Seeing Your Library Through the Eyes of Patrons

Greg Peverill-Conti and Adam Zand - Library Land Project Mission - understanding and promoting the work libraries do. They discovered an antiquated understandings of libraries while touring 400 libraries in MA. While in Kansas, they toured 8 libraries and visited Tulsa, too. They travel and tour libraries and have hit 30 states. The Project started …

Employee Handbooks A to Z

Andrew Smith, PHD - SLIM at ESU Served on Emporia Public Library policy subcommittee for 6 years, chair for 2 years People are your most valuable resource - not collection, building, databases, whatever. Handbook is to take care of people. Clear communication benefits EVERYONE - explicit expectations, rights, and responsibilities to create healthy environment (no …

Better Together: The Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Learning

Amy Eiben and me, Southeast Kansas Library System Better Together: The Benefits of Peer-to-Peer Learning in a Pandemic and Beyond BLURB: From solo librarians to social distancing, isolation is rough on even the most introverted of us. So, ironically, you're not alone. Learn how Southeast Kansas Library System (SEKLS) is using pandemic-era tech and the …

How we responded to Intellectual Freedom Challenges

Lacie Griffin, Johnson County Library Collection Development Manager | Andrea Sobba Garnett | Bev Clarkson Pittsburg Public | Cristy Bolton, Blue Valley Schools K-12 Library Media Coordinator Resources: Missouri Library Association Intellectual Freedom: https://bit.ly/3gDspgt | INSERT LINK Lacie at JoCo - open and available collection development policy. Went from dozens to four since 2012 (50 …

Crucial Candor: Tough Conversations with Patrons, Staff, and Trustees

Patty, Gail, and Maribeth - Repeat of ARSL (where I lost all my notes, so I'm here again) Books to read: Crucial Conversations, Effective Difficult Conversations: A step-by-step guide, Radical Candor, and Just Work by Kim Scott (buy for SEKnFind) Caveats: no technique is 100% effective, both sides have toe agree to work together toward …

Trustee Training: Guide to Open Meetings

Philip R. Michael, Assistant Attorney General, LOGIC Division The Trustee Training for the Southeast Kansas Library System in October 2022 has been on the Kansas Open Meetings Act: K.S.A. 75-4317 et seq. (source: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes). History: K.S.A. 19-218, adopted in 1868, said of county commission boards that they "shall sit with …

ARSL: ‘How can I help you?’ and other ways you’re losing your patrons

“How Can I Help You?” & Other Ways You're Losing Your Patrons Phillip Carter(Speaker)Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library System Blurb: In this program, attendees will learn a series of customer service tips and tricks as well as procedures to create a better patron experience in their libraries. This better patron experience is vital to our library …

ARSL: Marketing for Small Libraries

Marketing for Small Libraries: An Introduction with Suzanne Macaulay, Program Director, OWWL Library System (NY) The presentation in three parts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Notes: Brag about the library and what you're doing because it promotes the library. Marketing is the process of getting people interested and building momentum. Get the …

ARSL: Effective Evaluations

I'm always looking for new ideas about staff evaluations. I abandoned the formal, written, ranked system after I learned about this conversation-based system at PLA in 2012: Abolishing the Performance Evaluation. At ARSL, Jackie Mills from Mt. Angel Public Library (OR) shared "Effective Staff Evaluations Made Easy" The powerpoint from the presentation and her 1-page monthly discussion …

ARSL 2022 in Chattanooga

I've attended my first ARLS conference and I enjoyed the pre-conference and a few of the presentations. I lost my notebook and about 6-weeks of my brain (notes), so that's been traumatic, but I want to take time to reflect a bit. Up front, I was in my Iola Director hat for most of this, …