Webinar

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.

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.

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.

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.