All posts by Paula Newcom

A Primer for New Teleworkers – 1 LEU

work from home spelled in scrabble lettersYou always wanted the “luxury” of working at home.  But all of a sudden, you find yourself working from your bedroom, with no clear direction, and tons of distractions.  The lines between work and home have become completely blurred, and you feel overwhelmed.  How can you possibly get a handle on this new way of working, while also meeting the expectations of your boss?  Lynn Hobbs will give some practical tips for setting up your space, organizing your workload, and staying balanced in the world of telework.

Date Recorded: 4/13/20

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter: Lynn Hobbs / Director, Pendleton Community Public Library

Resources from webinar


Creation of a Heroic Adventure Kids Club – 1 LEU

logo for Heroic Adventure Kids ClubThe Heroic Adventure Kids Club (Or HAK Club, for short) is an RPG club of elementary and jr. high aged students that are sponsored by the local library. The H.A.K. Club began in January 2017, formed by 4 students from the Hagerstown Elementary School and a librarian at the Hagerstown Public Library acting as sponsor. The students wanted to learn to play role playing games and there was interest in using it as a play test idea for the community outreach coordinator of the school who was interested in the benefits of elementary students playing role playing games and how it might be used towards social skills & behavior improvement. The club has grown, expanded to two “level” age groups of participants. The group has been written about in newspapers and has been part of three summer reading programs and been featured on the list of “Great Things Happening in Indiana Libraries” by the Indiana Library Federation (ILF). We want to share the origin, the challenges that were faced and the secrets to our success as this group has continued for over three years. We’ll cover what has worked, what hasn’t worked, a few things libraries should always keep in mind & what the plans are for the future.

Date Recorded: 4/29/20

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter: Jennifer Taylor / Hagerstown Public Library


Library Community Partnerships – 1 LEU

Kelly Krieg-SigmanAs public libraries continue to strive towards deeper connections with their community, effective and mutually beneficial partnerships are essential.  Unfortunately, all too often, instead of being “made in heaven,” many partnerships feel more like “shotgun marriages.”  This session will examine the ingredients necessary for healthy, mutually beneficial, and sustainable library-community partnerships, and provide a number of suggestions as to where to start.

Date Recorded: 2/17/20

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter: Kelly Krieg-Sigman / Retired Director of LaCrosse Public Library, WI


Presenting Data Effectively – 1 LEU

Nine data graphs and chartsEvery library collects statistics throughout the year, but are you doing more with them than just clicking submit on your annual report? In this webinar, we will discuss how to effectively present your annual statistics to your boards, Friends groups, patrons, and other key stakeholders. What should you put on an annual report? How should it look? What’s the best way to format your data? We’ll try to tackle it all!

Patrick Bodily is a Public Library Consultant and State Data Coordinator for the Idaho Commission for Libraries, where he’s worked since October 2014. He is a proud accidental librarian, data nerd, and high-five enthusiast. Prior to moving to Idaho, he was the Library Director of the Richfield Public Library in Richfield, Utah. When not trying to help libraries and librarians increase their capacity to better serve their communities, he enjoys spending his free time working to perfect the shapes, flavors, and smells of artisan bread.

Date Recorded: 3/4/20

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter:  Patrick Bodily /Idaho Commission for Libraries, Public Library Consultant and State Data Coordinator


Outreach to Daycares and Preschools with the Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award – 1 LEU

Abby JohnsonJoin Abby Johnson from the Floyd County Library to learn about how to do more with the Indiana Early Literacy Firefly Award. We will discuss why Firefly outreach is important, how to set up circulating book kits for daycares and preschools, incorporating the Firefly Award into existing outreach and lots more! This webinar was recorded on 2/11/2020.

Date Recorded: 2/11/20

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter:  Abby Johnson / Floyd County Library


Finding and Serving Hidden Patrons – 1 LEU

wooden game piecesHow do you serve people in your community who are unable get in to your library?  How do you find those people? What kind of programs or services could be offered to them? These questions plague libraries everywhere. Learn how we identified our target patron groups, partnered with community agencies to identify patrons, young and not so young, who would benefit from outreach programming, and how we used materials and staff on hand to add outreach to our service repertoire.

Angie Bates is currently the Assistant Director of Perry Memorial Library in Henderson, North Carolina, but she’s not always been a librarian.  She taught in elementary schools all across the United States from 1986–2009.  In 2010, she graduated from North Carolina Central University with my MLS and began her new career as a youth librarian.  She has been blessed to experience many sides of public librarianship; youth and adult services, cataloging, and now administration.  Her next adventure is to go beyond her library’s walls through outreach services.

Date Recorded: 2/26/20

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter:  Angie Bates / Perry Memorial Library, Assistant Director  (Henderson, North Carolina)


Engagement with Soft Skills: Using Board Games at the Library – 1 LEU

For years now employers have identified ‘soft skills’ as one of the largest deficiencies of newly hired employees. Theses ‘soft skills’ generally encompass communication, critical thinking, leadership, problem solving, and teamwork. All of these can be nurtured and strengthened by playing board games. Libraries of all types strive to engage with their communities. By playing board games both of these two issues can be addressed. Join George Bergstrom, the Southwest Regional Coordinator in the Professional Development Office of the Indiana State Library, to discuss how libraries can help their communities foster these skills.

Date Recorded: 11/27/19

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter:  George Bergstrom / Indiana State Library, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Professional Development Office


Do the Research, Land the Job! Using INSPIRE for improving the Job Search – 1 LEU

INSPIRE logo lifelong learning library for Hoosiers

UPDATE – Gale resources are no longer available through INSPIRE (Testing and Education Resource Center) 7-2-2020

As more people come into our libraries looking for help with the job search (public, school, and academic) we as library employees need to be prepared. Helping them become more prepared will likely help them succeed in their search. This webinar will break down that search and go over common tools in the INSPIRE database suite that you may have overlooked.

Date Recorded: 12/18/19

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter:  George Bergstrom / Indiana State Library, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Professional Development Office


Staff Development Day – 1 LEU

image of people and laptopsAs part of the regular routine in public libraries, we plan/attend staff meetings. As a way to step it up a notch, why not plan a quarterly Staff Development Day for all of your library team. When your crew comes together in a relaxed environment, ideas and creativity can flourish! Plan to attend this webinar to get the Who? What? Why? and How?

Date Recorded: 7/16/19

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter:  Tina Snyder / Director of the Hancock County Public Library (Hawesville, Kentucky)

Resource from webinar:


Library Created Games – 1 LEU

image of gameboard piecesThis presentation explores games developed by libraries to support information literacy and internal training. One benefit of creating games is being able to tailor experiences to the culture and needs of libraries and their communities. Some games covered in this session include the University of Tennessee Libraries’ interactive Breakout Game for first-year studies courses, Acquisitions Adventure (which is used for internal training of acquisitions staff), and the Pendergrass Clue board game (which supports one of our branch libraries). This session showcases games created by other libraries as well.

Date Recorded: 10/25/19

Format: Archived YouTube Video

Presenter:  Allison Shepard / Assistant Professor & Online Learning Librarian University of Tennessee Libraries