How 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)
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.
As 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?
Looking to fund your next great library idea? There might be a grant for that! Navigating the world of grants can be daunting for even the most seasoned professional, and many people aren’t even sure where to start. This webinar will provide a brief overview on how to search for funding, as well as recommendations for tackling those applications
Jennifer Clifton, Library Development Office Supervisor from the Indiana State Library, will give an overview of the public library landscape, as well as the policies and procedures that guide what they do. She’ll talk about funding, budgets, governance, public library law, certification, standards, staffing, and services. This session will be aimed at folks that are new to Indiana libraries, as well as anyone looking for a refresher.
Dr. Curtis Rogers, Communications Director for the South Carolina State Library, will share his experience with SCSL’s podcast, 
After meeting as part of the first cohort in the American Library Association’s Libraries Transforming Communities initiative, three librarians from three different sized library systems will share their experience getting out of the library and engaging with their communities. By the end of the session, attendees will understand why libraries should adopt this type of work, learn strategies for how to do it, and leave with techniques to make community engagement part of their regular library routine.
Under the staircase, an old study room, an accessible storage closet … anywhere can become a mini makerspace! The North Riverside Public Library, a small library outside Chicago, was able to cobble together funding using our budget and grants to create mini makerspaces in small nooks around our library. We will talk about our process, research on materials and space design, and how we solicited valuable feedback from patrons. We’ll also discuss our failures and successes throughout the planning and implementation process, including budgetary constraints and unique workarounds that we discovered. This talk will be applicable to any small or rural library willing to get creative.