Libraries aren’t just hubs for learning and knowledge sharing, but places where imagination, curiosity and play should be front and center. Join Elan Lee, CEO and Co-Creator of award-winning gaming and entertainment company Exploding Kittens, as he explores how libraries can integrate gameplay in unique ways and demonstrates how to use regular objects to turn the ordinary into extraordinary.
Date Recorded: 4/3/2023
Format: Archived YouTube Video
Presenters: Elan Lee / CEO & Co-Creator, Exploding Kittens
Community inquiry is inquiry, questioning, and exploring of, for, and by communities. A library can facilitate inquiry sessions both internally with staff and/or externally with their stakeholders and users. Libraries can use community inquiry tools and techniques to reframe and take a fresh look at complex questions and challenges which stall and even halt innovation and positive change. Community inquiry creates the chance to create lasting impact for and with communities. This session will overview community inquiry techniques, discuss possible hurdles, and walk you through one librarian’s experience utilizing community inquiry to support curiosity.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the employment of social workers will grow 12% from 2020 to 2030 to meet an increase in demand. Further, with the growth of telehealth and telemedicine visits continuing beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals are finding more ways to reach their healthcare providers. However, in rural areas, finding local providers and reliable Internet access can create a barrier to access. As public libraries have long been viewed as the central hub for information, gatherings, and broadband service, their pivot to serve as a place for patrons to meet virtually with social workers comes at an opportune time. This presentation will show how three public libraries developed a pilot program – titled “Because You Matter” – with the Indiana University School of Social Work to coordinate weekly telehealth visits with social work students and library patrons. They’ll share successes, failures, and what they learned to improve the program in the future. 
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committees are a great first step towards strategically ensuring that those facing barriers to library services in our communities are given access and opportunities. During this webinar, three different libraries will share their experiences with starting, maintaining, and moving forward with EDI committees. They’ll share what inspired them to begin, how they formed the committee, where they are now, and how they hope to keep growing in the future.
This presentation addresses customer service training by growing and nurturing empathy and empowering staff to navigate the gray areas in our policies. Using storytelling and group interaction, we will look at special and challenging situations such as code of conduct violations and difficult patrons. Discover how understanding our own implicit biases and not assuming the worst of our patrons can help you offer consistent customer service to everyone we serve.
Athens (Georgia) Regional Library is one of the first public libraries to refocus a social work program toward a trauma-informed framework. This session presents replicable steps in providing library services, designing and implementing policies, and supplying holistic training for staff utilizing a trauma-informed lens. As libraries are asked to do more with less, this session highlights easily attained methods of becoming trauma-informed and establishing a system which reflects the assets of the community and organizational values. 1hr / 1 LEU.