ARSL Journal -- Day 3

Saturday started with one final workshop opportunity!  I choose the Laughter Club!  And yes I was in that room which was making all the noise!  (-:).

What a great tool to lighten the situation .. Any situation.  You can't really stay angry if you are smiling and he-he, ha-ha, ho-ho'ing!  Some great ideas for ice breakers and staff meetings.

The final session was a wrap up, thank you's and an invitation to next year's event in Tacoma!  Finally we heard from Sally Reed of United for Libraries.  If you haven't checked out their resources go to http://www.ala.org/united/ -- there is a wealth if information.

Now as we return to our work environments .. Let's not forget the things we learned .. Do one new thing each week for a while .. Or the friendships we netted!

ARSL 2013 Journal Day 3

Friday

Another full day of speakers and workshops at ARSL 2013.  The morning started with author Joe Starita -- Pike Professor of journalism at the University of Nebraska College of Journalism and Mass Communications and author of “I Am A Man” – Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice -- providing a gripping insight into the power of humanity.  How a father's devotion to his son reached across cultures to impact a moment in history.  Chief Standing Bear unwittingly ended up in the cross-hairs of a historic legal decision - one establishing for the first time in the nation's 103-year history that an Indian was "a person" with many of the "same Constitutional privileges as the more fortunate white race."

From there I tripped into Sarah Uthof's Genealogy Basics and came away with a lot of resources for Idaho Commission for Libraries' upcoming genealogy LibGuide [will be at guides.lili.org].  Check out the resources at http://arsl.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Sarah-Uthoff-Handout-1.pdf.

Lunch brought award winning author of the Longmire series, now a popular series on A&E, Craig Johnson.  Craig was engaging the ballroom full of librarians as he guided us through the back story and development of this storyline.  Certainly peaked my interest!

After lunch, two more workshops .... Mind Mapping and Small Libraries Oral History Projects.   Mind mapping isn't so difficult and should be a good way to help in that brain health activity of memory.  Can't wait to use it!  Wait .. I have already started!

Final workshop of the day focused on how Kinsley Public Library in Kansas turned oral history into a community engagement project.  Being a history buff, I found this an intriguing opportunity for libraries of all sizes, especially small libraries in small, rural communities to build community and add valued library services.

Handouts for all workshops can be found at http://arsl.info/category/handouts/

Gaming night tonight after dinner with Jez and Josh from Portneuf

ARSL 2013 Journal Day 2

Thursday

Kicking off with a wonderful continental breakfast .. They do provide ample food in the Midwest.  (481 registered, 37 states represented).  I spent some time chatting with Linn E. of Geek the Library and Kathleen G. of Webjunction prior to the keynote from Lee Rainie of Pew Research .. While you can check out the Twitter feed at #arsl2013 for tidbits, here are my takeaways:

• Rural libraries are gaining momentum through digital literacy training efforts, yet there is still work to do.
• Consider libraries as a platform .. Do what you do best and link to the rest!
• 98% of people interviewed like libraries .. It is like a job interview,everyday.
• Libraries have rebranded themselves as technology hubs.
• Because access to information is ubiquitous, libraries have to change their approach.
• Public libraries give everyone a chance to succeed; promote love of literacy and reading.
• A public library improves the quality of life in a community.

The question a library should ask is what is the franchise, rather than what is the commodity. For slides, report go to http://libraries.pewinternet.org.

Then we moved into the workshops for the day.  For workshop handouts and highlights go to http://arsl.info/2013/09/2013-program-and-handouts/

Here are few notes:
Gaming was presented by Idaho's Josh Barnes and Jezmynne Dene of Portneuf Library District.  They provided a great overview of how they initiated a gaming program which includes both board and electronic games.  Friday night they will host a gaming session for conference participants.

Community Connections focused on how three different libraries focus on an important aspect to engage their community:  schools, businesses, and community groups.  Take always include work closely with your school district to discover a niche to fill, including special programs such as GED, refugees/migrants, or inter generational programming.  Examples of programs include story walks, Pinkalicious and Stinky Feet parties. http://www.crete-ne.gov/index.aspx?NID=41

Seward Memorial Library focuses on their business community to facilitate a wide variety of ongoing activities (http://arsl.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Becky-Baker-Handouts.pdf).  They focus on a variety of scavenger hunts which take readers to businesses throughout the community to gather clues to solve a puzzle.  When they have the answers they return to the library for their reward.  At the end of the year the library hosts a business after hours for all business partners as a thank you!

Finally Kilgore Memorial Public Library focuses on partnering with community groups in their library programming.  This includes heritage organizations historical groups, cultural organizations and service groups.   The best idea that came out of this discussion was another library that facilitates a Scarecrow Contest, raising over $500 for their library.  They charge $10 for a group or individual to create their scarecrow during the Halloween season.  They then split the funds raised with the organization or individual.  Last year they had almost 100 scarecrows .. What community engagement .. Pretty scary!!!

All in all another informative day, filled with great networking opportunities

ARSL 2013 Journal

This is my first time attending the annual Association for Rural and Small Libraries Conference.  So I  am sharing some highlights.

Wednesday

ARSL Pre-Conference .. Shifting Sands

It is a beautiful late September afternoon that I find myself in downtown Omaha, Nebraska at the Association of Rural and Small Libraries Annual Conference.  I have the opportunity to share this 3-day educational experience with other Idaho Library colleagues, including Kevin Tomlinson, Jane Somerville, Jezmynne Dene, Josh Barnes and Susan King.  By the way, staff from Idaho's small, rural libraries have an opportunity to experience this conference next September as it will be held in Tacoma, Washington!  It qualifies for a First Time Conference Attendee Grant, if you have never attended this conference.

What is special about this conference?  About 400 individuals from rural and small libraries throughout the nation converge to share and network, with conversations centering on the joys and challenges of small, rural libraries. It is an amazing group.

Back to Omaha ... I spent an engaging afternoon in a workshop called "Shifting Sands" presented by  Bonnie McKewon, Library Consultant for Northwest District of Iowa Library Services.

Her high value content was interspersed with interesting games and activities.  Dividing the four-hour session into four distinct segments, Bonnie emphasized the importance of digital literacy and community engagement in all aspects of library services, especially trustee development, staffing, library spaces, and collaboration.

We know change is the only constant, however how we deal with change determines the sustainability of our individual libraries.  Here are some key points from the presentation:

1.  Trustee/board meetings need to be greener.  Such as posting board documents on line or sending by email.

2.  What are the technology competences that trustees should have?  (Food for thought!)

3.  Educate the board by demonstrating electronic resources, data bases and library services at board meetings.  Share news, articles, and websites.  Bring training to board meetings.  Some resources include Netted by Webbies, Techsoup and United for Libraries or speak with your Public Library Field Consultant.

4.  Open staff training to board members.

5.  Use a community-based planning process with the service priorities established in Sandra Nelson's Strategic Planning publication.

6.  Create policies for results.

7.  Collaborate with colleagues .. Share the wealth and information by staff exchanges.

The PowerPoint slides can be viewed at http://arsl.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ShiftingSands-Slides.pdf.

Librarian Characteristics

Check out this Tagxedo focusing on characteristics of the 21st Century Librarian:
http://www.tagxedo.com/image/2e752d6865f347bd