Amazed By The Humanity: Building Institutional Culture Through IDEA Centered Onboarding and Programing
Presenters: Scott Ackerman and Veronica Fu
This session analyzes how UVA Library is building comprehensive IDEA programming that impacts our staff at all phases of the employee lifecycle. Starting with our immersive onboarding program, our presentation considers how overlooked elements of institutional culture can prove critical in fostering a culture of belonging. We will then spotlight how the Library’s IDEA committee builds on these foundations by implementing programming such as our Community Meet and Greet, Stories Behind the Names Series, and IDEA Library Tours that empower library staff members with a sense of community. Finally, the session will use a facilitated discussion of the Library’s institutional data from onboarding, exit, and climate surveys to evaluate our progress.
Are You Working Harder of Smarter?
Presenter: Dawn Dale
We often equate hard work with progress. However, the key to true productivity and fulfillment lies in working smarter, not harder. This session will focus on efficiency, innovation, and effective time management.
By leveraging technology, streamlining processes, and prioritizing tasks, we can achieve more with less effort. Working smarter means setting clear goals, delegating when necessary, and continuously seeking improvement. It’s about finding the optimal path to success, rather than continuing a process because we have always done it that way.
Brushes and Books: Developing a Library Art Team to Increase Patron Engagement
Presenters: Will Fisher and Becky Frank
Over the past year, the Thigpen Library at Volunteer State Community College has changed its approach to creating displays and decorations, which led to a substantial growth in patron engagement. Join Becky Frank and Will Fisher as we discuss how the library identified the need for more elaborate displays and how we developed the means to realize our ideas. Together, the two will emphasize why placing a priority on library art matters and how it can be applied at other organizations.
Charting a Course for Mental Wellness: Embracing Change in Library Environments
Presenters: Ryan King and Rachel Walden
The modern library profession is at a crossroads, marked by the imperative to embrace change while prioritizing the often overlooked yet integral aspect of mental health. In the face of evolving societal norms and technological advancements, libraries find themselves navigating uncharted territories where the well-being of staff and patrons is paramount. This presentation will delve into the challenges and opportunities inherent in this dynamic landscape.
Coworker to Supervisor – How to Manage Previous Peers (2 hour session)
Presenter: Resa Mai
Is a promotion on your event horizon? Are you transitioning to a role where dynamics have shifted? During this session, we closely examine the excitement, reward and yes pitfalls and demands that come with the progression from Co-worker to Supervisor. Discussions will focus on professional development of internal promotions and upward mobility. Emphasizing the positive effect of clear equitable mentoring and network activities we share tips and strategies to build diverse, inclusive and empowered leadership. We will identify new networks, how to set and maintain professional tones and how to manage the balance between old relationships with new responsibilities.
Design Thinking Workshop: Cultivating Creativity: Turning Criticisms into Constructive Solutions
Presenter: Dr. Tiffeni Fontno
Introduction:
Complaints from library patrons and co-workers are inevitable, but they also present an opportunity for improvement and innovation. This workshop is to empower participants with the skills and techniques necessary to turn complaints into opportunities for improvement through the application of design thinking principles by transforming them into actionable solutions.
Goals:
- Cultivate a Design Thinking Mindset
- Strengthen Problem-Solving Skills
- Enhance Collaboration and Communication
- Empower Action and Implementation
Embracing Change: Finding the Cheese in Library Innovation
Presenter: Angel Pridgen
Embark on a transformative journey with “Embracing Change: Finding the Cheese in Library Innovation.” Uncover the profound ‘why’ behind change leadership and its impact, akin to hunting for the elusive cheese in a maze. Meet the sniffers, scurriers, hemm’ers, and haw’ers—the personalities guiding us through transitions, each seeking their own slice of innovation. Discover how systematic thinking, A3 methodology, and evidence-based dialogue spark innovation, breaking down barriers like walls in the maze. Join me in shaping a future where change ignites innovation, propelling libraries into dynamic, interconnected hubs for our communities.
Empowering Education: Leveraging Librarian-Driven OER Initiatives for Student Success
Presenter: Phill Johnson
Join us to explore the dynamic role of librarians in driving the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, transforming learning experiences, and fostering accessibility in education. This presentation delves into the multitude of advantages stemming from OER adoption, including heightened academic performance, enriched student engagement, and broader access to high-quality educational materials. Drawing upon the successful collaboration between librarians, faculty, and staff at Auburn University in Montgomery, we will showcase how small seed grants from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education have played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of educational accessibility and affordability.
Growing Our Garden: Meeting Staff Needs by Acknowledging Their Successes and Personal Development
Presenters: Mari Meke and Kelly Handy
We expect staff to show initiative, be flexible, and demonstrate the “ability to adapt and work in a rapidly changing academic environment.” Constantly anticipating patron and university demands can lead to low morale and burnout. Aware of this possibility, department supervisors developed strategies that support staff success and personal growth, acknowledge staff needs, and focus on necessities allowing staff to thrive and be healthy. During our presentation, we will discuss the methods implemented to achieve the following outcomes for staff: improved mental health, a bridged gap between faculty and staff, open crowdsourcing channels, and an increase in staff confidence.
Here be Dragons: Games and Gaming in the Library
Presenter: Lucas Berrini
This round table will bring together librarians who have successfully created board game and RPG game programming in their library. This could be traditional “game nights” or long-term instructional type programming using gaming as an focus.
Investigating the Unsaid: What Library Staff Really Want
Presenters: Aparna Ghosh, Natalie Polson
Support staff perform fundamental work in the day-to-day operations of libraries. Based on the personal reflections of the panelists, as well as various research studies, it appears that staff continue to struggle with low salaries, burnout, and minimal job satisfaction. The panelists, former academic library support staff with over a decade of experience in these roles, will engage in dialogue with the audience in this Q&A session on these themes and other topics of interest. The aim of this conversation is to discover what staff want and to conceive of ways for them to be seen, heard, and valued.
Let’s Talk Recruitment and Retention!
Presenter: Alydia Sims
Participants of this round table will experience safe and candid conversation about recruitment and retention of library support staff. As a participant of the Hampton University/IMLS – Leading the Charge grant research study, Clemson University Library is interested in how academic libraries in the south handle certain aspects of recruitment and retention. Our research objective is to create best practices for hiring and retaining library staff from marginalized communities. Topics discussed will include: post-pandemic turnover, compression, pathways for paraprofessionals, equitable compensation, and equitable recruitment. We’ll also discuss on-boarding, orientation, morale, access to professional development and internal versus external searches, etc.
Let’s Pivot, but This Time in Excel
Presenter: Lauri Thompson
So. You have a huge table in front of you and the only way you can think of to make the data into information is to go line-by-line and count. You need a pivot table! Once you build your first pivot table you’re off and running. They are intimidating, but not that difficult and there’s so much you can do to it even more functional. This is a fast-moving session that assumes you already understand Excel at least at a basic level.
Let’s Talk about Library Services!
Moderator: Dr. Tiffeni Fontno; Panelist: Machelle Keen, Dawn Dale, ?, ?
Machelle and Tiffeni will put together a panel to discuss new and innovative ways that library staff are doing library services – Access Services, Interlibrary Loan, Reserves for Courses, Check-Outs, Staffing, etc.
The ONEAL Project: negotiation education for library workers
Presenter: Courtney Fuson
Come and learn about a new open educational resource and community to support library workers as they develop their negotiation knowledge and skills. Designed to help all library workers learn negotiation best practices and strategies for both their personal and professional lives, this OER includes lectures, readings, assessments, and hand-on assignments. In addition to learning about this resource, attendees will learn about the community being created to provide support for library professionals responsible for negotiations and about key issues and trends uncovered during an interview research study. While the content developed around licensing is geared toward an academic audience, the negotiation strategy and planning techniques in the OER are widely applicable across all types of libraries and library workers.
Quack Like a Duck or Soar Like an Eagle: Positivity in the Work Place and in Life
Presenter: Machelle Keen
I will use real life every day experience and show how I changed my outlook. When we are feeling challenged and struggling, we need to make sense of life/work and develop a process to rise above. Don’t let your problems define you. Use them to grow and develop strength to advance yourself.
Storymaps: Creating Interactive Stories (part 1 and 2)
Presenters: Stacy Curry-Johnson and Brandon Hulette
Storymaps are an exciting educational technology where teachers can combine photos, stories, maps, videos, documents, and other materials into one online interactive product that fits into any subject matter in a way that students can relate to. After in this session, participants will be able to:
- Understand storymap basics and how they can be used in the classroom
- Gain a practical understanding of how to create custom interactive storymaps for use in the classroom
- Explore resources that can be used for the creation of storymaps
- Learn how to help students create their storymap project in the classroom setting
- Create your own storymap with various easily available resources