Conference share: Public Library Association - Dorothy Reed

PLA 2024 Day 1

Today's themes: change management, building a data culture, and addressing the needs of underserved adult communities

Quote of the day: "It's okay to set goals and not meet them, if you learn something from the less successful outcomes."

Top takeaways:

Leverage your community; the more you interact with community partners, the more your relationship with them improves.

Don't be overwhelmed; start small if necessary and build. Don't succumb to an all or nothing mindset. Continuous improvement is the way forward.

Many adult communities are underserved such as the intellectually and developmentally disabled and older job seekers who've often been recently laid off. Targeted programs can address the needs of these communities while increasing engagement.

The five-session model for job seekers that was presented for older adults could be modified and targeted for other demographics such as young people looking for a first job, recently incarcerated, etc 

Emerging trends worth exploring:

Expanding Book a Librarian to include Book a Job Search Trainer and Book a Digital Navigator

Targeted database-training sessions are in demand, for instance job seekers appreciate sessions focusing on how to use Learning Express Library

I have PDFs of the presentations and resources from the following sessions: Beyond the Numbers: Building a Collection of Data-Informed Decision Making, We See You: Programming for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and Older Adults Need Jobs! Empowering Seniors to Rejoin the Workforce. I'm happy to share the PDFs with anyone interested.

PLA Day 2

Today it was all about the books, 'bout the books, 'bout the books, including a Booklist presentation of upcoming releases from adult publishers, a mystery authors panel discussion, and panel sessions on genrefying collections and diversifying displays.

Quote of the day: "I didn't grow up with a great deal of money, so libraries were always the path to books for me. There's a mutual admiration society between us." Craig Johnson

Top Takeaways:

Upcoming book releases that build off of existing media include: 

Tangled up in You, the first title of the Meant to Be series, contemporary rom-com reimaginings of Disney stories.

Lisa Jewell authored Breaking the Dark, a Jessica Jones novel, the first entry in the Marvel Crime Series.

X-Files: Perihelion is an extension of The X-Files television series.

Mystery authors reaffirmed the importance of libraries in writing and building a career as a

writer.

Genrefying your collection can help deal with difficult layouts and space constraints as well as increase circulation by making titles easier to find.

People need to see themselves represented in the library and our displays are the most visible part of the library. Strive to include diverse materials in all displays.

If you're interested in more information about Genrefying Your Public Library or Diversifying Your Displays and Book Lists, I'll be happy to send you resources from the presentations. 

PLA Day 3

Today's theme: Diversity & Accessibility

Quote of the day: "Data doesn’t lie, but it sure will hurt your feelings.”

Top Takeaways:

Quick tips to help accessibility that can be handled by staff or facilities fairly quickly include: increasing space between aisles, moving coat hooks that are too high, replacing doorknobs and faucets that require grasping, rearranging furniture, wrapping pipes under sinks, and adjusting heights of tables and shelves. Trackball mice and large-print keyboards are easy additions that increase computer accessibility.

Materials need to be tagged in some way to allow tracking of diversity-category percentages both within the collection and within new purchases. The 690 field in MARC records works as a locally created access point. BCA allows for an EDI tag and facilitates tracking through the Data Dashboard. Tracking ensures that future goals are met. Keep in mind that changes in terminology may require updating your categories. 

A diverse collection requires consideration of demographics (racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, ...), formats (to accommodate differing abilities and challenges) and world languages. Diverse collections must be discoverable in the catalog via MARC records and accessible to the public without requiring staff assistance.

What is the heart of your community? What do they need? Build a need-focused specialty collection for each location. Block holds for these Community Collection items so that they can only circulate from their home location.

Be Community Facing – show your face at every community event possible.

Expand beyond the walls of the library. Establish Satellite Community Collections at daycares, senior centers, social service offices,hospitals, barbershops, and anyplace that has a waiting room.  

If you're interested in more information about Access Denied: The Journey to Make Your Library More Accessible, After the Audit: Sustaining Steps to Maintaining a Diverse Collection, or Curating Diverse Community Collections for Patron Engagement, I'll be happy to send you resources from the presentations. 

ALA Annual - Trends in Librarianship

Before I share some highlights of what I learned at the conference, I want to relay what complements the Pratt received courtesy my badge labeling my place of employment.  EPFL was readily recognized for going fine free, for the wash and learn initiative, and for its architectural beauty and renovation.  I hope this kudos brighten your day by proxy.

Trends in Librarianship

One pair of sessions I attended speaks to the ever evolving nature of our profession.  “A Hard Look in the Mirror,” presented by Greater Victoria (Canada) Library (GVPL), shares how they reorganized librarians’ roles (with plans to augment library assistants’ in future) to be less about audience served – age and otherwise – and more about niches they call “portfolios.”  Librarians now split their time between branch operations and portfolio work that serves the whole system.  The idea is to look up from the mundane coordination and oversight to develop true leadership in librarianship.  The primary categories, “pillars,” involve lifelong learning, storytelling, and digital literacy; they are further broken down into specialties according to staff strengths and interest.  These are the result of two committees’ work: service design and service delivery.  It is stressed that libraries looking to follow suit explore and define how best this model works for their own communities.  In a nutshell, GVPL refers to their model as Community-Inspired Library Service.  A toolkit is available at issu.com/docs/hard_look_in_the_mirror_reflecting.

“Going Deskless” is right up our alley as we continually seek to diminish barriers – physical as well as financial.  Hillsboro (Oregon) Public Library (HPL) presents how they accomplished the feat of completely removing public service desks in favor of “orbiting” with the added tools of a “service layer,” ranging from a large logo button to the popular three-pocket apron, and technology “perches” stationed throughout the library.  Staff buy-in gets achieved by inviting input during planning, providing time to reflect, and empowering change adaptation.  None of the changes have been based on assumptions: a “design thinking” process involves staff and patrons alike, utilizing a variety of steps including focus groups and surveys.  All the while, staff are encouraged to practice “work like a patron day” occasionally as a worthwhile test and means to perspective.  HPL sums up their philosophy with a triad of points.  Libraries today are not about the books but service; we should not be transactional but interactional; and we use more and more automation and thus shift our focus to high-quality personal service. 

Health Outreach and Programming

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and their National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM) – the latter with regional coordinators who collaborate with and assist all libraries in their jurisdiction, including public libraries – presented “Transforming Communities through Health Outreach and Programming.”  It is fundamental to support health literacy, especially in the face of both health disparities (e.g. abilities, genetics) and healthcare disparities (e.g. socioeconomics).

Their free information resources abound, and I share a sampling here.  Medline Plus is designed to be not academic but accessible for consumers and even offers a print quarterly for distribution!  HealthReach is multilingual and multimedia to help even more patrons decipher their health needs.  News in Health has digestible tidbits and offers its own print monthly newsletter to libraries.  Go4Life is especially for seniors. 

NNLM has the area covered in terms of programming.  Their Engage for Health materials help libraries teach community members how best to speak with their doctors.  The NNLM Reading Club has kits for a thematic book club and is always adding new titles.  There is a wealth of materials to uphold National Health Observances.  They even promote Tales & Travel Memories, a fun programming initiative for those with dementia.

I will wrap up rather than diving in to NLM’s support of Citizen Science.  But I will insist that EPFL be sure to join the NNLM for full access to and assistance with health resources and programming for Baltimoreans. 

Lauren Read

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