Continuing Education Resources for Library Staff

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders One in eight people in the United States (13 percent, or 30 million) aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears. In this interactive program, you’ll learn tips for communicating with deaf and hard of hearing patrons, information about American Sign Language and Deaf Culture, and even some basic ASL vocabulary to introduce yourself and help patrons navigate the library. As a result of this program, attendees will:

• Describe three strategies for communicating with someone who is deaf or hard of hearing
• Introduce yourself and greet someone in American Sign Language
• Describe three types of accommodations libraries may provide for deaf and hard of hearing patrons and in what situations they would be used

Presenter: Kathy MacMillan is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, and storyteller. She is the author of the Little Hands Signing series from Familius Press, Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together (Huron Street Press), and many other resources books for librarians and educators. She shares resources for signing with children at StoriesByHand.com.

We have all been known to tell stories about our experiences working in the public library. Many of those include stories about patrons, sometimes positive ones, but far too often it’s the negative ones that get us the attention we are looking for when telling a story. While many believe venting helps reduce stress after a difficult interaction with a patron, the research shows the opposite is true. In this session we will explore types of patron bashing and how it is damaging to the person doing it, their organization, and the profession. As a result of this program, attendees will learn:

• Several types of patron bashing and its effect on those around you.
• Strategies to avoid contributing to patron bashing and how to respond when you witness it.
• The qualities expected of service-oriented information professionals.

Presenter: Dana Bomba is a Branch Manager with the Chesterfield County Public Library near Richmond, Virginia. Her primary focuses are daily operations, staff development, and outreach initiatives. The area of her job she enjoys the most is staff development as she helps her team realize their full potential in an encouraging and empowering way.

Reader’s Advisor Becky Spratford has been leading book clubs for over 20 years and has seen it all. In this program she will share her secret librarian tips and tricks for success. 

All book groups go through their ups and downs, but re-energizing your group is not as hard as it may seem. Becky will walk you through how to confidently identify and utilize the best resources for leading a book discussion, pick books that will engender the best conversations, and lead a more interactive discussion even with the most jaded of groups. Let her show you how to lead a book club like a pro, in person, virtual, or hybrid. 

Whether you have never led before, have run the same group for decades, or fit somewhere else along that continuum, Becky has the information you need to be successful and have fun.

Presenter: Becky Spratford [MLIS] is a Readers' Advisor in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All. She is under contract to provide content for EBSCO’s NoveList database and writes reviews for Booklist and a horror review column for Library Journal. Becky is a 20 year locally elected Library Trustee [still serving] and a Board member for the Reaching Across Illinois Library System.  Known for her work with horror readers, Becky is the author of The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, Third Edition [ALA Editions, 2021]. She is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association and currently serves as the Association’s Secretary and organizer of their annual Librarians’ Day. You can follow Becky on Twitter @RAforAll. 

Signing with little ones all year round promotes early literacy, encourages interaction, and makes your programs instantly participative. Learn winter-specific American Sign Language vocabulary, along with strategies to incorporate it into your programs for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers in a respectful and meaningful way. Instructor Kathy MacMillan, nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, author, and storyteller, will provide a toolbox of winter signs and activities to get started with right away! Learning Objective for this program include: 

• List 3 techniques for signing in storytime
• Demonstrate at least 6 American Sign Language signs relating to winter to use with young children
• Identify at least 1 winter storytime song, story, or rhyme to use with signs

Presenter: Kathy MacMillan is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter, librarian, and storyteller. She is the author of the Little Hands Signing series from Familius Press, Little Hands and Big Hands: Children and Adults Signing Together (Huron Street Press), and many other resources books for librarians and educators. She shares resources for signing with children at StoriesByHand.com.

Do you have something on your mind about your work in the library that needs to be shared? Do you want to vent about something that is making you mad, frustrated etc. about your work or work place? Got a problem with a co-worker or your boss? Have a customer situation that is driving you to the brink? Are you being drained from working in a pandemic influenced environment? Are you tired of being the “mask police”? 

This Ask Us Anything (AUA) program is the place for you to anonymously and safely share what’s going on in your work. And to help, we have gathered a panel of experts to offer solutions and opinions. (After all, even complaining gets tiresome after a while.) We encourage you to anonymously post your concern, gripe, complaint or problem etc. in writing before the program in our Survey Monkey form. You can access the form at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9NMNW9Z

Your Ask Us Anything Panel

• April Williams is the manager of Lancaster County Library in South Carolina. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership from the University of South Carolina and her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama. She conducts workshops on leadership and communication and hosts a morning broadcast called Daily Dose LIVE that presents success tips to audiences worldwide. She is a certified life and management coach, who loves to propel individuals to success through personal and professional growth. 
• Cari Dubiel has worked in public libraries for over 20 years, doing everything from student page to her most current role as a manager at the Twinsburg Public Library. She enjoys co-hosting a podcast for indie writers.
• Dr. Steve Albrecht: As a security and HR trainer, speaker, author, and consultant, Dr. Steve Albrecht is well-known in libraries around the US for his “Challenging Patrons” workshop, based on his 2015 ALA Book, Library Security. He also specializes in workplace and school violence awareness and crisis response programs for private-sector firms, municipal and state government, hospitals, utilities, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities.

An underperforming employee affects everyone in the organization including their co-workers and their customers. For the supervisor or manager, this can mean working with the employees to establish better performance standards. But where do you begin? And how do you know if you are correcting the real performance problem(s) or just trying to correct the symptoms? Remember: In managing others, just like in practicing medicine, prescribing a cure before a diagnosis is malpractice.

This interactive and informative program will give you the six questions to ask yourself to help you to work together with your employee to diagnose their performance problem(s) and to create a plan of action moving forward.
 
As a result of this program: 

• Participants will be prepared for the sometimes, uncomfortable employee performance conversations 
• Participants will ask the necessary questions to be able to collaboratively diagnose the cause(s) of the employee’s below standard performance
• Participants will be able to create a plan of action to help the employee in determining the next steps in the performance improvement process

Presenter: Andrew is an international presenter and has been developing and conducting training programs for libraries and library organizations for more than fifteen years. He has presented Web-based, On-line, and Face-to-Face sessions on Management and Leadership, Customer Service and Communication Skills. He is the past board president of the Haywood County Public Libraries and a monthly donor to EveryLibrary, advocating for libraries everywhere that support is needed.

Request your registration links for these webinars. Note: all PCI Webinars are limited to Oregon library staff, volunteers, and board members.

Full Description

Often, we are caught off guard by inappropriate comments made by patrons or colleagues and we aren’t prepared to respond appropriately. In this interactive and important program, the presenters will go over several scenarios where someone behaves in a manner that is not acceptable in the library and provide simple responses to curtail the behavior and make it clear that what is happening is not ok.
 
This presentation originated because we had multiple young female staff members in a public library experiencing inappropriate comments from customers and weren’t equipped to respond. We expanded from those comments to include many others, including microaggressions and political and sexual comments.

As a result of this program, participants will: 

• Learn how to respond to some of the most uncomfortable situations that arise in libraries
• Learn specific simple phrases to use that are short, impactful, and easy to remember
• Be empowered to use these phrases and to respond to inappropriate comments and behaviors from their patrons and colleagues

Dana Bomba is a Branch Manager with the Chesterfield County Public Library near Richmond, Virginia. Her primary focuses are daily operations, staff development, and outreach initiatives. The area of her job she enjoys the most is staff development as she helps her team realize their full potential in an encouraging and empowering way. 

Emily Correa is a Professional Services Librarian for Campbell County Public Library System, VA. She has been involved in various committees and leadership with the Virginia Library Association, the Mid-Atlantic Library Alliance, and the County of Campbell. For more information, contact her at emilycorrea583@gmail.com

This session will be a fun and informative way to learn about a variety of topics in short, 10-minute talks. In our Flash Talks, attendees will experience a variety of topics for their holiday season mental health and well-being including:

1. Bethany Platanella - Overwhelmed by the Holidays? Calm Down with this Quick Breathing Techniqu
2. Susan Erickson - Well-Being at Work: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
3. Dr. Steve Albrecht - Preventing Thefts at the Library: Don’t Let the Thieves Steal Your Holiday Spirit
4. Nicole Bryan - Self Care Through the Holidays
5. Katie Clausen - A Holiday Gift Booklist: Kids Books That Make Great Gifts

Join us for a fast paced and interesting hour of learning in a flash!

Presenter Biographies
Nicole Bryan is a Library Information Supervisor at Brooklyn Public Library, the fifth largest library system in the United States. She has spent her career within the social services arena, developing programs and meeting constituents' needs. Currently, Nicole assesses the delivery of library services, employing trauma-informed methods, to transitional populations in public library branches and homeless shelters in Brooklyn, New York. She received her MLS degree from Long Island University.

Susan Erickson is Library Director at Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach, VA.  Prior to that, she held a variety of positions over 12 years at Vanderbilt University where her responsibilities included coordinating assessment and public services for the Vanderbilt Libraries and serving as Interim Director of Peabody Library. On the side, Sue consults on library accreditation and effectiveness, facilitates staff retreats, and engages in leadership coaching at http://sueerickson.com/

Bethany Platanella is a Travel and Tourism professional with a glorious side gig as a Certified Vinyasa Flow & Yin Yoga Instructor. She has a soft spot for history, languages, bike rides, raw fruits and veggies, Mexico and natural wine. When not guiding tours or practicing yoga, you can find Bethany lounging on beautiful Miami Beach, where she resides.
As a security and HR trainer, speaker, author, and consultant, Dr. Steve Albrecht is well-known in libraries around the US for his “Challenging Patrons” workshop, based on his 2015 ALA Book, Library Security. He also specializes in workplace and school violence awareness and crisis response programs for private-sector firms, municipal and state government, hospitals, utilities, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities.
  
Katie Clausen is the Early Literacy Services Manager at Gail Borden Public Library. She completed her MLIS from Dominican University, and holds an M.A. in Children’s Literature from Simmons College. She has presented at the Illinois Library Association’s Annual Conferences, ALSC Institute, Opening Minds Early Childhood Conference, and the National Network of Medical Libraries (NNLM). Check out Katie’s articles in the ILA Reporter and Children & Libraries: The Journal of ALSC. Katie’s specialties include: early literacy, children’s literature evaluation, play-based learning, and best storytime practices.
 

Request your registration links for these upcoming webinars. Note: all PCI Webinars are limited to Oregon library staff, volunteers, and board members.

Neurodiversity is a contract to medical and pathology models of neurological differences in the brain. It’s a more nuanced perspective of what exactly is “normal” or “appropriate” in people. This webinar will explain the basics of neurodiversity, the growing movement, and how librarians can better create programs and advocate for people who are neurodiverse.

In addition, the webinar will cover:

• People first vs. Identity first language
• Broadening the scope of ADA-compliance
• Controversies of neurodiversity

Presenter: Carrie Rogers-Whitehead worked in libraries for nearly a decade and now consults and trains librarians. She is the author of the 2021 RUSA-award winning Serving Teens and Adults on the Autism Spectrum: a Guide for Libraries. Carrie has also published other titles around technology and parenting and is co-authoring a new book out spring 2022: Teaching and Advocating Digital Citizenship: Tools for Librarians. Carrie is the founder of Digital Respons-Ability, a mission-based company that educates students, parents and educators on digital citizenship. She lives in Utah with her family.

A Gallup poll finds that organizations fail to choose the right candidate for leadership positions over 82% of the time. In terms of employee morale, exit interviews and workplace culture surveys show that toxic bosses are the number one reason employees leave or disengage from their organizations. For the libraries that recruit better bosses tend to have healthier, happier organizations with more inclusive work environments. This program will help you to avoid common hiring mistakes and make the right hire the first time. During this informative webinar, participants will learn:

• How to identify common management/supervisor/ leadership recruitment mistakes
• How to create “leadership vision statements” that will provide more focus and clarity to support long term strategic planning
• How to align your “leadership vision statements” with potential candidate interview questions

Presenter: Elaina Norlin is the Professional Development DEI Coordinator for the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries. She is an accomplished teacher, technology and leadership development trainer, and writer with extensive leadership experience and a flair for public relations, organizational development, marketing and persuasion and communications. Author of three books, she has delivered over 70 workshops, training sessions, presentations, and institutes both nationally and internationally on marketing, web usability design, facilitation, strategic influence, and conflict management. Her new book, Six Step Guide to Library Worker Engagement (ALA), will be out July 2021.

Increasing the collection and circulation of titles written by underrepresented authors is not a trend, rather, providing robust readers’ advisory service that values equity, diversity and inclusion principles is essential to all library service. But moving from being a neutral, well-meaning library where systemic racism is acknowledged to an actively anti-racist organization involves work, some of which is uncomfortable at first. In this program you will begin that work, learning tangible skills to help build enthusiasm for reading and discovering “diverse” books, to deepen RA service through thoughtful inclusion of EDI principles in all interactions with leisure readers, and to be a steward of the anti-racist mindset for your organization.

We will move your team from merely discussing “why” putting EDI concerns at the forefront of all of your work with leisure readers is important to the “how,” including an honest look at action steps for all staff. While it may seem uncomfortable at first, we will help you shift your focus allowing your entire organization to craft an actionable plan to incorporate EDI values into your normal RA practices. All you need is a little nudge in the right direction and a commitment to begin the march forward.

Presenter: Becky Spratford [MLIS] is a Readers’ Advisor in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All. She is under contract to provide content for EBSCO’s NoveList database and writes reviews for Booklist and a horror review column for Library Journal. Becky is a 20 year locally elected Library Trustee [still serving] and a Board member for the Reaching Across Illinois Library System. Known for her work with horror readers, Becky is the author of The Reader’s Advisory.

Ready Reference Service is reference service finished or replied in a very short time in a minute if possible. It is an important reference service and it is related to such information that is provided directly to the patron in a short period of time. It also includes such reference services which direct the readers to reference sources immediately. Attend this reference refresher and learn more about: 

• free reliable sources used by other librarians
• online reference interviewing
• handy websites for basic information
• information for job hunters
• educational material for families and teachers
• an in-depth look at government resources
• ways to keep track of websites and resources

Presenter: Kira Smith is a virtual reference provider for Florida’s Ask A Librarian Service and a presenter for Novare Library Services. She has Master’s Degrees in Library Science and Education. Kira is a former public librarian, elementary school teacher and childbirth educator. She has lived in New York, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. She enjoys teaching, technology, and travel.