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PLA 2010

PLA 2010, Staff Training
PLA Recap: Staff Day Success
April 12th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off
Are you involved with planning and implementing an all-staff event at your library? We heard it from the experts at PLA: a successful staff day is hard work, but it can facilitate learning and bring recognition to all in your organization. Pat Carterette hosted the panel of staff development veterans including Mary Ross, Stacy Schrank, and Nancy Schutz. These folks have planned and implemented numerous all-staff events in public libraries of all sizes and they shared their tips, tricks and strategies for a successful day.

I encourage you to review the session slides and handout now available on the PLA site, but here are some of the gems I jotted down. The presenters touched on all these aspects of a successful staff day:

Planning Process
1. Be clear with management about your intentions and about their buy-in for the event. Use your evaluations from previous staff day as ROI. Emphasize the importance of staff day as a way to build productivity and staff morale in the work place. This is an investment in your employees. For example, 72% of the library’s budget is spent on staff, so shouldn’t you be investing in the retention and development of this resource?
2. Location, location, location: make sure your venue has room for breakout sessions, catering is in place, you can hang things on the wall, there’s adequate parking, and lots of women’s restrooms. Don’t assume anything.
3. Provide clear guidelines for staff: will student staff attend, is it required, how will the day be recorded on timesheets…work with your HR department early on to have these guidelines in place. It’s not possible to “over communicate” the plans with staff. You can avoid the “I never heard about that” sentiment. Put yourself in the shoes of a new staff member, avoid jargon, and even if you try to go “paperless” be sure to have a print version of the program available the day of. Be sure to communicate about the menu and the room temperature eg. bring a sweater.
4. Picking the day: what about book drops, deliveries, will closure impact pubic service?
5. To your staff, don’t refer to staff day as a “training day“…it’s really “staff development”. But your patrons might feel better if your “closed” signs refer to “training” or “staff education day”.
Theme/Branding/Communication
1. Set the theme to align with the current goals of your organization, or in conjunction with a library milestone.
2. Use the theme in everything! The branding, the communication, the awards, the session titles, the menu, the decorations, the t-shirts, name tags…
Program Ideas and Resources
1. Get staff involved early on to help plan program and develop presentations, especially if they’re staff day “resisters”.
2. Put the “staff” in staff day. Tap staff expertise for peer presented sessions.
3. Consider a panel of “emerging leaders”. SPL hosted a panel of former “student assistants” who have now become assistant managers in the organization.
4. One of my favorites was the “So you want to get your MLIS?” session.
5. Bring other community members in to present. Consider a panel of community partners. How about folks from other local workforce development agencies to share how they’re supporting patrons? What a great opportunity to build local understanding and collaboration.
“Day of” Considerations
1. Plan for all contingencies.
2. From catering to ill presenters, there’s plenty that can go wrong and you need to be sure you’re not the only person who can fix it!
3. Delegate anything that can be delegated.
Leaving a Legacy
1. Make sure the resources shared are available to staff afterwards.
2. Evaluate the day and make changes next time based on the feedback.
3. Share pictures!
4. If you gave out T-shirts, encourage staff to wear them on “casual day”…retain the team spirit!
Staff Development Day Survey: Emerging Leader Project

The presentation and handouts reference an exciting project being taken on by a group of Learning RT- sponsored Emerging Leaders. The group is in the process of creating a staff development day handbook. If you are involved at any level with planning staff development day events and have recommendations or materials that others may find helpful or if you have attended a staff development day and have insights, they would like your help! You can find the survey here http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/StaffDaySuccess (All respondents will have a chance to win a $25 gift card from Amazon!)

Epilogue

At the beginning of the presentation the audience was asked a few questions about the size of their staff and the budget available for a staff day. I was struck by the large number of folks who come from smaller or medium-sized libraries who have little or no budget to plan their staff days. In these tough times, I think we need to include a number of contingency plans or cost efficient ways to build organizational morale and learning. I’d love to hear from libraries who insert learning and staff development into every day or from those who are using presentation archives or online meetings to bring staff together. There are examples popping up all over the place! I’ll mention the WebJunction Online Conferencing group here as a place to explore innovative approaches to online “staff days”. And for ideas on integrating learning into “every day”, be sure to check out the presentation and handouts from another PLA session, Power Up Your Learning Organization.
PLA 2010, Spanish Outreach
Talk Table: Reaching out to Spanish speakers
March 24th, 2010 | Permalink | 1 Comment
I tend to prefer conference events that provide interactive opportunities for attendees to “get work done” or to leave inspired with practical action items to bring back home. Everyone knows this happens informally in the hallways, on the exhibit floor, or over meals, but I’m very excited about tomorrow’s talk table, Latinos and Public Library Perceptions (Thursday, 4:00-5:15 pm, Oregon Convention Center – A103-104).

I’m co-facilitating the session with MaryKay Dalgreen from the Oregon State Library. After we introduce some of the published research about library use and perceptions of Latino’s nationally we’ll share some of the great Spanish language outreach that Oregon libraries have been doing. And then we’ll let the group get some work done!

Using the World Café model for discovery discussions and guided by the key findings of the research, we’ll look at ways to:
- Know your local Latino community
- Create and promote services for learning English
- Promote and provide access to computers and job related services
- Be welcoming and demonstrate respect for confidentiality
If you’re here in Portland, we hope you’ll join us tomorrow, and if you can’t make it, fear not; we’ll be posting the great ideas, stories and questions gathered back on WebJunction.

PS: Don’t miss another great session just before this one with some of WebJunction community’s best and brightest. Power up Your Learning Organization (Thursday, 2:00-3:15 pm, Oregon Convention Center – A105-106) and checkout this list for more PLA sightings of WebJunction members and staff!
groups, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, PLA 2010
New WebJunction Group: Online Conferencing
March 23rd, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

A group was created to complement an upcoming PLA session, Expanding your world through Web Conferencing: Connecting small libraries in big ways. Please join presenters Karen Burns, Cindi Hickey and Jennifer Peterson on Friday, March 26, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM, at the Oregon Convention Center – E141-14. Or if you can’t be there in person, join the Group: Online Conferencing.

Cindi, Karen and I created the group to share handouts, reference additional resources and invite participation from anyone who uses or is interested in using web conferencing tools to get work done when you can’t meet f2f with colleagues. We define web or online conferencing broadly, but we’ll focus our session on web meeting and collaboration tools and ways to use them including best practices from participating to production. And we’re so excited to share some of the success stories from libraryland as more and more library staff are meeting together to get work done, online. We’ll be asking folks to contribute top tips and tools either via twitter (#webconf) or on trusty index cards. However you contribute, please be sure to come to the new group to stay connected and informed in these exciting times for online conferencing.
PLA 2010, Webinar, WJ Staff
Opportunities to learn about and discuss competencies
March 22nd, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

We here at WebJunction have been living in the world of competencies for some time now. Not only does our own HR department provide competency statements to use to support performance reviews and individual learning plans, but we also worked to develop and publish a Competencies Index for the Library Field. But beyond these pragmatic details, we are interested in talking with and learning from you about the whys and hows of competencies: Why are competencies useful? How can they be used by job seekers, the currently employed, and by continuous education trainers and human resources departments?

You’ll find a case made for competencies succinctly made by WJ’s Betha Gutsche in this month’s Library Journal, in her article Coping With Continual Motion. We hope this will provide some food for thought.

We’re hosting an informal Party With Competencies event at PLA this Thursday, where we’ll provide some examples of competencies and hear your stories of your encounters with competencies in the library world. And we’ll follow up with a webinar on April 20 to continue the conversation. We hope to see you there.
PLA 2010
Public libraries and access to justice
March 5th, 2010 | Permalink | Comments Off

We encourage those of you attending PLA2010 to attend this session put together by the Self-Represented Litigation Network:

Public Libraries and Access to Justice (Oregon Convention Center Room E145-146), Thursday March 25th at 8:30 AM

This session provides tools and training that will help public libraries serve as gateways to justice and governmental institutions, with a focus on collaboration with courts, law libraries, and legal aid programs. It introduces information and tools and how public librarians can appropriately help their patrons use these tools, such as those provided by legal aid and courts. Participants will learn about the national network of state Access to Justice Commissions, and how public libraries can participate in these groups. The session will also introduce the online “train the trainer” tools developed by the Self-Represented Litigation Network of the National Center for State Courts, as presented at a recent national conference funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Participants will receive tips and a template for creating a list of key resources, and ideas on how state access to justice partners can assist in the customization of that listing.

For those of you who will not be going to PLA: We have also posted the PowerPoint presentation to WebJunction. This slideshow is absolutely chock full of information and links to additional websites and online resources, so be sure to check it out. Additional material resulting from the Self-Represented Litigation Network’s January training workshop on legal resources will also be posted to WebJunction in the coming weeks.
PLA 2010, Spanish Outreach
WebJunction @ PLA 2010
February 23rd, 2010 | Permalink | 1 Comment

As you plan your PLA 2010 conference schedule, be sure to include these events, where you’re likely to find other WebJunction members and staff. Beginning to compile this list has made me very excited about this conference and I look forward to adding more suggestions from the WebJunction community in the weeks leading up to the conference. Please post your not-to-be-missed suggestions in comments below and we’ll be sure to spread the word. There are a handful of events below that require separate registration so please note where indicated and visit OCLC’s PLA Events to register for many other sessions on timely topics.

For those who won’t be attending the conference f2f, we aim to provide you with conference coverage here on WebJunction. If you’re a WebJunction member who would like to help cover the conference for the community (the f2f or Virtual PLA versions), let us know and we’ll set you up as a guest blogger!

Wednesday, March 24

If you plan on arriving early, there are over a dozen preconference events to consider but you won’t regret attending this one. Longtime WebJunction member and super hero of accidental technology trainers, Stephanie Gerding will kick-start your conference adventure.

The Accidental Technology Trainer

Presented by Stephanie Gerding
8:30 am-12:00 pm, Oregon Convention Center – A105-106

Accidental technology trainers are responsible for technology training in labs, classrooms, or one-on-one with users or staff. You will learn about great tools and techniques, the most common concerns of technology trainers, and get helpful advice resulting from many years of coordinating and providing training for public libraries. You’ll discover why learning styles are important; how to create an interactive learning community; strategies for communicating about technology; and techniques for using activities, games, storytelling, and case studies.

Exhibits Open/Reception
4:00pm-6:30pm

Stop by and visit WebJunction at the OCLC booth, #1847 in the exhibits hall. We’ll also be there on Thursday from 9:30-5 and on Friday from 9:30-4.

Thursday, March 25

LITA’s Top Technology Trends
8:30-9:45 am, Oregon Convention Center – B113-116

A panel of LITA leaders who are acknowledged for their reputations and expertise in the library and information technology fields will discuss and debate the top technology trends in public libraries. WebJunction’s Michael Porter will be joined by David Lee King, Joan Frye Williams, and Michelle Frisque.

Geek the Library: Putting Theory into Practice
8:30–9:45 am, Doubletree Hotel Portland, Oregon Room
Please register for this session

Geek the Library is a public awareness pilot campaign implemented in select communities in Iowa, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. After several months, the results of the pilot are in. Were we able to increase awareness of the need for public library funding? Get the full scoop, and find out how you can implement Geek the Library in your community.

Power up Your Learning Organization
2:00-3:15 pm, Oregon Convention Center – A105-106

Transform your library into a Learning Organization. Discover new strategies and tools that move staff beyond training to proactive learning. Explore opportunities for self-directed, online, and social learning. Discuss ideas for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and mentoring. Then put these ideas into action. You won’t want to miss one, staring some of the WebJunction community’s brightest stars: Betha Gutsche, Jennifer Fenton, Kathleen Gesinger and Michele Leininger.

Latinos and Public Library Perceptions (Talk Table)
4:00-5:15 pm, Oregon Convention Center – A103-104

In partnership with the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, WebJunction published research about library use and perceptions of more than 2,860 Latinos nationally. At this talk table, discuss the findings and recommendations for increasing Latino library use and suggest best practices for implementing outreach to Spanish-speakers in your library community. Facilitated by WebJunction’s Jennifer Peterson and SLO program coordinator/trainer, MaryKay Dalgreen, Oregon State Library.

WebJunction’s Party with Competencies
6:30-8:30 pm, Note location update: Doubletree Hotel Portland, Hawthorne/Sellwood
Please register for this session

Grab a bite and a sip and connect with the people and proven competency resources that can help your library! We’ll have plenty of fun, food, festivities, good company and practical material for you to enjoy and take back to your library to help you and your staff learn and work more effectively.

Friday, March 26

OCLC Update Breakfast
7:30–8:45 am, Doubletree Hotel Portland, Hawthorne/Sellwood/Ross Island Rooms
Please register for this session

Join OCLC President and CEO Jay Jordan for breakfast and an update on what’s new at OCLC, including service enhancements and new initiatives that make information access easier. Share your questions and discussion with your colleagues at WebJunction’s roundtable discussion.

2010 Perceptions of Libraries in Changing Economic Times
10:30 am–12:00 pm, Doubletree Hotel Portland, Hawthorne/Sellwood/Ross Island Rooms
Please register for this session

In 2005, OCLC published a groundbreaking report, Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources. Five years later, OCLC has embarked on an updated study about library users and their information-seeking behavior, paying particular attention to the perception of libraries in these current economic conditions. Join Cathy De Rosa, Vice President for the Americas & Global Vice President of Marketing at OCLC, for an engaging discussion of the findings from OCLC’s latest research.

Expanding your world through Web Conferencing
2:00-3:15 pm, Oregon Convention Center – E141-144

Join panelists Jennifer Peterson, Karen Burns, and Cindi Hickey for a session filled with experience and expertise in online engagement! We’ll discuss our own use of web conferencing tools to host online conferences, produce e-learning activities, conduct capacity building for remote staff, and host virtual meetings and focus groups. Together we will share best practices for presenters, ideas for integrating web conferencing with other technologies, and user success stories. If you want to see what we’ll be talking about, check out the new WebJunction Group Online Conferencing!