Stronger Together

In this lightning talk, Brenda and Dhara will discuss their collaborative efforts to get the Afrocentric Library Collection off the ground at Toronto East Detention Center (TEDC). The Afrocentric Library Collection is part of a much larger program created by Dhara to highlight the distinct needs of the institution's predominantly Black inmate population. This collection fills in the gaps that the general collection has had for years and has increased access to materials by Black authors for our inmates. Brenda and Dhara will discuss how the library has supported the collection, as well as other advantages and the difficulties of having such a collection within a maximum security institution.

Drayton Valley Library does not run traditional book clubs for tweens and teens. Instead of focusing on WHAT to read, our youth book club focuses on the LOVE of reading, and encourages kids to participate in whatever works best for them - whether a book talk, participation in contests or playing book related games. Drayton Valley Youth Book Clubs encourage youth to use their local public library as a resource and to think of the public library as a FUN place to be.

Project Eevee - Academic Community During COVID-19
Project Eevee is a study conducted by three second year Library Information Technology students. It was undertaken to discover and document the strategies and coping mechanisms of students and instructors in a post secondary learning environment who had to suddenly pivot from in-person to online course delivery because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers parsed through data gathered from focus group discussions and organized that data through thematic analysis. This presentation provides an overview of the researchers' reported findings.
Eleanor Golding (She/They) - Rocky View Schools, Erik Lofthouse (He/Him) - Rocky view Schools, & Joanne McKenzie Hicks (She/Her) - ARC Resources Ltd.
Eleanor Golding fell in love with libraries while attending the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, studying English literature and anthropology. After finishing their undergraduate degree, they went on to complete their diploma in Library and Information Technology from SAIT. They are now spending their weeks as the Learning Commons Facilitator at Chestermere High School with Rockyview Schools, and spending their weekends with family and their little cat, Phryne.
Erik Lofthouse graduated in April 2021 from the Library Information Technology program at SAIT. He is currently working as a Learning Commons Facilitator for Rocky View Schools, splitting his time between Fireside School and Elbow Valley Elementary. He has a passion for children's literacy and young adult literature. In his free time Erik enjoys video games, reading about history, and playing with his two dogs, Juno and Sadie.
A recent graduate of SAIT’s Library Information Technology program, Joanne McKenzie Hicks discovered her favourite part of returning to school was the connections she made with her classmates and instructors. When the opportunity arose to study student community during COVID-19, and receive a full course credit in the deal, Joanne did not hesitate to sign-on.
Joanne began work shortly after graduation in the field of information governance and is thoroughly enjoying the launch of her new career.
When she is not at work, Joanne enjoys writing for her citation blog, reading, gardening, and taking road trips with her family.

Want to unlock the secrets of connecting with the members of your community who aren't coming through your doors? Outdoor outreach might be the tool for you! Alumni from the Camrose Book Bike program discuss how existing in outdoor spaces can improve your connection to your patrons, and open doors to a new world of opportunities.

A talk by Laura Winton. All librarians manage projects, but very few of us have any formal training in project management. Seven years into my library career I had muddled my way through many questionably successful and very messy projects and I was tired of feeling out of my depths. I began to think: there must be a better way to do this! A year later, I had finished my Project Management Professional Certification and learned there is a better way to do it! In this session I will share an introduction to the principles or project management. We will explore the phases of a project, the areas you need to plan for when taking on a project, and some tools and techniques that will allow you to feel and remain in control. You will leave with an enhanced ability to plan, execute, and monitor your projects.

Learn about one academic library’s WiFi Hotspot Lending Program through which they strove to meet Digital Equity needs among college students lacking adequate internet access in their place of residence. This lightening talk will provide a snapshot of this WiFi Hotspot Lending Program, including challenges and successes around implementation, marketing, and locating funding to continue into the future.

Learn about one academic library’s WiFi Hotspot Lending Program through which they strove to meet Digital Equity needs among college students lacking adequate internet access in their place of residence. This lightening talk will provide a snapshot of this WiFi Hotspot Lending Program, including challenges and successes around implementation, marketing, and locating funding to continue into the future.

Explore the experience and impacts of remote professional development conversations undertaken by Greater Victoria Public Library librarians during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn how GVPL librarians used assigned learning topics and workshops to structure conversations that led to improved communication, connection, morale, and mental wellness. As well, find out how we’re applying these lessons to the post-pandemic future, using the improved communication, system-wide knowledge sharing, and sense of internal community to explore future-focused topics and expand librarians' professional skills.

The Stettler Friends of the Library Society had become stagnant over the last few years, with no new ideas and just doing casinos and book sales. That changed in 2018-2019 when a member discovered the wine survivor fundraiser and the Stettler and District Board of Trade were looking for a group to take over the Historic Ghost Walk. The 2018 Christmas Wine Survivor was a roaring success and the Historic Ghost Walk has brought people and money to the Stettler Public Library. This session will focus on the Christmas Wine Survivor and Historic Ghost Walk events and the learning curves that the Stettler Friends of the Library Society has experienced along the way.

Being kind is a deliberate choice that the library decided should be its theme for 2019. Though it sounds broad, we made an intentional decision to instill kindness into several different initiatives in the library through four separate facets: self-kindness, kindness for others, kindness for the environment, and kindness in the community. This presentation details the various ways we accomplished these acts, highlights the outcomes, and demonstrates the positive effects of kindness that can be achieved no matter how small the act. Though we continue to infuse kindness into everything we do at the library, our theme culminated in our Stories of Kindness event on World Kindness Day (Nov. 13): we asked the community to contribute short stories to the library, and published them in a book to be remembered and cherished by generations to come.