InfoGuides: COVID-19: Information for Oregon Libraries: Home

Topic Talks

Conversations with colleagues from around the state!

Please visit our CE LibGuide for upcoming and previous sessions.

Upcoming Webinars

June 8, 11:00a (PT) - Supporting COVID-19 Recovery for Students with Disabilities (Future Ready Libraries/Alliance for Excellent Education) - Join us for a conversation about recent research on academic growth for students in special education before the pandemic and implications for policies and practices designed to spur COVID recovery. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted historically under-served students much more severely than their peers. With the oscillation between learning environments over the past year, it has been difficult for schools to provide the learning services necessary for students with disabilities to succeed, and they have suffered disproportionately from the reduction in instructional time and disconnection from their school communities. At the same time, the disruption in assessment systems at the state and local levels has made it challenging to quantify the unfinished learning. Fortunately, the unprecedented influx of federal funding for K-12 education, most recently through the American Recovery Plan, presents an opportunity to accelerate learning and provide supports for our most vulnerable communities, including students with disabilities.

June 17, 12:00-3:00p (PT) - Reinventing Libraries for a Post-COVID World (Library 2.021) - The second Library 2.021 mini-conference: "Reinventing Libraries for a Post-COVID World," will be held online (and for free) on Thursday, June 17th, 2021. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, librarians have been faced with all manner of challenges as they have worked to bring their service, resources, and events into the virtual realm. Unsurprisingly, librarians have not only met this challenge but thrived in bringing new dynamic digital content, engaging virtual programming and instructional events, and exciting online such as virtual book clubs, gaming tournaments, and even makerspace activities to their patrons. Please join us as we discuss the ways librarians have adapted and evolved their service offerings for a post COVID world.

Highlighted Recorded Webinars

Concrete Recommendations for Cutting Through Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic presents multifaceted challenges for the US health care system. One such challenge is in delivering vital health information to the public—a task made harder by the scourge of health misinformation across the information ecosystem. For this event, we will discuss recommendations for public health advocates and communication professionals drafting communication campaigns to maximize the chance that timely health advisories reach the public. (Recorded February 2, 2021)

more... less...

Presenter: Joan Donovan, PhD
Dr. Joan Donovan is the Research Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Dr. Donovan leads the field in examining internet and technology studies, online extremism, media manipulation, and disinformation campaigns.
Building the Next Normal - LJ Winter Summit
Registration required for free access through May 23, 2021. Featuring library leaders at all levels who discuss lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and share actionable ideas on how you can incorporate them into your post-COVID strategy.

The coronavirus has forced systems to reexamine their services and policies from scratch, leading to gains in accessible events, workforce flexibility, increased urgency around staff safety and a view of internal and patron-facing issues through an equitable lens. With live events, coworking, and other space-sharing staples coming back online, librarians are looking for guidance on ways to navigate the continuing practical and emotional challenges, weather the associated economic fallout, and come out the other side stronger than before.

more... less...

Featured Keynote, Speakers and Topics Include:

Keynote Don Lemon, of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, will share his perspective after years as a breaking news television reporter and anchor, as well as details about his forthcoming title, This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism.
Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Library System, will discuss the opportunities library leaders have to build community resilience in light of recent events and co-create a new future for their library and their community using regenerative thinking.

Co-Founders Greg Peverill-Conti and Adam Zand from the Library Land Project will demonstrate the value of assessing the library through a patron’s eyes.

Librarian Reserve Corps Founder and LJ's 2021 Librarian of the Year Elaine Hicks will present on how to fight the “infodemic” to help patrons safeguard their and their loved one’s health.

Library leaders will discuss the future of collection strategy and reader’s advisory; service models and transformational changes to meet the needs of patrons and staff; and improved management and communication methods to support frontline workers.
Preparing for the Next Wave of Pandemic-Fatigued Customers presented by Andrew Sanderbeck
Free for Oregon staff, click "more" to request access. New research suggests that pandemic fatigue - the mental exhaustion caused by being in a state of heightened awareness and alertness due to COVID-19 coupled with uncertainty about how the pandemic will develop - is real, and it is already causing an increase in difficult customer behaviors such as resistance to wearing masks and ignoring social distancing guidelines.

more... less...
Is your organization ready and are your employees prepared to safely handle the next wave of customer behaviors?
This interactive and informative program will help organizations and their employees create and maintain safe workplace practices, and prepare them to better handle customer conflicts including people who are non-compliant with your rules and policies.
As a result of this program attendees will learn:
- Their role in customer conflicts: Are their actions and decisions making things better or worse?
- How to be more environmentally aware of customer situations before they turn difficult or potentially dangerous
- The OODA Loop decision making cycle: Learn to quickly react to difficult customer situations to maintain control and order
- Specific phrases to use with customers to set expectations and boundaries with them and to guide their behaviors
- 7 Things to never say to a customer...ever again
Oregon library staff (volunteers, board members, etc.) must register first; once your registration is approved you will receive an email from info@nicheacademy and then you can view the recording.
COVID: How to Deal With Problem Behaviors Related to COVID-19 presented by Ryan Dowd
Free for Oregon library staff, click "more" to request access. This recorded webinar discusses: five things your organization can do to prevent COVID-related behavior issues; a 3-Step Strategy for the three types of people who don't wear masks or social distance; and masks and the ADA.

more... less...

This training supplements our Librarian's Guide to Homelessness which is a 3.5-hour asynchronous, online training (email darci.hanning@state.or.us for more information). Upon completion of the training, your certificate will be available to save or print. At the Homeless Training Institute, our mission is to train library staff members on how to compassionately and confidently manage problematic behavior from homeless, addicted, and mentally ill individuals.

Oregon library staff (volunteers, board members, etc.) must register first (and select at least the first option, “I want access to the self-paced, online tutorial, "Librarian's Guide to Homelessness" and recorded webinars by Dowd.” Once your registration is approved, you will receive an email from info@nicheacademy and then you can view the recording.
De-Escalating Difficult COVID-19 Customer Behaviors presented by Andrew Sanderbeck
Free for Oregon library staff, click "more" to request access. In this recorded webinar, you will learn eight customer de-escalation tips and specific verbal intervention techniques including proven verbiage to use with customers that are violating your organization's code of conduct and endangering your employees' safety.

more... less...
As organizations are reopening, they are finding customers that are looking for a new audience to express their anger and frustrations about their feelings of a loss of normalcy and continued uncertainty. Because of that, dealing with individuals who are angry, non-compliant, and even hostile can and will likely become an everyday occurrence.

How you respond to their behaviors is often the key to de-escalating these situations and protecting yourself when a customer is losing control.

Areas of customer behaviors to be addressed in this webinar include:
- Not wanting to wear a mask or not willing to socially distance
- Verbally or physically threatening an employee or customer
- Spitting on an employee or customer
- Non-compliance and other unwanted behaviors
- Wanting to argue and to “be right” that you are wrong
Oregon library staff (volunteers, board members, etc.) must register first; once your registration is approved you will receive an email from info@nicheacademy and then you can view the recording.
Additional COVID-19 Learning Resources
Online, self-paced tutorials on the topic of COVID-19 are also available. These are free and do not require registration.
Additional Customer Service Learning Resources
Online, self-paced tutorials on the topic of customer service are also available. These are free and do not require registration.

We're here to help!

Have a question? Need assistance?
Contact us at library.support@slo.oregon.gov!

Ongoing Online Discussions

ARSL Round Table: Rural & Small Libraries’ Response to COVID-19.
Regular meetings are no longer occurring, check back regularly for upcoming topics . Recordings from previous meetings are available.
National Digital Inclusion Alliance Community Calls
Meets every Friday at 10:00 am (PT). Email Caitlin@digitalinclusion.org for the call-in information if you would like to join.
How Colleges Should Respond to the Coronavirus (ISTE/EdSurge)
Regularly scheduled discussions; register to receive reminders.
What is a Library If the Building is Closed?
Webinars/discussion every Friday. Hosted by the Gigabit Libraries Network.