Power Point

Presentation by Harper Collins at Alberta Library Conference

In this session, accessibility experts working in post-secondary education support organizations will describe simple ways you can be more intentional in designing a library and collections that all of your users can access and use.

The increasing cost of post-secondary education is a problem faced by students across our country. Although libraries do not have control over contributors such as rising tuition fees and student debt loads, they can provide some financial relief through their collections. Library collection policies have traditionally been designed to exclude textbooks as items that are purchased. However, in the age of digital, the reasoning behind many of these policies could be called to question. Is it time to begin looking at expanding the library’s role in supporting students with some required course materials? How can we design library collections to support the curricular needs of users, while also balancing shrinking budgets and ensuring the needs of our entire communities are met? Over two semesters, Okanagan College Library saved students more than $110,000 in textbook costs by purchasing electronic versions of required and recommended books through library suppliers and making them available through the Library. Learn about the project and the steps involved, what worked well, and what we would recommend others do differently. 

The City of Vancouver’s public sector innovation lab, called the Solutions Lab, began in January 2017 as a way to grow collaborative leadership through the City’s Healthy City Strategy. The lab is focused on experimentation and learning to develop, test, and scale social innovations that contribute to a healthy and green city by:
• Shifting organizational culture
• Building innovation infrastructure
• Unlocking the potential of people
• Growing authentic partnerships
• Telling stories of change
 
Sponsored by the Public Libraries Interest Group, this session will delve into the landscape of social innovation labs by telling the story of the Solutions Lab, exploring social innovation practices and methodologies, and brainstorming how they might be applied to a library context.
 

Programming for adults isn’t always easy. In fact, it can be notoriously difficult! Unpredictable attendance, hard to reach audiences, competing for space in busy schedules – these are just some of the reasons you might be tempted to turn your focus to safer programming bets (early literacy anyone?). Edmonton Public Library’s Adult Services Team has tried to break out of this comfort zone by piloting a variety of previously untested adult programs to see what sticks: passive programming like the Summer Reads ’18, to extremely active programming like the Tour of EPL library bike tour, special events like a literary and local themed spelling bee, volunteer-led DIY workshops, live concerts, guest lectures, “Learn Local” discussion groups, and more. At this session the presenters will share what they've tried, what they’ve learned, and where they’re going next to keep growing great adult programming at the library.
Learning Objectives:

• Identify a wide variety of adult programming ideas to try.
• Gather ideas, tips, tricks, and inspiration for adult programming.
• Creative inspiration

 After a focus group revealed that the citizens of Yellowknife were short on affordable family friendly (and adult non-pub) activities the Harry Potter Escape Room was born. This session will describe in detail how to plan, promote, and execute a successful literary themed escape room. To date, the Harry Potter escape room has brought over 200 people into the library and the current waiting list includes over 25 more teams eager to be part of future sessions.

This session will present strategies to create a coding-based library program. Grant will discuss the use of coding tools like the Sphero and Code-a-Pillar, as well as online games that can be found on Code.org and codecademy.com. Learn easy processes to develop a coding program that is fun and interesting for your patrons! This session will also cover pitfalls and strategies to get around potential issues. There will also be hands-on time with some of the websites and gadgets discussed.
Learning Objectives:

• Identify resources available for a coding program.
• Learn how to plan and execute a coding program.
• Recognize how and why to engage children in coding.

The library is one of the last free public spaces that is open to all. However, often those considered “undesirable” are kept away from the library in order to make others feel welcome and safe. While we do sometimes see problematic behaviours in the library, this does not mean that we cannot strive to ensure that we as library workers provide excellent customer service to all who enter the library.
 
 

How do you find a way to engage historians and genealogists with your collection? Give them what they are looking for… primary resources! We all have books in our collections with inscriptions, letters, bookplates and flattened objects inside. But what do we do with them? The Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island, has identified a number of in-house books with interesting ownership stories. Researching the connection between the book, as artifact, and its previous owner(s), the UPEI Library has created a VRE (Virtual Research Environment), www.BookLives.ca, for genealogists and historians. Learn about this new primary source (held within your own library stacks) and hear some of the stories of book lovers from the past.
Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the book as an evolving artifact of history.
• Understand why provenance (ownership history) is important.
• Identify how to find, research, and document provenance within your collection.

This PowerPoint is from a presentation at the 2019 ALC Conference in Jasper.
Rural library staff and their trustees too often doubt the impact that they can make with their limited resources.  They may not dream big enough, or they might play it safe because they are afraid of failing.  Conference sessions aimed at libraries of all sizes may not speak to rural library staff and trustees, because they often deliver library services with reduced access to resources (e.g. a lack of space, time, staff, money, volunteers and/or community members). Exploring the factors that have led to successes at some of Alberta’s littlest libraries, this session will share strategies that little libraries can use to build success in their own communities.  The presenters will be conducting a survey of small rural libraries, and will interview high-performing rural libraries to discover the secrets of their success.