To access their digitized editions, visit Library Journal and select Access Digitized Edition
  • Publishers Weekly is making their digital magazine available to everyone starting with the March 16, 2020 issue.
  • School Library Journal is offering temporary free access to their digitized editions as well as their website content
    • To access their website content, log in using access@slj.com email and password SLJfullaccess1
    • To access their digitized editions visit SLJ and select Access Digitized Edition

 

March 23, 2020 in Collection Development | | Comments (0)

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