Continuing Education Resources for Library Staff

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.

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!

Readers Advisory is one important thing that a well-done book display can accomplish. They can market your collection, programs, and services. But a book display can do more – it can be passive programming which will allow a library to increase their programming in a way that maximizes staff time. Join Passive Readers’ Advisory expert Lila Denning for an hour of all the ways that you can leverage your book displays to provide programming to patrons of all ages. You will learn how to combine physical and digital materials with interactive features to draw in visitors to your library. She will also show you how to design these displays and replicate the idea online, where possible. Attendees will learn how to:

• Understand the basic features of book displays as passive readers advisory and what defines a passive program. 
• Identify best practices for creating a well-designed book display with interactive features. 
• Discover how you can tie together in-library passive programming with book displays to your online efforts and active programming.  
• Learn where to find ideas to inspire your passive programming efforts.

Presenter: Lila Denning is a librarian in Florida specializing in Passive Readers Advisory for patrons of all ages. She is the acquisitions coordinator for the St. Petersburg Library System and has worked in circulation, reference, and youth services. She serves the volunteer coordinator for the Horror Writers of America. You can find her on Twitter @Vantine and on BlueSky @Vantine.bsky.social. On her blog, bookdisplays.blogspot.com, she talks about ideas for book displays and other forms of Passive Readers Advisory and how to best use it to serve your patrons.

Expand your horizons and discover ways to be your best self in your leadership role. Whether you’re new to your position as a leader or have been a leader for some time, you’ll find new things to love about serving in a leadership role. True leaders are not only focused on the outcomes and productivity of the organization but are just as committed to cultivating and developing their staff and their own personal growth. In this session, current and new leaders will learn the ‘must do list’ for leaders that will set them up for continued success. Attendees will learn how to:

• Strategically and competently lead their team and/or organization
• Enhance their personal leadership style with a customized leadership development plan
• Develop and sustain effective leadership throughout all levels of the organization 
• Set themselves, their team and their organization up for success to foster efficient performance and positive outcomes

Presenter: Clenise Platt is a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is a gifted leader, communicator, strategic thinker and creative who partners with senior leaders, executives and teams to develop, plan and execute dynamic and innovative programs. Her areas of concentration include leadership and board development, employee engagement, talent development, customer service, and culture cultivation to help increase employee development and organizational performance. Clenise has authored several books and articles focused and has been published in multiple publications including the Virginia Libraries Journal.

Employees with high morale have less absenteeism, turnover and errors, and are more productive. We all want an engaged and productive staff . . . and neuroscience explains why certain strategies are more adept at fostering a sense of belonging, safety, commitment, and cooperation. This program will discuss low cost and no cost strategies and techniques that can help your library team feel recognized, appreciated, understood, and supported. Both the how and why will be explained. In this program you will:

• Identify at least four foundations of strong functioning teams 
• Gain two examples of how to employ each idea

Presenter: Laura Greco, RN, MEd is a certified wellness coach and speaker who facilitates learning and changing habits. She helps professionals eliminate burnout, manage stress, create life balance, and rekindle their sense of purpose and joy. Self-care (body, mind, and spirit) is the basis for well-being and we all have the capacity to make positive lifestyle changes are 2 of her foundational beliefs.

• Learn phrases to set boundaries with their customers
• Learn phrases to redirect unwanted questions and phrases
• Discuss and resolve eight difficult and awkward real-life customer situations
• Review best practices for keeping a safe library environment for everyone

Andrew has been developing and conducting training programs for library organizations for more than twenty years. He has presented Web-based, On-line, and Face-to-Face programs on Customer Service and Communication Skills for libraries in the U.S. and numerous countries around the world. Andrew’s programs are filled with proven techniques that attendees can immediately apply with their difficult and challenging customer behaviors. He is the past president of the Haywood County Library Board of Trustees in Western North Carolina.

A large majority of communication comes from nonverbals like facial expressions, gestures, and posture. It is universal and infused into every single interaction we have. Learn how to decipher what the body is saying and utilize nonverbal tells for approachability and great customer service. 

As a result of this program, you will not only learn how to project confidence in your communication with others, but really change how you feel, all through the use of body language. You will also discover ways that body language can be used to help manage situations of conflict and to build empathy with your colleagues and customers.

Presenter: For over thirteen years, Holly Klingler has been training people in a variety of career fields on how to maximize their communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills.  She has presented at the Akron Women’s Bar Association, the Ohio Certified Public Accountants Annual Conference, the Hudson Job Corp., and has trained library staff for over twelve years, eight of which were as the Continuing Education trainer at the Northeast Ohio Regional Library System. She teaches valuable techniques to help professionals showcase their strengths, sharpen their skills, and grow both their abilities and confidence. Holly has a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy, a Masters of Library and Information Science, and a certification in nonverbal analysis. She is also a certified Career Development facilitator and an MBTI Certified Practitioner and Facilitator.

Want to master the art of exceptional customer service? This interactive workshop, equips attendees with essential communication techniques to navigate any customer interaction. Based on the latest research in effective communication, the program equips attendees with goal-oriented listening techniques, diffusing techniques, and empathetic communication. By applying these communication techniques, attendees will be able to build trust and address concerns effectively. This program is designed for anyone who interacts directly with the public. Investing in these communication skills will not only enhance the customer experience but also improve efficiency and reduce conflict. At the end of this training, attendees will be able to:

• Define the key elements of goal-oriented listening and diffusing statements.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of communication skills and identify areas for improvement in customer service interactions.
• Apply goal-oriented listening, diffusing statements, and empathetic communication techniques to navigate customer interactions.
• Reflect on their current communication practices in customer interactions to identify areas for improvement.

Presenter: As an interpersonal and family communication scholar, Jordan Allen, Ph.D., brings 10 years of teaching and researching experience to help people improve communication in their daily lives. Jordan has published research in several communication journals, including The Journal of Family Communication, Communication Theory, and Communication Annals. She has also contributed chapters to books on a range of interpersonal and family communication topics, including research methodologies, interpersonal conflict, family relationships, and twin communication, to name a few.

The public library is often called on to be “all things to all people.”  As the list of “all things” continues to grow it is getting harder to deliver on this expectation.  Partnering with community can be the answer to solve this need.  Identifying the needs of community and then partnering with the correct resource can be a win-win solution for patrons and others.  There is no need to recreate the wheel and there are significant benefits involved for the library and the community partner. Attendees will learn how to:

• Assess the community’s needs and inventory what the library can/should do
• Identify community partners 
• Assemble the “ask”
• Build benefits package – to portray the message “how the partner benefits from an alignment with libraries?” 

Presenter: Nicolle Davies is a library leader, speaker, and consultant.  Davies serves as the State Librarian for Colorado.  She holds both a Master’s in Public Administration and a Master’s in Library and Information Sciences.  Davies served as the Executive Director of the Charleston County Public Library in South Carolina, and the Arapahoe Library District in Colorado. She was named Library Journal’s 2016 Librarian on the Year.  Before coming to libraries, Davies worked in broadcast journalism and public relations.  She is considered an expert in policy design, advocacy, leadership, public relations, and communications.