MLA/DLA 2016 Conference Notes - "Legal Resources for Public Librarians"

I took an informative course called "Legal Resources Training for Public Librarians." Many of the poor and indigent come to the public library looking for legal information. Often they expect us to know the answers to the legal questions they seek. As librarians, we cannot give legal advice, but we should be able to provide good resources. Please keep in mind that there is a misperception that the poor have access to free representation in court; this is only true in regards to criminal matters, not civil. It is our duty to help them as best we can.

With that in mind, here are some good online sources:

• Maryland Courts.  mdcourts.gov.   Best starting place.
• The Maryland People's Law Library.  peoples-law.org.  Think "Wikipedia" for Maryland law - but maintained by the Maryland State Law Library. Try the "Get Help" link.
• Google Scholar.  scholar.google.com   Best for finding cases nationwide and for legal articles.
• Maryland State Bar Association Lawyer Referral Services.   msba.org/public/lawyer-referral.aspx    For finding a lawyer.
• Code of Maryland (aka Michie's)  https://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/mdcode/  In case you don't have it in print at your location.
• Maryland Legal Aid. http://www.mdlab.org/   Private, non-profit law firm providing free legal services to low-income people statewide.
• Family Law Assistance. http://mdcourts.gov/family/familylawassistance.html    Family Services Programs & Self-Help Centers

Morgan Stanton
Edmondson Avenue Branch

CEU Requirements and Guidelines - An Overview

The decision regarding the appropriateness of any activity focuses on the following questions:

     Does the activity meet the minimum requirements for CEUs?
     Is the activity appropriate for library staff?  Is it appropriate for the attendee's position?
     What are the learning objectives of the activity?
     Will participating in the activity improve the skills of the attendee and improve library services?

Minimum Requirements for CEUs:

• The program must pertain to the person's position (current or future) or improve library services.  For example, a course on databases, or a course on supervision if looking at a future position as a supervisor.
• CEUs will only be given for activities that have clear and appropriate learning objectives.  Attendees need to be able to obtain behaviors, skills, or knowledge from the activity.  These may be new or an update of existing skills (for instance, reference interview skills or renew CPR certification).
• Credit will only be given for full contact hours and half hours beyond the first hour, not including lunch and breaks.

Approved program formats (from State Guidelines):

• Attending academic courses and accumulating semester hours (in appropriate fields)
• Attending a seminar, or library-sponsored or commercial workshop
• Participating in e-learning course and earning continuing education credit through contact hours as defined by the e-learning course sponsor
• Serving on the Blue Crab Award Committee or the Maryland Author Award Committee (Credit for this activity can only be earned once every five-year period)
• Creating a workshop, seminar or class that meets the criteria for receiving CEU credits (Contact hours for this activity can only be earned once for each training created and are limited to the number of contact hours awarded to the actual training)
• Creating and implementing a learning portfolio activity

Formats NOT approved:

• Meetings and/or committee service (except as above)
• Webinars or programs where the purpose is not specifically training/education (e.g. sales presentations)
• Preparation for programs/classes except as part of a learning portfolio.
• Any program/presentation that fails to meet the minimum time and/or learning objectives requirement(s).

Please Note:

Not every activity qualifies for CEU hours, even if it seems to be educational.

All CEU forms for programs offered by EPFL staff will have the signature of the coordinator.  If your form does not have a signature then the program may not be eligible for credit.

All programs/webinars/training from non-Pratt sources must be reviewed and approved by the coordinator.  If you aren’t sure if your activity meets the requirements, ask the coordinator before participating in the activity.

The Staff Development Coordinator must review and approve all continuing education activities that are submitted to meet state certification requirements.

MLA/DLA 2016 Conference Notes - Pratt Staff Share Knowledge at MLA

The Library had a strong presence at this year's MLA/DLA conference.  Not only did we have 25 attendees, but our staff participated in a number of presentation and panel discussions. 

Aryn Dagermanjian, Ray Cruitt, and Jeanne Lauber presented “Connecting Resources: Becoming a Link to Local Industries.”  

Linda Thompkins-Baldwin participated in the session on "Digital Maryland and Digital Partnerships -- Developing Collaborative Digital Collection."

Erin Kelly was on the panel for "Improving Library Services for Our Homeless Patrons (and Those Facing Housing Crises)."

Valerie Diamond shared her "De-Stress with Desk Yoga" program with MLA attendees.

Kaitlin Peterson connected with her former colleagues at Frederick County Public Libraries for  "From Traditional to Transformed: An Interactive All Ages Summer Reading Program for Any Community." 

Congratulations to all the staff who presented at the conference this year!

MLA/DLA 2016 Conference Notes - check out Lanyrd.com

A lot of the information from the MLA/DLA 2016 conference can be found on Lanyrd.com.  You have to register (name and email) but you'll have access to the conference information including speaker lists, session links, slides decks, and even the Twitter hashtag.

http://lanyrd.com/2016/mladla16/

Lanyrd.com also gives you access to notes and information from other conferences across the globe.  You can search by place, topic, type of event, or date.  Today, for example, there are conferences in Germany, Portugal, and Ireland.  Not everything will be relevant, but it is interesting.

MLA/DLA 2016 Conference Notes - trust your librarian

The single, most impacting thing I heard during the conference was a statistic quoted by Cathay Keough in her presentation on “Unleashing Your Power: Basic Training for Library Service Staff”.  Firefighters, Nurses and Librarians topped the list of most trusted (public funded) professional.

Now, I have not been able to verify this statistic but, that it is possible, in this era of growing mistrust in the government that we, library professionals, are seen as the exception to the rule. What an ego boost! I felt honored to be among so many professionals, listening to and engaging in discussions on how to maintain this perception of trust.  

Brandon Mollock
Circulation

MLA/DLA 2016 Conference Notes

Over the next week or so I hope to post responses from the staff members who attended the MLA/DLA Annual Conference last week.  The theme this year was Libraries:  Unlocking Potential.  Stay tuned for conference notes, interesting facts, amusing quotes, and whatever else our attendees have to share!

23 Mobile Things Group Completes Their 23 Things . . . and then some

The first group of participants in the 23 Mobile Things program have completed their tasks.  While not all of the group managed to finish the program, we did have about half who did, despite the holidays and the renovation preparations.

The participants were very active, tweeting and sharing documents, posting photos and even watching some movies.  We discussed social media and online safety, shared images from our workplaces, and created some QR codes for our favorite websites.  The group also found some interesting apps for their 24th thing, and we found some things that just didn't work for us.

All in all a great learning experience for these intrepid explorers, some valuable lessons learned and some great resources shared.  Thanks to all who participated and especially those who made it to the end.