Stronger Together

What happens when, despite providing professional and respectful customer service, you are yelled at, threatened, or challenged? When the encounter is done, how do you manage your raw emotions from the event? What supports exist to help you work through these feelings, and start to love your job (and the customers) again? This session will present the findings from a Canadian study that investigated emotional labour in public libraries. Emotional labour is the idea that, working in public service, there is a need to control your emotions in order to accomplish your job. This research illustrated the ways in which public library workers have to respond to intense customer service situations. You will hear stories from the frontlines of customer service and learn about some of the strategies public library workers use to deal with the effects of emotionally charged customer encounters.

A booktalk featuring great new books for public libraries, focusing on children's and teen books. Canadian authors will also be talking about their new books.

Award-winning and bestselling novelist, Terry Fallis, tells the story of his unusual, fateful, and funny journey to the writing life.

An organizational review provides valuable information to support organizational change and refocus the library. It also provides information to support advocacy with funders. This session will explain the process, outcomes and use of the information from the review.

Having worked at libraries with 3D printing and now the proud owner of two 3D printers personally, Lorisia will talk about how to learn how to 3D print and design from her own experiences. Spoiler: it is probably not as expensive or difficult to do as you think! Lorisia will talk about how she learned to 3D design through creating OER Cree files as a case study and will include inspirations/ways that libraries could use 3D printing as well as recommended places to find support.

In 2014, a Spanish lawyer successfully required Google Spain to modify its index so that certain websites were not included in search results for his name. Since then, this decision has both been lauded as a victory for privacy rights, as well as labelled a serious threat to freedom of expression and the public historical record.

From a library and information sciences perspective, the interesting question is whether this manipulation of search results conflicts with the professional and ethical obligations that we hold as librarians and information specialists to provide ethical access to information. And, from a more practical viewpoint, while not yet recognized in Canada, it has also started to have an impact on some of the work we do to preserve information, such as local newspaper digitization projects.

Learn more about this so-called “right to be forgotten” and how it might affect your library work in the future, as well as Canadian privacy law more generally.

"Perfect is the enemy of good", "the only bad decision is no decision", "where is the opportunity here" were some of the common phrases that library directors across the province started using as library services shifted, and shifted quickly, during the provincial response to Covid-19. By the end of this session, you will hear what these three Directors learned about themselves, their organizations and what it means to manage and lead in ambiguity.

Copyright First Responders is a program created by Kyle Courtney to train cultural institution professionals in copyright basics and then provide a framework for mutual support and continuing education in order to enable them to help fill the growing demand for copyright information. Initially begun with academic libraries, it has expanded to include all library types and archives and museums as well. We’re not lawyers and don’t provide legal advice, but we are members of our communities, so can incorporate information about community standards, potential cultural issues, and the like. While the training would need to be adjusted for non-US locations, the system can be effective for communities or groups anywhere.

If your job looks very different today than it did at this time last year, you’re not alone. Many librarians now find themselves in charge of marketing and promotions ("other duties as assigned"), even though they have no experience. And they’re expected to do it quickly and effectively. It might feel like an impossible task, but Angela Hursh (Senior Engagement Consultant for NoveList and author of SuperLibraryMarketing.com) breaks down the ten most important things you need to know to promote your collection and services.

Beyond addressing basic literacy skills, many libraries are teaching financial, digital, and physical literacy, as well as offering medical, legal, and mental health services, in an effort to meet the needs of the whole person, during the entire lifespan. Barring a few exceptions, most services are free. This is a daunting, complex undertaking. Some argue we should "stay in our lane" and others are cursing the "vocational awe" that leads us to try to be all things to all people. We are burning out in rapid numbers. Meanwhile, as mounting fears and realities around climate change, pandemics, economic recession, and political corruption overwhelm our citizens they are increasingly turning to their libraries for information, shelter, and support. This talk will address those concerns and show how we can lead with compassion. It will argue that the proven solution to keeping librarians sane and service needs met during these turbulent times is by first taking care of ourselves, and then forming partnerships between outside non-profit organizations, government, local businesses, and citizens. More importantly, we will discuss positive steps we can take towards healing, while also acknowledging the grief, trauma, and guilt librarians experience every day on the front lines.