Continuing Education Resources for Library Staff

Like most people, you probably have a lot going on and good reasons to feel distressed. Being stressed from time to time is actually normal and healthy. The problem is when it is ongoing and chronic. Not only does it feel incredibly uncomfortable, but stress can cause numerous serious health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, insomnia, memory loss, anxiety and depressive disorders. The good news is that with modern technology, we can understand the nature of stress and find skillful ways in reducing or even preventing it. Some of this requires lifestyle changes, but a lot of it has to do with how we perceive and relate to what is happening and how we choose to respond. Join us in this webinar to learn more about the science of stress and how to use mindfulness as a tool to reduce its grip on your day to day. As a result of this program, participants will:

• learn how to discern between healthy and toxic stress
• understand the physical mechanism of stress and how this can lead to disease
• investigate what causes stress and how to create more supportive conditions to keep it from arising
• practice how to be with and attend to stress more mindfully
• explore meditation techniques to reduce anxiety and overwhelm

Presenter: Aiko is certified by Mindful Schools and trained in Nonviolent Communication through BayNVC. She also leads professional development workshops and mindfulness classes within the California Library System and was invited to present at 2021 Future of Libraries Conference. For more information on Aiko’s work please visit www.rememberingtruenature.com or contact Aiko@rememberingtruenature.com

Boundaries and limit setting for patrons at public libraries can prevent library workers from feeling drained at the end of a workday. When healthy boundaries are set, it helps us manage our own frustration or anger instead of feeling as if there is a loss of control. This session will teach participants not only how to identify when patrons blur the lines of professional and personal boundaries in the library, but how to work through the common boundaries issues that are faced when dealing with the public. As a result of this program, attendees will:

• Define and understand the importance of boundaries and limit-setting
• Learn how to identify and understand most common situations when patrons blur professional and personal boundaries
• Gain practical tools to set limits and to deal with patrons who cross the boundary lines when visiting libraries
• Learn de-escalation techniques when dealing with difficult patrons
• Learn new techniques to take care of themselves during and after these uncomfortable encounters

Presenter: Nicole T. Bryan is the Branch Manager of the Macon Library at Brooklyn Public Library. She spent some of her career within the social services arena, developing programs and meeting constituents’ needs. Currently, she assesses the delivery of library services to diverse populations in public library branches and homeless shelters in Brooklyn, N.Y. Nicole was just awarded the 2023 Woman of Distinctions award from the 56th District Assemblymember. Nicole received her MLS degree from Long Island University and has been working in the library field for over 20 years.

Libraries offer a variety of health-related resources for anyone looking to improve their health and wellness. Libraries also host programs focusing on fitness, nutrition, and mental health. The challenge is deciding which programs and resources are best for their communities and library users. Join Tiffany Williams as she shares how the library can support and promote healthy living in their communities. Attendees will complete this program with:

• Ideas for programming
• Resources to support healthy living 
• Knowledge of how health and wellness programs benefit the community

Presenter: After teaching preschool for a decade, Tiffany decided to pursue a passion for literature and attend the University of North Carolina, Greensboro to become a librarian. After graduation, she was hired as a Media Specialist at the same elementary school where her mother also worked in the same role. Currently, Tiffany is the Children's Services Manager at the Cynthia Graham Hurd Library, where she enjoys creating engaging programs for the community and witnessing the joy and excitement that patrons experience while visiting the library. Tiffany is from Starr, South Carolina, and currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with her daughter Asia and beagle, Lulu.

• Learn how to apply adult learning principles
  
• Identify key steps to impactful training 
• Create best practices for adult learners 
• Assess and refresh existing training

Presenter: Rosie Clark specializes in training adults using a learner-centered and participant-engaged approach in various professions, contexts, and life experiences. Over the last 20 years, she has taught a variety of topics to include emotional intelligence, professional development, interpersonal communication, public speaking, environmental, safety, and much more. You can contact Rosie at rosie.x.clark@gmail.com or connect on LinkedIn.

Learn more about the joyous Mexican Festival of Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos), which is celebrated each year on November 1st & 2nd, and be prepared to conduct a Day of the Dead Storytime for various age groups using materials your library has or can order. Webinar participants will learn:

• Tips for acknowledging Day of the Dead with a special storytime  
• How to choose and share authentic, culturally appropriate books true to the spirit of Day of the Dead, both bilingual and in English only
• Resources that children and their families will be able to enjoy on their own

Note: This session is in English and will focus on English-language storytimes. This program is part of PCI’s collaborative learning project with California Libraries. (CALL).

Presenter: A librarian for over 30 years, Ana-Elba Pavon has worked at public libraries throughout the Bay Area, including San Francisco, South San Francisco, San Mateo City and County, and Oakland. A Spanish-Services and Children's Specialist, she has provided service to a wide variety of populations of all ages in English and Spanish. Programming has been one of Ana’s fortes, and she co-authored a book about children's crafts and related programming. Ana has taught Spanish for Non-Spanish Speaking Library Staff at the Oakland Public Library, is active in REFORMA, having served as its National President, and is an Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

We are incredibly sensitive creatures and very affected by our environment and the people around us. And because we can’t control all aspects of our external circumstances, we experience a whole range of daily challenging emotions such as fear, frustration, sadness, confusion, worry, doubt, helplessness, loneliness, etc. It's natural to not want to have unpleasant feelings. Most of us have actually become pretty adept at developing avoidance coping mechanisms such as denial, distraction, checking out or going straight into fix-it-mode to eradicate the stressor. While this might offer temporary relief, what originally generated the emotions goes unseen and unaddressed if we don’t allow emotions to complete their expression. Join us in this webinar to deepen your understanding of the importance of having challenging emotions and how they ultimately serve our well-being. Come learn about the science behind emotions and how to use mindfulness to build your capacity for being with difficult feelings. In this session, we will: 

• become aware of the rich variety of emotions that make up experience
• understand the mechanism of how feelings arise and the effects that they have on the body and mind
• learn about the true value of challenging emotions and what we miss out on when we avoid them 
• experiment with different meditation techniques to offer supportive conditions to stay long enough in difficult emotions to discover the root need that is calling for attention

Presenter: Aiko is certified by Mindful Schools and trained in Nonviolent  Communication through BayNVC. She has attended over 120 days of Vipassana meditation retreats as both a participant and mentor. Her background in Biology, Pedagogy and Buddhist philosophy allow for a unique secular mindfulness offering where participants can investigate how to bring more awareness into their work, personal and relational lives. 

For this program, we consider how to foster positive influence in our work groups. We will examine our emotional intelligence, communication styles/strategies, and learn best practices for engaging work problems/conflict. Through examining our work cultures, you will gain transferable skills to create positive influence and action in the workplace.  As a result of this program, you will:

• Understand verbal and nonverbal communication patterns
• Determine one’s emotional intelligence
• Develop effective communication skills for creating positive influence in the workplace

Presenter: Dr. Stevie M. Munz, Ph.D. is an award-winning teacher and researcher with 10+ years of experience in the communication field. She has led hundreds of discussion forums, presentations, trainings, and workshops. As a communication expert, she is passionate about developing your communication power skills!

Libraries are most often in vulnerable positions from crisis of natural disaster to active shooters. But library staff are often not formally trained to handle basic emergency preparedness. Emergencies are not always clear-cut, especially in libraries. Unique challenges arise like damage to resources or patrons confiding with you about personal matters that could constitute getting emergency services involved. This webinar will help you to prepare your library to handle shut downs and other emergency services through formation of policies and training. As a result of this program, attendees will:

• Delineate between emergency and crisis at various levels and unique library emergencies
• Identify best policies and practices for creation of an emergency manual
• Implementing plans and responses including mandated reporting
• Understand each stage of the process including preparedness and response and recovery

Presenter: Jennifer Blair is the Head of User Services Librarian and Associate Professor at Azusa Pacific University (APU). Her role is dedicated to the user experience, including marketing the library, and teaching. She has extensive experience teaching online courses in design and computer literacy. Jennifer holds a B.A. in Graphic Design, a M.A in Education with an emphasis in Educational Multimedia, and a M.S. in Library and Information Studies. Her experience in academic and public libraries as well as work experience in art and design allow her to employ visionary strategies to enrich progress and enhance advancement for students.

Library staff and administration do more than point people in the right direction to books and information. We foster wellness for ourselves and others. One way to foster wellness is to tap the entrepreneurial spirit and apply it within the library organization, setting the tone that the library is a welcoming and creative space for all–honoring the genius of everyone within. Join us to discover how to do more than balance too many projects and not enough time but foster wellness and promote self-renewal. As Emerson inspires: “Life consists in what a person is thinking of all day.” This session does not tell one what to think, but rather shows how to activate creative thinking and how to enrich daily activities in practical ways. As a result of this program, participants will be able to:

• Demonstrate an ability to create wellness in their work by using the entrepreneurial spirit: starting with the end in mind, tapping dignity, unity, and harmony in our thinking and daily activities. creatively reducing bureaucracy
• Explain at least three actions successful librarians take to activate the skill of discernment when prioritizing and making decisions
• Cite at least three resources that can be used to further hone their skills in fostering wellness in their work

Presenter: Dorothy Stoltz is a professional librarian, author, consultant, mentor, and trainer. With more than 40 years in public libraries, she has experience in outreach, programming, community engagement, supervision, management, and administration.  Dorothy has spearheaded several projects, including a research study to determine the effectiveness of library training and school readiness; two peer learning project studies; and a traveling augmented reality (AR) exhibit featuring history stories and artifacts. Dorothy is owner of Waldo Publishers, LLC, inspired by the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. https://waldopublishers.com/ Waldo’s goal is to present and publish books that inspire “activating from within.”  Stoltz Creative Consulting offers a range of mentor, consulting, and training services on creativity and peer learning for libraries and other organizations.

Is your bilingual storytime in need of new content? Learn ten original translations of songs to refresh and revitalize your Spanish bilingual storytime! This program will present a hands-on approach to learn fingerplays, action songs, and songs for manipulatives, as well as ideas on how to adapt these songs to fit early literacy programming targeted to babies, toddlers, or preschoolers. Aside from new content, this program will also provide insight on how to approach translation for early literacy programming. As a result of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Incorporate new songs, rhymes, action, and manipulative songs into bilingual storytime programs.
• Understand how to adapt these songs for babies, toddlers, or preschoolers.
• Identify basic translation methods utilized to produce translations of songs and rhymes.

For optimal learning, participants should have a basic grasp of bilingual storytime and Spanish. For manipulative songs, participants should have an egg shaker, scarf, and rhythm sticks available.

Presenter: Sheridan Jay Cazarez is a Youth Services Librarian at the Long Beach Public Library. At LBPL, he coordinates Summer Reading, and other reading initiatives, facilitates early literacy programs, bilingual programs, and works on community engagement and outreach, both on digital platforms and in person. He has presented on translation and cultural competency for early literacy programming at the REFORMA National Conference, California Library Association Conference, Seguimos Creando Enlaces Conference, and the American Library Association Conference. He graduated with a Master of Science in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and is an American Library Association Spectrum Scholar, a Katharine Sharp Scholar, and an Illinois Library Association Sylvia Murphy Williams Scholar. His graduate studies examined bilingualism and early literacy, and culturally competent services to Latinxs and Spanish speakers. Sheridan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, completed at California State University at Long Beach, where he studied the histories, literatures, cultures, and politics of the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula, as well as basic translation and interpretation methodologies. He serves with the Los Angeles Chapter of REFORMA, and is currently helping to plan the next REFORMA National Conference which will take place in Long Beach, CA in September 2025. Learn more at reformaconference.org. For more bilingual storytime resources visit Sheridan's and his colleague, Luisa Leija's website, www.bibliocuentos.com. 

Every community is home to authors. Whether independently or traditionally published, authors are out there wanting to connect with you. In this webinar, we’ll explore the relationship between authors and librarians, including the unique ways each group is attracted to books and how to use those attractions to work together. As a result of this program, attendees will:

• Learn about marketing and promotion challenges for authors and how to help
• How to work with authors who approach the library
• How they can support authors and create a mutually beneficial relationship

Participants will also receive a free copy of Cari’s short ebook, THE LIBRARIAN’S GUIDE TO AUTHORS.

Presenter: Cari Dubiel is the Assistant Director at Twinsburg Public Library. She brings many years of experience to both her author and library careers. Leveraging her unique perspective, Cari speaks to both authors and librarians about the ways they can partner with each other. She has written both THE LIBRARIAN’S GUIDE TO AUTHORS and THE AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO LIBRARIES.